Lingthusiasm - A podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics
Episodes
15: Talking and thinking about time
21 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When we talk about things that languages have in common, we often talk about the physical side, the fact that languages are produced by human bodies, ...
14: Getting into, up for, and down with prepositions
17 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Are you up for some prepositions? You might think you’re over prepositions, but have you ever really looked into them, or have you just gone by them...
13: What Does it Mean to Sound Black? Intonation and Identity Interview with Nicole Holliday
19 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If you grow up with multiple accents to choose from, what does the one you choose say about your identity? How can linguistics unpick our hidden assum...
12: Sounds you can’t hear - Babies, accents, and phonemes
21 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Why does it always sound slightly off when someone tries to imitate your accent? Why do tiny children learning your second language already sound bett...
11: Layers of meaning - Cooperation, humour, and Gricean Maxims
17 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
– Would you like some coffee? – Coffee would keep me awake. Does that mean yes coffee, or no coffee? It depends! Is it the morning or the eveni...
10: Learning languages linguistically
20 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Some linguists work with multiple languages, while others focus on just one. But for many people, learning a language after early childhood is the thi...
09: The bridge between words and sentences - Constituency
15 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
How do we get from knowing words to making brand-new sentences out of them? In episode 9 of Lingthusiasm, your hosts Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gaw...
08: People who make dictionaries
18 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Dictionaries: they’re made by real people! In episode 8 of Lingthusiasm, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch talk about Word by Word, a...
07: Kids these days aren’t ruining language
20 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
There are some pretty funny quotes of historical people complaining about kids back then doing linguistic things that now seem totally unremarkable. S...
06: All the sounds in all the languages - The International Phonetic Alphabet
16 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
English writing is hugely inconsistent: is “ough” pronounced as in cough, though, through, thought, rough, plough, or thorough? And once you start...
05: Colour words around the world and inside your brain
16 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Red, orange, yellow, grue, and purple? Not so fast – while many languages don’t distinguish between green and blue, it’s unlikely that a languag...
04: Inside the Word of the Year vote
16 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Every January, hundreds of linguists gather in a conference room somewhere in the US to discuss and vote for the Word of the Year. It’s the longest-...
03: Arrival of the Linguists - Review of the Alien Linguistics Movie
15 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Lingthusiasm Episode 3: Arrival of the linguists - Review of the alien linguistics movie Linguists are very excited about the movie Arrival, because ...
02: Pronouns. Little words, big jobs
13 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
If there are pronouns, why aren’t there connouns? What’s the point of these little words? In this episode of the podcast that’s enthusiastic a...
01: Speaking a single language won’t bring about world peace
13 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
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’...