Juxtapose. Obfuscate. And of course, absquatulate.
All these words appear in a new dictionary for young people. It’s The Dictionary of Difficult Words, and we’re talking to the author, lexicographer Jane Solomon.
Activate your sesquipedalian …
Category: terrible science reporting
North and south? Left and right? Or something else?
Different languages have different ways of talking about space. Sometimes this has to do with the environment of the people who speak them. But what happens when the environment changes?
Daniel…
We’re listening to West African Pidgin English.
Millions of people speak it, but now it’s getting a big boost from the BBC World Service. What’s this language like? And will it change, now that it’s hit the world stage?
Daniel…
Ever read a language story, and felt something was a bit off?
Does your keyboard layout affect how you feel about words? Is it true that people couldn’t see the colour blue until modern times? How are you supposed to …
Other animals don’t have language like we do, but some of them might be getting awfully close.
A recent experiment claims that some birds use a form of syntax — that they combine their signals in a way that’s always …
226: Shakespeare in Translation 2 (featuring Celeste Rodriguez Louro, Migdalia Cruz, and Taylor Mac)
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival has commissioned all Shakespeare’s plays to be translated into contemporary English.
But how does one go about updating the words of the Bard? Does this task belong to playwrights, or to linguists?
Linguist Daniel Midgley speaks …
Is there anything that all human languages have in common?
With all the diversity in the world’s languages, a true universal is hard to find. But new research has unearthed a principle involving the distances between words, and this discovery …
Everyone seems to use baby talk on babies. And linguists think it helps them learn language.
But a new study says dads don’t do it as much. Does it matter? And what kind of input helps children learn?
Linguist Daniel …
When writers need advice, they turn to editors, and Nicholas Hudson is a formidable presence in the editing world.
But how does his advice stack up linguistically? And what do Australian writers need to know?
Author and editor Nicholas Hudson…
It’s Oscars time, and the film about Alan Turing “The Imitation Game” is in contention for best picture.
But that’s not the only language movie out there — there are plenty of cinematic delights to quench your passion for linguistic …
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Awards
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- CBAA Awards 2018: Best Radio Program — Talk
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- Talkley Award 2018
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