33: Why spelling is hard — but also hard to change
Why does “gh” make different sounds in “though” “through” “laugh” “light” and “ghost”? Why is there a silent “k” at the beginning of words like “know” and “knight”? And which other languages also have...
20 Jun 201932min
32: You heard about it but I was there - Evidentiality
Sometimes, you know something for sure. You were there. You witnessed it. And you want to make sure that anyone who hears about it from you knows that you’re a direct source. Other times, you weren’t ...
16 Mai 201933min
31: Pop culture in Cook Islands Māori - Interview with Ake Nicholas
When a language is shifting from being spoken by a whole community to being spoken only by older people, it’s crucial to get the kids engaged with the language again. But kids don’t always appreciate ...
19 Apr 201939min
30: Why do we gesture when we talk?
This episode is also available as a special video episode so you can see the gestures! Go to youtube.com/lingthusiasm or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8dHtr7uLHs to watch it! When you describe to...
21 Mar 201933min
29: The verb is the coat rack that the rest of the sentence hangs on
Some sentences have a lot of words all relating to each other, while other sentences only have a few. The verb is the thing that makes the biggest difference: it’s what makes “I gave you the book” sou...
22 Feb 201938min
28: How languages influence each other - Hannah Gibson interview on Swahili, Rangi & Bantu languages
The Rift Valley area of central and northern Tanzania is the only area where languages from all four African language families are found (Bantu, Cushitic, Nilotic, and Khoisan). Languages in this area...
18 Jan 201935min
27: Words for family relationships: Kinship terms
There are certain things that human societies, and therefore languages, have in common. We have the same basic inventory of body parts, which affect both the kinds of movements we can make to produce ...
20 Des 201834min
26: Why do C and G come in hard and soft versions? Palatalization
A letter stands for a sound. Or at least, it’s supposed to. Most of the time. Unless it’s C or G, which each stand for two different sounds in a whole bunch of languages. C can be soft, as in circus o...
16 Nov 201834min
