Word of Mouth

Michael Rosen and linguist Dr Laura Wright discuss how well we judge taking it in turns when we're in conversation. Professor Stephen Levinson has new research on the science behind this, and joins them in the studio for a carefully-calibrated discussion.. He believes that the back-and-forth pattern we instinctively fall into may have evolved before language itself. Levinson's research has found that it takes about 200 milliseconds for us to reply to each other, but it takes about 600 milliseconds to prepare what we're going to say - so we're preparing as we listen. Levinson notes that this is a pattern found across all human languages, and some animal species, and that infants begin taking turns in interactions at about six months of age, before they can even speak. But what's going on when someone seems to get it wrong, to interrupt or talk over the other person? Producer Beth O'Dea.

Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright guide us through the top 20 words in English. Not the best or most popular (that would include tentacular, ping-pong and sesquipedalian (look it up - it's a cracker). Plus a lot of swearing. No this is the 20 most commonly used. It's actually quite a boring list - full of 'And', 'I', 'of' etc - but look a little closer and it tells you all about the structure of language. The little words you really can't do without that glue all the other ones together.This kind of list comes from a branch of lingustics called Corpus Linguistics. It looks at the frequency and distribution of words in large bodies of text or speech. You can apply it to anything - political debates, lonely hearts columns or pop songs. Which is exactly what our guest Prof Jonathan Culpeper has done. That's high end linguistics and Pharrell Williams. Only on Word of Mouth.APPENDIX 1 - THE LIST!* the * be * to * of * and * a * in * that * have * I * it * for * not * on * with * he * as * you * do * at.

Forget Laurence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft, Al Pacino and Judi Dench. To take us back to Shakespeare's own time Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright hear Shakespeare as he himself would have spoken. The original, unvarnished version from linguist David Crystal and actor Ben Crystal. They look at the fashion for Original Pronunciation and ask what it can tell us about how we speak now.Michael and Laura perform some of Shakespeare's best known work in the original accent and attempt to bring new meaning and wit to language coated by centuries of veneer.Producer: Mair Bosworth.

What is slang, where does it come from, and which subjects attract the most slang words? Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright thrash it out with lexicographer of slang and swearing Jonathon Green. Producer Beth O'Dea Jonathon Green is the author of Slang: A Very Short Introduction.

How come humans learn to speak and use language in extraordinarily sophisticated ways, without any conscious effort, while other animals do not? Recent research suggests that the answer lies, in part, in our genes. And three generations of a British family held the key to discovering which gene.Neuroscientist Dr Frederique Liegeois joins Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright to discuss the genetic basis of language.Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.

Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright talk to River Cottage natural forager and writer John Wright about the surprising and wonderful Latin names used to describe animals and plants, and how they came to be. What is an Aha ha? John Wright is the author of The Naming of the Shrew: A Curious History of Latin Names. Producer Beth O'Dea.

Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright take us through the A-Z of the alphabet, with the help of Professor Nils Langer. How do we come to have the letters we do? Producer Beth O'Dea.

Michael Rosen & Dr Laura Wright look into how new commercial brand names are invented, with Greg Rowland, the semiotician who came up with the name of a new perfume for Calvin Klein. Which words and sounds work, and which don't, and why? Professor Will Leben talks about how his company came up with the name Blackberry, and the uses of sound symbolism. Producer Beth O'Dea.

In a romantic edition, Michael Rosen, Dr Laura Wright and Professor John Mullan explore the clusters of meanings and differences between the words romance and the Romantic poets, romanticism and the romance languages. Producer Beth O'Dea.

Michael Rosen & Dr Laura Wright discuss with linguist Professor Naomi Baron the quantifiable differences between the experience of reading print books and of reading eBooks, or onscreen. Which allows for deeper reading and a stronger emotional response, and what is the future of reading? Producer Beth O'Dea Naomi S. Baron is the author of Words Onscreen: The Fate of Reading in a Digital World.