When societies of humans come into contact, they’ll often pick up words from each other. When this is happening actively in the minds of multilingual people, it gets called codeswitching; when it happened long before anyone alive can remember, it’s more likely to get called etymology. But either way, this whole spectrum is a kind of borrowing.
In this epis ... Show More
Jan 15
112: When language become-s(3SG) linguistic example-s(PL)
Language is all around us. This sentence right here, is language! But between the raw experience of someone saying something and a linguistic analysis of what they've said, there are certain steps that make it easier for that analysis to happen, or to be understood or reproduced ... Show More
49m 12s
Dec 19
111: Whoa!! A surprise episode??? For me??!!
Wait, surprise is associated with a particular intonation!? Oh, you can see surprise by measuring electricity from your brain!? Hang on, some languages have grammatical marking for surprise!? In this episode, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get enthusiastic about s ... Show More
50m 36s
May 2017
145 - Do You Have The Balls To learn English?
Like any other language, English is filled with so many slang expressions and rude terms, most revolving around human genitalia. Humans tend to find lots of interesting ways to use sexual organs to describe how they are feeling, from anger to extreme joy and delight. Although thi ... Show More
51m 29s
Oct 2023
Hair on Your Tongue (Rebroadcast) - 23 October 2023
If you speak both German and Spanish, you may find yourself reaching for a German word instead of a Spanish one, and vice versa. This puzzling experience is so common among polyglots that linguists have a name for it. • The best writers create luscious, long sentences using the s ... Show More
53m 45s
