Endangered Languages & Evolving Thai with Linguist Rikker Dockum [Season 3, Episode 22]

Endangered Languages & Evolving Thai with Linguist Rikker Dockum [Season 3, Episode 22]

What if you got into a time machine and jumped forward a few hundred years, only to discover when you arrived that no one spoke your language anymore? It's happened plenty of times (not the time machine thing, but languages dying out), so we wondered...could it happen to Thai?

Greg interviews friend of the show Rikker Dockum, a linguist finishing his PhD at Yale, who has been doing research in northwest Burma on a local dialect that is part of the same family of languages as Thai. After discussing this unusual dialect, Greg and Rikker chat about the modern Thai language and how it has slowly splintered and changed over time, including a few interesting tidbits into why Thais call Google 'Uncle Goo' and why the Thai translation of the Forrest Gump novel used a very specific spelling of a particular word. To wrap it up, Rikker gives us his thoughts on 'language death' and what role the forces of globalization and modern technology play.

As always, the podcast will continue to be 100% funded by listeners just like you who get some special swag from us. And we'll keep our Facebook, Twitter, and LINE accounts active so you can send us comments, questions, or whatever you want to share.

Episoder(561)

Action Figure Overload: How Accurate Are the Thai Versions of the Viral AI Trend? [S7.E67]

Action Figure Overload: How Accurate Are the Thai Versions of the Viral AI Trend? [S7.E67]

Greg and Ed jump on the bandwagon and discuss the recent trend of images of 'action figures' generated by AI. ChatGPT especially seems quite good at creating semblances of plastic blister packs filled...

22 Apr 202544min

Interesting Friends And Strange Characters: Expat Connections [S7.E66]

Interesting Friends And Strange Characters: Expat Connections [S7.E66]

Greg and Ed discuss some interesting expats they have met over the years - both good and bad - and what lessons they have managed to glean from them. Thailand is a bit of a strange stew of expats; wit...

15 Apr 202542min

Myanmar Quakes & Bangkok Shakes: Thoughts on the March 28 Earthquake [S7.E65]

Myanmar Quakes & Bangkok Shakes: Thoughts on the March 28 Earthquake [S7.E65]

Greg and Ed address the unavoidable topic du jour: the earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28 that was felt all the way to Bangkok. Greg begins by pointing out that even though much ink and many w...

8 Apr 202535min

Sopping, Soggy, Sodden, Soaking Songkran: The Thai New Year is Here! [S7.E64]

Sopping, Soggy, Sodden, Soaking Songkran: The Thai New Year is Here! [S7.E64]

With the big holiday nearly here, Greg and Ed reminisce about their various Songkran experiences over the years. Ed notes that last year was a breakthrough year: he actually went out and 'threw water'...

1 Apr 202539min

Second Opinions & Jedi Lies: Stories From Bangkok's Hospitals [S7.E63] (Classic Recast)

Second Opinions & Jedi Lies: Stories From Bangkok's Hospitals [S7.E63] (Classic Recast)

A fabulous re-cast episode from season 3! Sooner or later, we all spend some time in the hospital, so Greg and Ed riff on their myriad experiences in Bangkok hospitals over the years. But before we ge...

25 Mar 202545min

The Russians are Coming! What the Influx Means for Phuket [S7.E62]

The Russians are Coming! What the Influx Means for Phuket [S7.E62]

Greg and Ed discuss the massive influx of Russians (and some Ukrainians) into Thailand, particularly the island of Phuket. Numerous stories have been written in the last year about the unusually high ...

18 Mar 202526min

Bangkok Pains: Distilling Bangkok Into a Board Game [S7.E61]

Bangkok Pains: Distilling Bangkok Into a Board Game [S7.E61]

Greg interviews Tim Swainson and his team at creative agency Invisible Ink about their Thai-centric board game, 'Bangkok Pains.' The show begins with introductions from the creative team at Invisible ...

11 Mar 202544min

How Thick is Your Bubble? Piercing the Thai/Expat Barrier [S7.E60]

How Thick is Your Bubble? Piercing the Thai/Expat Barrier [S7.E60]

Following a great suggestion from listener Kelly, Greg and Ed discuss the 'expat bubble,' the tendency for expats (and tourists) to primarily spend time with foreigners, rather than experience the sam...

4 Mar 202531min

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