Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

The special sauce of human language. Gotten. NATO alphabet. A1 sauce.

Dec 19, 2023

Linguistics professor Valerie Fridland explores the uniqueness of human language, emphasizing creativity, identity expression, and leadership in linguistic change. They discuss differences between animal communication and human language, the potential of chatbots, and the nuances of 'gotten' in American English. The episode includes funny anecdotes about the NATO alphabet mix-ups and 'A1 sauce' mispronunciations.

14:19

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Episode guests

Valerie Fridland

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Human language allows for spontaneous creativity, expression of identity, and leadership in linguistic change.

Animals and chatbots lack the ability to innovate with language to convey nuanced and complex meanings like humans do.

Deep dives

The Complexity of Human Language

Human language is incredibly complex and constantly evolving, conveying not just literal information, but also subtle hints about attitudes, perspectives, and emotions. Animals and computers share some linguistic abilities, but lack the perfect mix that humans have to discuss the present, plan for the future, reflect on the past, and adjust their speech accordingly.

Introduction

3min

Exploring the Boundaries of Animal Communication, Chatbots, and Human Language Innovation

5min

Exploring Relationships, Therapy, and Language Learning

2min

Explaining the nuances of 'gotten' in American and British English

4min

Anecdotal Stories of Phonetic Alphabet Usage and Mispronunciation

5min

959. Learn why human language goes beyond basic communication to allow spontaneous creativity, expression of identity, and leadership in linguistic change — things animals and chatbots can't quite achieve. Plus, I answer a British listener's question about the confusing way Americans use the word "gotten."

The "chatbot" segment was written by Valerie Fridland, a professor of linguistics at the University of Nevada in Reno and the author of "Like Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English." You can find her at valeriefridland.com.

| Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/chatgpt-gotten/transcript

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