Guy Kawasaki's Remarkable People Valerie Fridland: The Amazing and Um, Complex World of Linguistics
Apr 19, 2023
Join Valerie Fridland, a theoretical linguist and professor, as she dives into the fascinating world of linguistics. Discover how language shapes identity and culture, the evolution of adverbs, and the acceptance of ‘singular they’. Valerie also highlights the role of filler words and explains the social dynamics of accent prestige. She shares insights on the changing meanings of terms like 'woke,' and discusses how linguists can improve AI language models. Get ready for an enriching exploration of how language connects us all!
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Language Evolves By Shortening And Reuse
- Linguistic changes often reflect natural shortening and reuse of older forms rather than decay.
- Valerie Fridland explains "slow" vs "slowly" as continuation of an ancient shortening from "like."
Defend Colloquial Choices With Editors
- When representing conversational speech in writing, defend intentional colloquial choices to your editor.
- Valerie Fridland negotiated with copy editors and often kept speechlike forms in her book for authenticity.
Style Guides Trail Spoken Usage
- Style guides change slowly and require mass adoption plus loss of stigma.
- Singular "they" took centuries of use before major style guides accepted it about a decade ago.
