Best Linguistics podcasts — In-depth discussions on the study of language (Updated September 2016; image)
Linguistics
(public)
[subscription 848]
Linguistic adventures with Helen Zaltzman, TheAllusionist.org. A proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Learn more at radiotopia.fm.
A Way with Words is an upbeat and lively public radio show about language examined through history, culture, and family. Co-hosts Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett talk with callers from around the world about linguistics, slang, grammar, old sayings, word origins, regional dialects, family expressions, and speaking and writing well. They settle disputes, play word quizzes, and discuss language news and controversies. Email your language questions for the show to words@waywordradio.org. Or c ...
The Spoken History of a Global Language
Lexicon Valley is a podcast about language, from pet peeves, syntax, and etymology to neurolinguistics and the death of languages. Your hosts are Bob Garfield and producer Mike Vuolo. Part of the Panoply Network.
A weekly show about linguistics, the science of language, on RTRFM 92.1 community radio, Perth.
Kerstin Cable from Fluent Language and Lindsay Dow from Lindsay does Languages are obsessed with language learning - join them in this podcast!
Speculative Grammarian—the premier scholarly journal featuring research in the neglected field of satirical linguistics—is now available as an arbitrarily irregular audio podcast. Our podcast includes readings of articles from our journal, the occasional musical number or dramatical piece, and our talk show, Language Made Difficult. Language Made Difficult is hosted by the SpecGram LingNerds, and features our signature linguistics quiz—Lies, Damned Lies, and Linguistics—along with some discu ...
That's What They Say is a weekly segment on Michigan Radio that explores our changing language.University of Michigan English Professor Anne Curzan studies linguistics and the history of the English language.Each week she'll discuss why we say what we say with Michigan Radio Weekend Edition host Rina Miller.
Why do all human languages resemble each other? And how do children learn language so fast? For many linguists, the answer is Universal Grammar. It's one of the biggest ideas in linguistics, but now it might possibly be coming unstuck. What is it, and what does its acceptance or rejection mean for modern linguistics? Linguist Daniel Midgley has ...…
A few weeks ago, a tweet went viral, because it explained something about adjectives that many people didn’t realize they already knew. Think about how you would describe someone’s eyes. Would you describe them as “blue beautiful big eyes"? Probably not. That sounds weird, right?By rebecca@kruth.org (Rebecca Kruth).
Secret codes, ciphers, and telegrams. It used to be that in order to transmit information during wartime, various industries encoded their messages letter by letter with an elaborate system--much like today's digital encryption. Grant breaks down some of those secret codes--and shares the story of the most extensive telegram ever sent. Plus, we ...…
If you don’t have a Rosetta Stone to hand, deciphering extinct languages can be a real puzzle, even though they didn’t intend to be. They didn’t intend to become extinct, either, but such is the life (and death) of languages. NB: there is a CATEGORY B swear word towards the end of this episode. But it IS there for educational purposes only. ALS ...…
John Simpson, former editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, talks about life as a lexicographer.
We love red big balloons — or are they big red balloons? There’s a right way and a wrong way to do it, you know. But how do we know what the right way is? And what else does your brain know that you don’t know it knows? Linguist Daniel Midgley blows your mind on this episode of Talk the Talk.
The dilemma continues over how to spell dilemma! Grant and Martha try to suss out the backstory of why some people spell that word with an "n." A lot of them, it seems, went to Catholic school. Maybe that's a clue? Plus, the saying "Close, but no cigar" gets traced back to an old carnival game. And the French horn isn't actually French—so why i ...…
Please donate to A Way With Words. Thank you.
T
That's What They Say
Some acronyms have become so common as words, that it’s tough to remember what they stood for in the first place. We’re talking about words where each letter actually stands for its own word. Instead of saying each word individually, we mash the first letters together and say that instead. Take scuba, for instance. We don’t call it “scuba” divi ...…
A
A Way with Words
Please donate to A Way With Words. Visit http://waywordradio.org for more info. Thanks.
Language learning is important. Loads of kids are taking languages other than English (or LOTE). Lots of people are teaching them. But for all that, we're just not learning them. So why not? Are we doing it wrong? Not starting early enough? Or is it the culture of language learning in English-speaking countries? More importantly, how do we fix ...…
A
A Way with Words
It's hard enough to get a new word into the dictionary. But what happens when lawmakers get involved? New Jersey legislators passed a resolution as part of an anti-bullying campaign urging dictionary companies to adopt the word "upstander." It means "the opposite of bystander." But will it stick? And: 17th-century abolitionist Sojourner Truth w ...…
C
Creative Language Learning Podcast
Hey everyone, welcome to episode 49 of the Creative Language Learning Podcast. The Good, The Bad and The Struggling Routines lapsing for the summer, looking forward to September, and permission to half-ass online courses in this week's catch-up with Lindsay and Kerstin. What's your Good, Bad and Struggling? We'd love to hear from you guys on th ...…
T
That's What They Say
Language ambiguity can certainly create some confusing situations. Take this headline from a 1982 issue of The Guardian, for example: “British Left Waffles on Falklands.” At first, it sounds like the British forgot their breakfast on the Falkland Islands. While we love waffles and certainly agree that accidentally leaving them behind in the Sou ...…
Just like last year, Lindsay and I are excited to create a live episode for the European Day of Languages. And that's not all this time. We also get to celebrate a milestone episode of the show: It's episode 50! You can catch the recording of our 50th episode of the Creative Language Learning Podcast on October 3, 2016 at 2pm BST. Join the live ...…
Languages die. But if they’re lucky, a thousand-odd years later, someone unearths an artefact that brings them back to life. Laura Welcher of the Rosetta Project shows us the Rosetta Disk, a slice of electroplated nickel three inches in diameter that bears text in 1500 languages for future linguists to decipher. Ilona Regulski of the British Mu ...…
S
Slate Presents Lexicon Valley
What does "Hickory Dickory Dock" really mean? John McWhorter makes linguistic sense of seemingly arbitrary children's verse.
Can our furry friends understand what we're saying? Before the Talk the Talk team can say no (like every other time), a very special listener wants us to consider the case for animals and language. And it's going to take us to a very big question: How do we know what we know? Listener Monica speaks with Daniel, Ben, and Kylie on this episode of ...…
During the reign of Henry II, the speech of England was dominated by three languages – English, French and Latin. In this episode, we examine the relative roles of those three languages, and we also explore how the social barriers between those languages were breaking down in the 12th century.
Today we talk all about word-level stress systems, a part of your conlang that can be done in a few minutes or have you stressing for many days, weeks, or maybe months. It all comes down to what kind of stress system you go with. Top of Show Greeting: Modern Standard Arabic (translated and read... Read more »…
This week on "A Way with Words": This week on "A Way with Words": Can language change bad behavior in crowded places? The Irish Railway system has launched ad campaign to encourage passengers to be more generous at boarding time. For example, have you ever rummaged through your belongings or pretended to have an intense phone conversation in or ...…
It's difficult to escape the lure of the concession stand. They’re at the movies, beckoning to you with rainbow-colored boxes of candy and buckets of warm, buttery popcorn. You’ll find them at circuses and fairs, pulling you in with bags of fluffy, pastel-colored cotton candy and crispy funnel cakes, sweet with cinnamon and sugar. At baseball g ...…
What's going to happen to French? We're getting conflicting reports. While English-speaking pundits gloat over the decline in French influence, population shifts may see French becoming the next big thing. And French still has a lot of prestige. So what's in French's future? Daniel, Ben, and Kylie speak with linguist Sophie Richard on this epis ...…
What's in a mascot name? Maybe you're a fan of the Banana Slugs, or you cheer for the Winged Beavers. Perhaps your loyalty lies with the Fighting Artichokes. There are some strange names for sports team out there. But what's even stranger is the origin of the word "mascot" itself. It's from a 19th-century opera! And: the host of a television sh ...…
C
Creative Language Learning Podcast
Hello and welcome to Episode 48 of the Creative Language Learning Podcast! We started off our episode with some insights into what's going on with our language learning - in a new format! It's called the good, the bad and the struggling. Listen in and tell us what you think! What's your Good, Bad and Struggling? We'd love to hear from you guys ...…
T
That's What They Say
We try to keep our language pretty clean here at That’s What They Say, but sometimes things just slip out. Like when we’re explaining the difference between “they’re”, “their,” and “there” for what feels like the millionth time. Or when we see "for all intensive purposes" in print, and the writer isn't trying to be ironic. Sometimes it happens ...…
How Words Hook Up and Make New Ones
What would an alien language be like? The new trailer for the film Arrival has got us pretty excited, and there's even a whole field of study called xenolinguistics. How will we know what to say when we make contact? Linguist Daniel Midgley explores the final frontier on this episode of Talk the Talk.…
This week on "A Way with Words": Slang from the 19th century. The slang coming out of Victorian mouths was more colorful than you might think. A 1909 collection of contemporary slang records clever terms for everything from a bald head to the act of sidling through a crowd. Plus, how to remember the difference between CAV-al-ry and CAL-va-ry. A ...…
When you choose to spend the winter in Antarctica, you’ll be prepared for it to be cold. You know that nobody will be leaving or arriving until springtime. And you’re braced for months of darkness. But a few weeks after the last sunset, you might find you can’t even string a sentence together. And even if you can, that sentence may only make se ...…
It’s the kind of thing that can divide a nation. Or, at the very least, it’s the kind of thing that can bring a perfect date between two grammar nerds to a screeching halt. Picture it. You’re midway through what has been a nearly perfect first date. Conversation has been interesting, awkward lulls have been minimal and basic hygiene expectation ...…
This special Radiothon edition of Talk the Talk features special guests, including Greens senator Scott Ludlam, forensic specialist Kari Pitts, physicist Catalina Curceanu, and RTRFM regulars Dylan Websdane and Peter Barr. Plus we play Talk the Talk Against Humanity. Support the station that supports Talk the Talk. Subscribe to RTRFM by heading ...…
Did you own a talking car in the 1980s? The Chrysler New Yorker was one of a handful of models in the mid-80s to feature an electronic voice alert system. We're guessing it launched more than a few Knight Rider fantasies. The car would remind you to fasten your seatbelt or to replenish your wiper fluid. It would let you know if your lights were ...…
William invites Ada Palmer on to talk about her new book Too Like the Lightning, which, while not so conlangy, uses language in interesting ways for world-building, including neologisms, unusual punctuation, and gratuitous Latin revivals. Links and Resources: Ada’s book on Amazon Or Barnes and Noble Ada’s Blog Ex Urbe…
This week on "A Way with Words": "If you come to a fork in the road . . . take it!" Baseball legend Yogi Berra was famous for such head-scratching observations.. What most people don't realize, though, is that the former Yankees star often wasn't the first person to say them. As Berra himself once quipped, "I really didn't say everything I said ...…
C
Creative Language Learning Podcast
In this episode, we let you guys take us where you wanted us to go with your awesome listener messages. Some of What We Talked About Where to go when you travel to Lithuania (home of our first listener) Great tips for studying Korean, like how to study the grammar and where to go next after learning Hangul script Is there ever a perfect languag ...…
One, two, three… Sounds simple, doesn't it? And yet different languages express numbers in very different ways. How are they handled in our brains? And how did -illion get to be the suffix for truly astronomical sums? Linguist Daniel Midgley runs the numbers on this episode of Talk the Talk.
S
Slate Presents Lexicon Valley
John McWhorter talks with author Jack Lynch about the sacrilege of modified Shakespeare.
This week on "A Way with Words": People in ancient times could be just as bawdy and colorful as we are today. To prove it, we found some graffiti written on the walls in the city of Pompeii, and found plenty of sex, arrogance and good old fashioned bathroom talk etched in stone. Plus, British rhyming slang makes its way to our televisions throu ...…
There sits the dictionary. A forgotten volume, alone on its rickety pedestal with nothing but a shabby jacket to protect it from dust and shelf ware. All the dictionary ever wanted was to serve you. Think about that time you were cramming for the vocabulary portion of your SAT and just couldn’t make sense of “legerdemain.” Who was there to offe ...…
On your marks… Get set… GO! It’s the Etymolympics, where the gymnastics should be gymnaked and the hurdles are a bloodbath. Find out more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/olympics. Be an Olympic-level champ and express your opinions about the show at http://surveynerds.com/allusionist. Seek me out online at http://twitter.com/all ...…
The marriage of Matilda’s son, Henry, to Eleanor of Aquitaine was a crucial event in the history of England and France. It produced a powerful realm which contributed to the return of peace and the end of Anarchy. In this episode, we explore these political developments, and we also examine the state of marriage in 12th century Europe. We also ...…
Can our language tell us if we're not well? The words we use can reveal a lot of social information. But in the future, computers will examine our words to detect mental illnesses like dementia and motor neuron disease — even before lab tests. How would this work? Computational linguist Katie Fraser talks to Daniel, Kylie, and Ben on this episo ...…
When it comes to learning new things, what's on your bucket list? A retired book editor decided to try to learn Latin, and ended up learning a lot about herself. There's a word for someone who learns something late in life. And when it comes to card games, how is it that the very same game goes lots of different names? What you call Canfield, o ...…
Today, we bring on Scott Hamilton and BenJamin P. Johnson to talk about Brooding, a language that both of them have worked on for the Riddlesbrood Touring Theater Company. Special Announcement: Britton’s film Conlanging is now crowdfunding on Indiegogo! Top of Show Greeting: Finnish (translate and recorded by Eric-Mickya Liwata) Links and Resou ...…
Mutter, mumble and murmur may look similar, but don't be fooled. Think of it this way. If someone you're dating tells you they love you for the first time, which would you prefer? 1) "I love you," he murmured. 2) "I love you," she mumbled. 3) "I love you," he muttered. Okay, none of these scenarios instill a lot of confidence when it comes to l ...…
C
Creative Language Learning Podcast
Don't forget to catch the mention of our good friends at Flashsticks, the language learning post-it guys. You can purchase vocabulary post-it notes in 8 languages and get 10% off with the code KERSTIN10 - or just download the free Flash Academy app. When you reach the higher language levels, it's not enough to just study. How does it feel to re ...…
Gretchen McCulloch talks to John McWhorter about the big meaning behind our favorite little pictograms.
Did Melania Trump really plagiarise that speech? Yeah, she totally did. But how can you tell if someone is copying someone else's work? How do plagiarism checkers work? And can you beat them? Linguist Daniel Midgley shows his work on this episode of Talk the Talk.
Books for sale, books for free, and wisdom passed down through the ages. Libraries aren't just repositories for books -- they're often a great place to find gently used volumes for sale. Or you can always visit a "little free library," one of those neighborhood spot dedicated to recycling your own books, and picking up new ones for free. Plus: ...…
