There’s a new linguistic podcast out there! Friends, linguists, podcast pros, lend me your ears! Being committed to bringing the joys of linguistics to a wide audience, and motivated by the continuing decline of Twitter, I am thrilled to announce that I now have a podcast! It’s called A Language I Love Is… and it’sContinue reading “Introducing: ‘A Language I Love Is…’”
Tag Archives: linguistics
Five Antiquities of English
Reading time: 10-15 minutes To listen along in an audio format, just click here: IT’S WELL KNOWN that English has undergone many significant changes down the centuries. Events like the Norman Conquest have drastically altered the shape of the language, influencing words and sounds so much that a new kind of English was born. YetContinue reading “Five Antiquities of English”
A Linguist Abroad: Holidaying with Hungarian
Reading time: 10-15 minutes Here’s something new for the blog: audio! If, for some reason, you’d like to hear my dulcet tones offending multiple European countries with my pronunciation of their words, you can listen to the full article here: This month, I had the good fortune to make a visit to Hungary and toContinue reading “A Linguist Abroad: Holidaying with Hungarian”
Behind the Scenes of Etymology with YouTube’s Jackson Crawford
Just another personal bit of news from me: my appearance as a virtual guest and interviewee of Dr Jackson Crawford is now up on YouTube! Dr Crawford is one of the biggest linguistics YouTubers active at the moment, and it was a real thrill to be invited for one of his Patreon interviews. You canContinue reading “Behind the Scenes of Etymology with YouTube’s Jackson Crawford”
(Hopefully) Halfway to Doctorhood
Reading time: 15-20 minutes Passing a milestone on a long journey, be it a metaphorical or a literal one, is always a moment for reflection. Recently, after fifteen months, I crawled over the finish line of a large part of my PhD project, and promptly ran off to the pub. The morning after, I awokeContinue reading “(Hopefully) Halfway to Doctorhood”
Bad Romance: An Introduction to the Appendix Probi
Reading Time: 10 minutes How exactly did we get from Latin to the many Romance languages of today? What changes happened to Latin that it should end up looking so different? These are the driving questions of Romance historical linguistics, the field of study that aims to investigate how French, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Romanian andContinue reading “Bad Romance: An Introduction to the Appendix Probi”
Digging Old Irish
Reading time: 15-20 minutes Old Irish has a bit of a bad reputation. This historical form of the Irish language, dated to between c. 600 AD and c. 900 AD, is a challenge for learners, even for those who already know some Modern Irish. Its systems of spelling, sounds, word order and grammar are veryContinue reading “Digging Old Irish”
Holy Linguists! Part II: Cyril and Methodius, Ælfric of Eynsham, Hildegard of Bingen
Reading time: 15-20 minutes So, continuing on a theme that nobody asked for but I love, here is the second part of my Holy Linguists! series of blog posts. Part I looked at three holy heavyweights from the Mediterranean world in the late antique era: Gregory of Nyssa, Jerome and Augustine. This month’s blog postContinue reading “Holy Linguists! Part II: Cyril and Methodius, Ælfric of Eynsham, Hildegard of Bingen”
Holy Linguists! Part I: Gregory of Nyssa, Jerome and Augustine
Reading time: 10 – 15 minutes Surprising as it may be, I do actually have other interests besides linguistics. Perhaps the intellectual pursuit that holds second place in my affection (and obsession) is the study of religion and everything that that word encompasses – all the faith, the emotion, the theology and philosophy, the art,Continue reading “Holy Linguists! Part I: Gregory of Nyssa, Jerome and Augustine”
A Thank-You Letter to Twitter Linguistics
Reading time: 15 minutes If, like me, you consider yourself a very online person, yet are surrounded in your daily life by offline people, it can be enormously enjoyable and perhaps even cathartic when you get the chance to meet similarly online people and have a good gossip about it all. Recently, as Covid restrictionsContinue reading “A Thank-You Letter to Twitter Linguistics”
Danny L. Bate 