Lingthusiasm - A podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics

Learn about the history and development of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) which represents sounds from all languages. Explore the challenges of spelling systems across different languages, the complexity of English spelling, and the role of orthography and stress systems in pronunciation. Discover linguistic games and sketches inspired by the IPA, such as an IPA version of 2048 and a comedy sketch about pirates and skeletons. Also, delve into the use of the IPA in sign languages and the relationship between sign languages and spoken language alphabets.

Explore how different languages categorize colors and the implications of this. Learn about the relationship between color perception and language, as well as the challenges faced by dictionary editors and children learning color words. Discover the relationship between color and other senses, including odor descriptions and synesthesia. Dive into the fascinating world of synesthesia and the consistent color mapping for each letter of the alphabet.

Discover the inside scoop of the Word of the Year vote, including categories and politics, while exploring offerings from other organizations. Dive into the tension between the American Dialect Society and African-American English. Learn about the influence of Twitter on the word of the year criteria. Find out why 'democracy sausage' was chosen as the Australian Word of the Year and ponder the complicated nature of defining words in linguistics.

Linguists discuss the movie Arrival and its portrayal of linguistics, highlighting accurate language barriers and the creation of a fictional language. They explore the concept of linguistic relativity and the absence of pointing gestures in alien communication, while also sharing their recent activities and upcoming projects.

Topics discussed include pronoun systems in different languages, changing English pronouns for writing fanfiction, the excitement around singular ‘they’, the Lingthusiasm logo, the importance of pronouns in communication, logophoric pronouns and obviation, spatial locations in sign languages for pronoun reference, the history of the singular 'they' pronoun, and gender-neutral pronouns and the future of English pronouns.

Wouldn’t it solve so many problems in the world if everyone just spoke the same language? Not so fast! Lingthusiasm is a brand-new podcast that’s enthusiastic about linguistics, hosted by Lauren Gawne of Superlinguo​ and Gretchen McCulloch of All Things Linguistic. In this first episode of Lingthusiasm, ​Gretchen and Lauren discuss the “one language equals peace” fallacy, and whether speaking the same words means that people will necessarily agree with each other (spoiler: no). But the history of how people have tried is still really interesting, from constructed and symbolic communication like Blissymbols and emoji to the way astronauts communicate in the high stakes environment of the International Space Station. For links to things mentioned during this episode visit http://lingthusiasm.com/post/154520059101/lingthusiasm-episode-1-speaking-a-single-language Listen to bonus episodes, suggest future topics, and help keep the show ad-free by supporting us on Patreon: http://patreon.com/lingthusiasm