The biggest idea in linguistics is back on the table.
Is there such a thing as the Universal Grammar? Do you have to have a human brain to learn language, or is learning a language just like learning anything else? And are one man’s insights into Amazonian languages sufficient to demolish this theoretical edifice?
Linguists Dan Everett and Lynne Murphy talk to Daniel, Ben, and Kylie on this episode of Talk the Talk.
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Full interview
Here’s the full audio from Daniel’s chat with Dan Everett.
Cutting Room Floor
The team’s been busy since Camp Doogs. Ben’s been on the stage, improvising. Daniel and Kylie have begun a set of classes on skepticism. What kinds of nonsense set them off? And how do you combat misinformation without becoming a pain in the neck? (We’ll let you know when we manage it.)
A vocabulary question: What do you say in a game of tag, to avoid getting instantly tagged back?
Later we stumble upon reduplication in English. We ponder the London accent. And Lynne Murphy tells us more about the language of the debates.
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Show notes
Warning: Bad linguistics alert
‘Th’ sound to vanish from English language by 2066 because of multiculturalism, say linguists
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/09/28/th-sound-to-vanish-from-english-language-by-2066-because-of-mult/
Here’s how the English language could sound incredibly different in 50 years
http://www.sciencealert.com/the-english-language-could-sound-incredibly-different-in-50-years-study-finds
Our accents are under threat: dialects may die as computers strip the beauty from language
http://www.wired.co.uk/article/dialect-english-regional-accents
It’s the end of the frog and toad for regional slang, says report
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/sep/29/its-the-end-of-the-frog-and-toad-for-regional-slang-says-report
XKCD:
Better linguistics alert
Researchers are using an app to crowdsource how the English language has changed
http://qz.com/694906/researchers-are-using-an-app-to-crowdsource-how-the-english-language-has-changed/
How do you say ‘scone’? English regional accents decline as ‘southern’ accent becomes widespread
http://home.bt.com/news/uk-news/how-do-you-say-scone-english-regional-accents-decline-as-southern-accent-becomes-widespread-11364064620130
How London has killed off elements of local dialects across England – in seven maps
https://www.indy100.com/article/how-london-has-killed-off-elements-of-local-dialects-across-englandin-seven-maps–ZJxofkDwH7Z
New Scientist: The Electric Kool-Aid language test
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2108618-the-electric-kool-aid-language-test/
Dan Everett: Who’s afraid of the big bad Wolfe? Apparently everyone.
https://daneverettbooks.com/whos-afraid-of-the-big-bad-wolfe-apparently-everyone/
Trump recorded having extremely lewd conversation about women in 2005
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-recorded-having-extremely-lewd-conversation-about-women-in-2005/2016/10/07/3b9ce776-8cb4-11e6-bf8a-3d26847eeed4_story.html
A banner day for profanity
https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2016/10/08/a-banner-day-for-profanity/
An Oxford linguist on the dangers of dismissing comments about sexual assault as “locker-room talk”
http://qz.com/807395/donald-trump-oxford-linguist-deborah-cameron-explains-the-dangers-of-dismissing-comments-about-sexual-assault-as-locker-room-talk/
“Locker room” language encourages rape culture, even if it stays private
http://qz.com/806386/donald-trumps-lewd-access-hollywood-video-locker-room-language-encourages-rape-culture/
Lynne Murphy on Twitter: @lynneguist
https://twitter.com/lynneguist
Lynne’s blog: Separated by a Common Language
https://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com.au
Linguistics explains why Trump sounds racist when he says “the” African Americans
http://qz.com/806174/second-presidential-debate-linguistics-explains-why-donald-trump-sounds-racist-when-he-says-the-african-americans/
Everything that was said at the second Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton debate, highlighted
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/09/everything-that-was-said-at-the-second-donald-trump-vs-hillary-clinton-debate-highlighted/
“open mic” and “on the mic”
Image credit: http://www.chronicle.com/img/photos/biz/photo_19711_portrait_wide.jpg
Transcript
We’re working our way back through the archives. If you think we should prioritise a transcript of this episode, let us know!
1 November 2016 at 6:31 am
Thank you, nice read.