100: A hundred reasons to be enthusiastic about linguistics
Jan 17, 2025
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Celebrate 100 intriguing facts about linguistics with fascinating insights into brain language processing and playful sound symbolism. Discover the complexities of etymology and unique linguistic phenomena, like double borrowings. Explore how infants develop language skills and the connection between signed and spoken languages. Delve into conversational dynamics and the history of the word 'hundred.' Join in the creativity of language and enjoy a bingo game for diehard fans!
The hosts highlight that every individual has an accent, showcasing the diversity of speech within the vast field of linguistics.
Listeners learn about the historical evolution of words and their spellings, illustrating the complexities and nuances of language development over time.
Deep dives
The Power of 100 Linguistic Facts
Celebrating their 100th episode, the hosts present a compilation of 100 intriguing facts about linguistics, showcasing the diversity of topics within the field. They emphasize that every individual has an accent, and highlight the complexity in defining a 'word' or a 'language,' pointing out that these definitions can vary widely based on context. Additionally, they note that writing systems were developed independently only about three or four times across different cultures, leading to significant historical implications regarding the origins of written language. This exploration not only highlights known linguistic concepts but also sets the stage for deeper discussions to come in future episodes.
Etymology and the Evolution of Language
The episode delves into fascinating etymological facts, revealing how certain words in English have undergone significant changes over time. For instance, the word 'sneeze' was once spelled 'phnees,' and other common words like 'knee' were historically pronounced differently, illustrating the evolution of English spelling and pronunciation. The hosts also explain that many French words borrowed into English underwent silent transformations, such as the circumflex accent indicating a silent 'S.' These insights provide listeners with a greater appreciation for the intricacies of language development and the historical contexts that shape communication.
Language Perception and Gestures
Listeners are introduced to the fascinating ways language interacts with cognition and perception, particularly in relation to how cultures conceptualize time. For example, different cultures map time spatially in unique ways, with some seeing the past in front of them and the future behind. The discussion also touches on how gestures, like the thumbs-up, have transcended linguistic borders, becoming widely recognized symbols of approval. This highlights the overlap between language and non-verbal communication, emphasizing the importance of understanding linguistic nuances across cultures.
Language Learning and Development
The episode concludes with insights into child language acquisition, emphasizing how babies exhibit the ability to distinguish languages even before birth. The hosts explain the stages of language development, including how infants can communicate through gestures alongside spoken words, highlighting the multimodal aspects of language. Additionally, they address fascinating differences among individuals regarding inner speech and mental imagery, showcasing the variability in how people think and use language. This insightful exploration of language development not only underscores the complexity of linguistic growth but also the myriad ways in which humans express and process their thoughts.
This is our hundredth episode that's enthusiastic about linguistics! To celebrate, we've put together 100 of our favourite fun facts about linguistics, featuring contributions from previous guests and Lingthusiasm team members, fan favourites that resonated with you from the previous 99 episodes, and new facts that haven't been on the show before but might star in one of the next 100 episodes in greater detail.
In this episode, your hosts Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne talk about brains, gesture, etymology, famous example sentences, languages by the numbers, a few special facts about the word "hundred" and way more! This episode is both a fun overview of the vibe of Lingthusiam if you've never listened before, and a bonus bingo card game for diehard fans to see how many facts you can recognize.
We also invite you to share this episode alongside one of your favourite fun facts about linguistics and help more people find Lingthusiasm in honour of our 100th episodiversary! Whether you pick something new that resonates from this episode, or share the fact you were sitting on the edge of your seat hoping we'd mention, we look forward to staying Lingthusiastic with you for the next 100 episodes.
Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice: episodes.fm/1186056137/episode/dGFnOnNvdW5kY2xvdWQsMjAxMDp0cmFja3MvMjAxMDg1Njk3MQ
Read the transcript here: lingthusiasm.com/post/772874564563845120/transcript-episode-100
Announcements:
In this month’s bonus episode we get enthusiastic about some of our favourite deleted bits from recent interviews that we didn't quite have space to share with you! First, we go back to our interview with phonetician Jacq Jones, previously seen talking about how binary and non-binary people talk. Then, we return to computational linguist Emily M. Bender to talk about how Emily's students made a computational model of Lauren's grammar of Lamjung Yolmo and how linguistics is a team sport. Finally, we return to our group interview with the team behind Tom Scott's Language Files to talk about sneaky Icelandic jokes and the unedited behind-the-scenes version of the gif/gif joke.
Join us on Patreon now to get access to this and 90+ other bonus episodes. You’ll also get access to the Lingthusiasm Discord server where you can chat with other language nerds: patreon.com/posts/118982443
For links to things mentioned in this episode: lingthusiasm.com/post/772874257193730048/lingthusiasm-episode-100-a-hundred-reasons-to-be
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