For babies, learning language seems like child’s play.
But new research is showing us that there’s a lot going on in there, with contributions from brain, body, and memory. How does it all work?
Linguist Daniel Midgley bundles it all together on this episode of Talk the Talk.
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Show notes
Mama or Dada? Research looks at what words are easiest for kids to learn
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151012132455.htm
Why we should be excited by 100,000 year old human teeth from China
https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2015/10/15/why-we-should-be-excited-by-100000-year-old-human-teeth-from-china/
Humans Exited Africa, and Trekked to China, Fossils Reveal
http://www.livescience.com/52481-modern-humans-reached-china-before-europe.html
Evidence Challenges the “Out of Africa” Timeline of Human Evolution
http://io9.com/more-evidence-undermines-the-out-of-africa-theory-of-1619420466
Earliest Known Draft of King James Bible Is Found, Scholar Says
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/15/books/earliest-known-draft-of-king-james-bible-is-found-scholar-says.html
Oldest Draft of King James Bible Discovered
http://news.discovery.com/history/religion/oldest-draft-of-king-james-bible-discovered-15101.htm
Oldest King James Bible Draft Found In England, Suggests 17th Century Translation Wasn’t Group Effort
http://www.ibtimes.com/oldest-king-james-bible-draft-found-england-suggests-17th-century-translation-wasnt-2142463
English phrases and sayings that derive from the Bible
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/bible-phrases-sayings.html
Babies need free tongue movement to decipher speech sounds
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-10/uobc-bnf100915.php
Bruderer et al: Sensorimotor influences on speech perception in infancy
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/10/06/1508631112.abstract
“Help! I’m losing phonemes as you speak!”
http://www.cafepress.com/mf/63235081/phonemes_bodysuit?aid=1568734
Why ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ Sound So Similar in So Many Languages
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/10/words-mom-dad-similar-languages/409810/
Gaze shifting helps babies learn new languages
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/spectrum/society/gaze-shifting-helps-babies-learn-new-languages/112859.html
NINE-HUNDED DOLLARYDOOS (Simpsons clip)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w3iPFl-cfI
Change the Australian currency name to Dollarydoos.
https://www.change.org/p/change-the-australian-currency-name-to-dollarydoos?source_location=trending_petitions_home_page&algorithm=curated_trending
Aussies get behind proposal to change currency to dollarydoos
http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/10/16/15/39/aussies-get-behind-proposal-to-change-currency-to-dollarydoos
The Reserve Bank and Reform of the Currency: 1960–1988 — The Royal Controversy
http://www.rba.gov.au/Museum/Displays/1960_1988_rba_and_reform_of_the_currency/the_royal_controversy.html
Holt’s folly: one royal we rejected
‘”The Australian drawl, [Holt] warned, could easily reduce ”14 australs” to ”40 nostrils”.’
http://www.smh.com.au/money/on-the-money/holts-folly-one-royal-we-rejected-20130603-2nmoa.html
Simpsons neologisms
http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Made-up_words
Sifting the fact from fiction about baby sign language
https://theconversation.com/sifting-the-fact-from-fiction-about-baby-sign-language-36924
Science Blogs on Dustan Baby Language: A Cry Is Just A Cry
http://scienceblogs.com/deanscorner/2011/05/17/a-cry-is-just-a-cry/
‘Linguistics experts point out that Dunstan’s hypothesis has not been subjected to rigorous testing or academic scrutiny. The Dunstan company had, at one time, developed a clinical trial plan with Brown University researchers to test its claims, but abandoned it for consumer surveys and small-group observations in order “to hasten the development of a system that could be used by parents,” skipping rigorous testing to go straight to market.’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunstan_Baby_Language
Image credit: http://tdlc.ucsd.edu/images/deak_lab.jpg
Transcript
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