Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language.

Rob Tegethoff, a linguist focusing on German language and society, joins Ciarán from Corner Späti, a podcast dedicated to language and culture discussions. They delve into the challenges of gender-inclusive language in Germany, examining activism's role in language manipulation. The conversation touches on societal shifts regarding gender representation and the complexities of belonging for immigrants. They also highlight the impact of censorship on open dialogue and explore the balance between freedom of expression and societal norms.

Anatoly Liberman, a leading etymologist and author of *Origin Uncertain*, takes listeners on a journey through the tangled roots of English words. He discusses the fascinating complexities of etymology and the challenges of tracing word origins. The conversation includes playful guessing games that illustrate the quirks of language and how it evolves. Liberman also highlights how biases can influence grading in education, connects linguistic sound symbolism to cultural perception, and explores new terms relevant to technology and AI.

Eli Burnstein, author of "The Dictionary of Fine Distinctions," dives into the nuances of the English language. He discusses the intriguing differences between kinks and fetishes, reflecting on the personal and societal implications. The conversation also highlights how stress patterns in words impact memory recall, along with the importance of American Sign Language in enhancing accessibility. Eli shares insights on regional language variations in culinary terms, revealing how our understanding of words is shaped by culture and context.

New York City is home to a lot of languages! Sometimes a sizeable language community can live on just a couple of floors of an apartment building. Dr Ross Perlin is working to find and promote minority languages in NYC. He's the co-founder of the Endangered Language Alliance, and author of Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York. Ross joins us for this episode. Intro: 0:36 News: 8:13 Related or Not: 32:52 Interview with Ross Perlin: 43:12 Words of the Week: 1:24:13 The Reads: 1:39:54 Show notes: http://becauselanguage.com/96-language-city/ Support the show: http://patreon.com/join/becauselangpod/

Language authorities. Right-wing politicians. White supremacists and feminists. What do they have in common? They're all working together to fight gender-inclusive language. But why bring language into this fight? What extra does this give them? Dr Caitlin Green and Maureen Kosse join us to explain on this big episode.

Dr Kelly Wright is helping us understand the link between public health and language maintenance. And she's helping us with our voluminous Mailbag! Why can you have a TRIFECTA, but not any other number -FECTA? Why does a SEXTILLION (with a prefix meaning six) have seven chunks of zeros? What do CHOPSTICKS have to do with chopping? And what's the -ER in words like RUBBER, AFTER, and TEMPER?

In honour of Grammar Day (4 March), we are joined live by special guest Ellen Jovin, who regularly dispenses grammar advice and wisdom from the Grammar Table. Now she's testing our grammatical mettle and answering our questions. YouTube video of this episode: https://youtu.be/C1l8Alk3Ptc?si=7pnGnuKcy9YY-mhR

What are your eyes doing when you describe a scene? It may depend on your language. New research from Dr Rachel Nordlinger and team shows that we do a lot of planning and scanning very quickly, and it follows the requirements of our language. She's studied Murrinhpatha, an Australian Aboriginal language, to see what its speakers do.

We're climbing back into the linguistic time machine and taking a look at language in the long view. We'll find out what language was like 100,000 years ago 1 million years ago 10 million years ago and then jump into the future 100 years 1,000 years, and 10,000 years from now. What will we find?

Grant Barrett, a linguist and lexicographer at Dictionary.com, talks about the American Dialect Society's Words of the Year vote. Tim Brookes, an author and advocate for preserving writing systems, discusses World Endangered Writing Day and the importance of preserving endangered writing systems. The podcast covers topics like language variation, regional variations in soft drink names, and the historical significance of writing systems like Glagolytic and Tifuna.