Page 28 of 41

140: Grammar Grouches in the News

Grammar is in the news this week, as Sufjan Stevens takes Miley Cyrus to task on her language usage.

And a school in the UK is banning slang.

What motivates these grammar grouches? And are their criticisms spot on, or …

139: Genderless Pronouns

Should your language be gender-neutral?

In English, there’s he and there’s she, but if you don’t want to specify, you may be surprised by the choices we have. Which are the most popular? And what’s in the future for …

138: Proto-Indo-European

Before English was cool, there was Proto-Indo-European.

It’s the language that would turn into Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, and more. And it’s so old that it has no written records. So how do we know what it was like? And how …

137: Shakespeare’s Words

Everyone knows that William Shakespeare invented hundreds — or perhaps thousands — of words, including swagger, zany, and rant.

Except maybe he didn’t. As more and more books become easier to search, researchers are whittling away at …

136: Punctuation Day

Punctuation Day is happening this week, so it’s time to take a look at the marks we use to convey emotion and give structure to our sentences.

But things are changing. Is the humble slash becoming a word? What’s an …

135: Language Detective (featuring Sali Tagliamonte)

Is the Internet killing English?

How is English changing?

For tough questions like these, you need a linguistic detective. Luckily, we found one.

Linguist Daniel Midgley has a chat to sociolinguist Sali Tagliamonte on this episode of Talk the Talk

134: Glossolalia

What is glossolalia?

It’s speaking in tongues, a religious practice that makes some people feel closer to god, and other people feel deeply uncomfortable. Is it the language of angels, or a psychological artefact? And what can linguistics tell us …

133: Hobson-Jobson

What is Hobson-Jobson?

It’s a book about words, society, and culture among Britons living in India in the late 1800s. Many words that we use today were documented for the first time in its pages. Which words are we still …

132: Language Protectionism

Everywhere in the world, it seems, people fret about language.

Some people worry about too much English. Some people are concerned because their language is being ignored or banned. And sometimes government and the law get involved. How will it …

131: Dolphin Names

Dolphins are known for their squeaky calls, but now it appears that these clever mammals of the sea can call each other by name.

What is their communication system like, and how does this compare with human language?

Linguist Daniel

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2024 Talk the Talk

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑