Again we open the Mailbag and answer our listeners’ questions.
- What do lisps sound like in languages without the ‘th’ sound?
- How do gender-neutral terms work in languages with gendered pronouns?
- Do languages get more efficient over time?
- One-third looks like three, so why doesn’t half look like two?
- Does any poetic meter mimic the “natural rhythm” of human speech?
- How do children acquire humour?
All on this episode of Talk the Talk.
Listen to this episode
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Daniel takes a question about disgruntled, and talks through some of the Words of the Week of the Year.
Also at https://www.patreon.com/posts/32138603
Leave That In!
We’re obsessed with kids jokes. And anti-jokes. And also apostrophes.
Gender in language is not very informative, but hard to get rid of.
Have you been bored since you bought a smartphone?
Also at https://www.patreon.com/posts/32385701
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Show notes
World Wide Words: Disgruntled and gruntled
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-dis1.htm
disgruntle | Etymonline
https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=disgruntle
alike | Etymonline
https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=alike
PHOIBLE 2.0 – Consonant θ
https://phoible.org/parameters/7D184A6DCDA3EB154F9CB34651E02EEE#1/20/145
WALS Online – Chapter Presence of Uncommon Consonants
https://wals.info/chapter/19
Apple’s non-binary emojis are a step in the right direction (opinion) – CNN
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/01/opinions/nonbinary-emojis-alaimo/index.html
Types of Lisp Speech Disorders
https://www.spectrumspeech.ie/blog/types-of-lisp-disorders
The truth about ‘Latinx’ | OUPblog
https://blog.oup.com/2019/11/a-linguists-perspective-on-the-popularity-of-the-word-latinx/
Gender neutral language in Spanish – Nonbinary Wiki
https://nonbinary.wiki/wiki/Gender_neutral_language_in_Spanish
Is Gender Neutrality Putting the French Language in ‘Mortal Danger’?
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/france/articles/is-gender-neutrality-putting-the-french-language-in-mortal-danger/
The Push to Make French Gender-Neutral – The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/11/inclusive-writing-france-feminism/545048/
Exploring Japan’s ‘genderless’ subculture
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/genderless-kei-fashion-japan/index.html
PDF – Weir (2009): Subject pronoun drop in informal English
https://www.isle-linguistics.org/assets/content/documents/hogg/weir2009.pdf
Do You Know How to Say Two in Different Languages?
https://www.indifferentlanguages.com/words/two
Do You Know How to Say Half in Different Languages?
https://www.indifferentlanguages.com/words/half
Feel the beat: how rhythm shapes the way we use and understand language | Education | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/mar/06/feel-the-beat-how-rhythm-shapes-the-way-we-use-and-understand-language
Prosody: Systematic Study of the Meter of Poetry
https://www.thoughtco.com/prosody-systematic-study-of-poetry-meter-120958
New study suggests speakers of different languages perceive rhythm differently | EurekAlert! Science News
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-11/aiop-nss113006.php
Pop Sonnets
https://popsonnet.tumblr.com/post/134018832653/escape-the-pina-colada-song#notes
Just Clowning around: Classroom Perspectives on Children’s Humour on JSTOR
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1602220?seq=1
Early humour production – Hoicka – 2012 – British Journal of Developmental Psychology – Wiley Online Library
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.2044-835X.2011.02075.x
McGee (1977): Children’s Humour: A Review of Current Research Trends
Google Books link
kid (n.) | Etymonline
https://www.etymonline.com/word/kid
Transcript
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