Category: morphology (page 1 of 2)

377: Mailbag of Uncomfortableness

The mail keeps coming, and we keep answering.

  • Is English really a dialect of Chinese?
  • Why do people say “uncomfortableness”, when we already have “discomfort”?
  • Are “ankh” and “anchor” related?
  • How does learning traditional languages help communities?
  • Is there a

371: -nado, -holic, -pocalypse: Combining Forms (Live Q&A)

Take a tornado. Add some sharks. You’ve got a sharknado.

But it’s not just sharks that can leap out of their normal context. It looks like –nado is jumping free and becoming a combining form — a part …

365: Difficult Words (with Jane Solomon, Alexandra Marley, and Janice Nalorlman)

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 …

353: Mailbag of Highly Intelligent Listeners

Listeners have sent us a bracket of great questions.

Will there ever be only one language on earth? When was the beginning of buzzwords? And why do some people say I have went?

We’ll give our best answers on …

336: Kinship Terms

What do you call your family members? No, not like that.

We’re talking about kinship terms. How does your language handle family relations? Do you call your grandmothers on your mom and dad’s side the same thing? What’s a second …

334: Mailbag of Darkness

It’s time once again to dig into our overflowing mailbag.

  • What’s the difference between a hill, a mountain, and a mount?
  • Why do we seem to add a negative suffix to positive words, and not the other

330: Making Words for Miriwoong (featuring Knut Olawsky)

The Australian Aboriginal language of Mirawoong is being revitalised. But to do this, it needs more than speakers. It needs words.

How do you construct new words in a language? And how well are these words being accepted?

We’re talking …

327: How We Talk (featuring Nick Enfield and Simeon Floyd)

What is the meaning of um?

We make hesitation noises and tiny pauses in conversation all the time, but what’s the meaning behind them? And is it true that different cultures have different tolerances for silence?

We’re talking to …

320: Love Your Larynx (featuring Thila Raja)

Are you looking after your larynx?

Your voice is your ability to speak, and for a lot of people, it’s how we earn a living. So it’s important to look after your vocal health. And with World Voice Day coming …

318: Mailbag of Awesome

We get mail. From you. And today, we’re answering your questions.

How has jazz influenced our language? And what if you like language diversity, but you’re not too keen on how it’s used?

Daniel and Kylie answer them all on …

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