Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language.
Rásarupplýsingar
Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language.
A podcast about linguistics, the science of language.
Nýlegir þættir
105 þættir
127: Oh (with Maia Chao, Kelly Wright, and Caitlin Green)
The "Oh" show was an experimental linguistics performance lecture. It happened in June 2025 at Creative Time HQ in New York City. Actors, musicians, a...
125: Friends With Words (live with Martha Barnette and friends)
Martha Barnette is one half of the linguistics podcast A Way With Words, and author of the new book Friends With Words: Adventures in Languageland.
124: Algospeak (with Adam Aleksic)
Creators have to be mindful of what to say and what not to say in their content. This affects the language we're exposed to — and what we say IRL. But...
123: Conscious Language (with Karen Yin)
We've all seen style guides that tell us what to say and what not to say. Has a style guide ever asked you what you wanted to say? Or challenged you t...
122: The Interaction Engine (with Stephen Levinson)
How did language start? What do all languages have in common? How does language really work? Many answers have been posed to these questions, but one...
121: Learning from LLMs (with Adele Goldberg)
How do large language models (LLMs) do their thing, and it is anything like how we do our thing? What can we learn about human language from this soft...
120: Gesture! ✨👐✨ (with Lauren Gawne)
Gesture is everywhere. We wave our hands when we talk, even if we're alone. Signed languages are, of course, full languages that use gesture. And it c...
119: Eurovision Goes to Uni (with Paulette van der Voet and Solveig Bollig)
It's Eurovision season! We love to talk about what we can learn about language from this international song contest, but even we didn't realise that t...
118: The A.I. Con (with Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna)
Artificial intelligence (so-called) is typified by its boom and bust cycles, and we're in a boom now. But as more and more money pours in with decreas...
117: Sometimes It Feels Like I'm the Only One Trying to Fix English Around Here (live with friends for LingFest25)
Video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/wxGeXMzlwng
If you repeat something twice, how many times did you do it? Can more than one dinne...
116: Enough Is Enuf (with Gabe Henry)
Spelling reform in English: a constant failure? Or a secret success? Waves upon waves of optimists have tried to make English spelling reflect its sou...
114: Bye Bye I Love You (with Michael Erard)
First words and last words get a lot of attention. But how did words get to have such a place of prominence? What would we see if we focused on intera...
113: "Official" English (with Carmen Fought)
Breaking news: The president of the United States intends to sign an executive order designating English the official language of the USA. Is this a b...
112: WotY 2024: The Last Word
What really goes on behind the scenes at the biggest Word of the Year vote in linguistdom? Are we really going to stick with sanewashing for our word?...
111: Words of the Week of the Year 2024 (live with Mignon Fogarty and friends)
It's our Words of the Year episode, where we do a vibe check on all the words and name one of them our Because Language Word of the Year. We're joined...
110: Diego's Dossier (with Diego Diaz)
What's in the linguistic news? Diego knows. He's been tracking down stories and words for us all year long, and now he's curated an entire show for us...
109: Language Oppression in Tibet (with Gerald Roche and Sasha Wilmoth)
Minority languages are under threat everywhere, but Tibet represents a particularly difficult challenge. The Tibetan language family is under pressure...
108: Mailbag of Etymology (with Douglas Harper)
We're joined for the first time by Douglas Harper, proprietor of the world-renowned Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com). He's here to help us...
107: Linguaphile (with Julie Sedivy and Matt Spike)
Language is a lot like love. You can enjoyably lose yourself in both. They can both be dangerous. And they both entail a responsibility to keep each o...
106: What One Thing? (with Mark Ellison)
What one thing explains the most about language?
Here to answer that question is linguist and friend of the pod Dr Mark Ellison — and many of ou...
105 or 500 (live with Kelly Wright and friends)
For our 500th episode, we got together with our great listeners for their words, stories, and inspiration. It's a look back at the show, a look at lan...
104: Dogwhistles (with Elin McCready, Lizzy Hanks, Jesse Egbert, and Rikker Dockum)
Can you hear them? Only if you're meant to. Political dogwhistles exploit lack of knowledge in one group to send a coded message to another group. But...
103: Unequal Englishes (with Ruanni Tupas and Nicole Holliday)
There are lots of Englishes out there, but the way we approach varieties of English sets learners up to fail. How do we combat language ideologies out...
102: Signed Language Mailbag (with Adam Schembri, Christy Filipich, and Mark Ellison)
What do signed languages have in common? How do oral languages influence signed languages? How do they influence each other? Here to answer these ques...
101: Talkin' Chomsky (with Katie Martin and Abduweli Ayup)
Noam Chomsky is one of the world's foremost thinkers, and his impact on linguistics is incalculable. Yet many people are only familiar with his politi...
100: Spicy Mailbag
A hundred episodes already? To celebrate, we’re doing our favourite kind of episode: a Mailbag.
Timestamps
99: Gender in Germany (with Rob Tegethoff and Ciarán from Corner Späti)
What's going on in Germany? How are people talking about gender in the German language, and how is freedom of expression being handled? We have a coup...
98: Origin Uncertain (with Anatoly Liberman)
How much can we really know about the words we use? What are the facts behind some of the most tangled etymologies in English? And is our "Related or...
97: The Dictionary of Fine Distinctions (with Eli Burnstein)
What's the difference between a KINK and a FETISH? Does it matter if you ASSUME or PRESUME? English is full of these close groups of words, and author...
96: Language City (with Ross Perlin)
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...
95: Why the Far-Right Demagogues Language (with Caitlin Green and Maureen Kosse)
Language authorities. Right-wing politicians. White supremacists and feminists. What do they have in common? They're all working together to fight gen...
94: Mailbag of Sextillion and Three
Dr Kelly Wright is helping us understand the link between public health and language maintenance. And she’s helping us with our voluminous Mailbag!
93: Stop! Grammar Time (live with Ellen Jovin and friends)
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 Gramma...
92: In the First 600 Milliseconds (with Rachel Nordlinger)
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...
91: Linguistic Time Machine, part 2: Prehistory
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
and t...
90: Enpoopification (with Grant Barrett and Tim Brookes)
We’re talking words, and no one has a way with words like Grant Barrett. He’s here to tell us what it’s like at Dictionary.com, and what went down at...
89: Words of the Week of the Year 2023 (with Cory Doctorow and friends)
The public has voted, and a winner has been decided! We're looking all the words chosen by the various dictionary bodies, and counting down our Words...
88: Linguistic Time Machine, part 1: History
What was language like a year ago? Ten years ago? A hundred? What about before that?
We’re climbing into the Linguistic Time Machine and finding...
87: Trans-Inclusive (with Andrew Perfors)
What is a woman? Or a man? Or a chair, or a sandwich? Or anything, really?
"Gender critical" people are making language into a vector to attack...
86: Mailbag of Dog Sushi (with Nicole Holliday)
We've got mail, and linguistic MVP Dr Nicole Holliday is here to help us sort some things out around here. And we chat about the state of lingcomm tod...