Almost everyone uses language, so inevitably almost everyone thinks they are an expert in it. I don’t consider myself an expert, though most of my work requires at least language competence and sometimes actual skill, but I do follow the blogs featured on this feeds page.
(If you are wondering where the translation-related feeds have all gone, I have put them on their own page.)
Most of the blogs represented here are in English, most of the time, but don’t be surprised to find other languages used. Go with the flow – I occasionally find myself pleasantly surprised at how much I can grasp in languages I have never seen before.
Language On the Net
languagehat.com
NOSTRATIC QUECHUA.
Piotr Gąsiorowski has produced the perfect rejoinder to the Pagel nonsense—in this Language Evolution post he proves, using the same allegedly rigorous techniques the proto-Eurasiatic crew rely on, that "the Quechua people are a lost Nostratic tribe. Note that the semantic matches are impeccable and the similarity of the words is quite obvious to any open-minded observer. Indeed, the matches … [Link]
ZINAIDA VENGEROVA.
This is another in my occasional series of posts bringing to light unjustly forgotten inhabitants of the byways of history (see, for instance, Sofya Engelgardt). Reading Catriona Kelly's excellent A History of Russian Women's Writing 1820-1992 
Language Log
A far-flung Nostratic colony in the Andes
In "The Inca Connection: A Quechua Word Game", 5/18/2013, Piotr Gąsiorowski compares "a 200-word Swadesh list for Southern Quechua and the Tower of Babel 'Eurasiatic' etymologies", and finds 22 clear matches. He notes that "There are only twenty-two matches because I got bored too soon, but it’s an easy game", and concludes I think I have already demonstrated beyond reasonable … [Link]
Rep. Gohmert's asparagus
Luke Johnson, "Louie Gohmert Goes Off On Eric Holder At House Hearing", Huffington Post 5/16/2013: A visibly infuriated Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) tore into Attorney General Eric Holder after his time expired in a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday. […] "I cannot have a witness challenge my character," said Gohmert, as the chairman told him again that his time had … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day
Highlingual
The belief that, when high, you can speak two or more languagesCan be actual knowledge of the language that was forgotten but was remembered because your high. Or a completely false belief (when their translation has nothing to do with the actual translation) A "Como estas" B "Bien y tu?" A "You speak spanish?!" B "I do when im high" … [Link]
Riker's Beard
The opposite of jump the shark, i.e. when a TV show goes from unspectacular/boring/outlandish to completely awesome. It references Star Trek: The Next Generation, which was unspectacular until season 2, when Commander Riker grew a beard. The show kicked ass from then on. "Man, Dollhouse really pulled a Riker's Beard last week with that awesome episode."
[Link]
Wordorigins.org
DARE Funding
A month ago I reported on the unfortunate situation with funding for the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE). The situation has improved significantly. A number of contributors have stepped up to the plate. An anonymous donor has contributed $100,000 and the American Dialect Society has pitched in $30,000. The University of Wisconsin has also given the project $100,000 and … [Link]
Trademarking “Día De Los Muertos”
This is a bit off topic for wordorigins.org, but I’ve addressed intellectual property issues before, and while I mostly focus on copyright, distinguishing between copyright and trademark is an important thing to do—especially if you’re a reporter writing a story about it. Disney’s Pixar Studios has an upcoming film based on the Mexican cultural celebration, and Disney made an initial … [Link]
the world in words
Getting Kids to Speak Africa’s Languages, One Doll at a Time
Once every couple of months, Cartoon Queen Carol Hills and I pick five language stories to chat about. They’re all news stories of some sort, but none has made much of a splash. These are stories we chose this time: The Future of Yoruba Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka is worried that young Nigerians aren’t speaking Yoruba. The language is the … [Link]
How American Linguist Alice Kober Helped Unlock the Secrets of Linear B
A sample of Linear B script. This piece contains information on the distribution of bovine, pig and deer hides to shoe and saddle-makers. (Photo: Sharon Mollerus via Wikimedia Commons)Here’s a guest post from my Big Show colleague Alex Gallafent… 
Alice Kober, 1946 (Photo: Brooklyn Collection, Brooklyn Public Library) In 1900, a wealthy British archeologist named Arthur Evans went digging on the Mediterranean … [Link]
You Don't Say
Moving on
Today You Don’t Say relocates to a new Web address and new software. You will be able to find it at http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/la~ where … [Link]
A spell of rough weather
There was a mild dustup today on the Internet over, of all things, spelling.The rhubarb started when Anne Trubek flung down the gauntlet with a suggestion in Wi … [Link]
Talk Wordy to Me
Cacti in a Booker’s bourbon box
[Link]
Lauren’s bourbon balls recipe
GUYS GUYS GUYS. The Kentucky Derby is on Saturday! This combines the two things I learned to love in Kentucky: horse racing and bourbon. Lauren always makes bourbon balls for our party. What are bourbon balls? They are basically bourbon frosting dipped in chocolate. I KNOW, RIGHT? The best part is, the bourbon doesn’t cook off that much, so you … [Link]
World Wide Words updates
New online: Banausic
Banausic is a snobbish word for a mundane or functional activity, such as earning money. [Link]
New online: Austerian
The austerians are the economists and politicians who believe austerity is the only answer to our financial troubles. [Link]
Omniglot blog
Language quiz
Here’s a recording in a mystery language. Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken? By the way, this was recorded by a non-native speaker of this language. I couldn’t find any recordings of native speakers, probably because there are so few. [Link]
More on grammar
The importance of grammar in language learning is often played down in language courses and by people who blog about language learning. They claim that you can learn a language either without actively studying the grammar (whatever they mean by the word), or that you only need to glance at grammar books and explanations now and then. This is partly … [Link]
Archive
19 May 2013 18 May 2013 17 May 2013 16 May 2013 15 May 2013 14 May 2013 13 May 2013 12 May 2013 11 May 2013 10 May 2013 09 May 2013 08 May 2013 07 May 2013 06 May 2013 05 May 2013 04 May 2013 03 May 2013 02 May 2013 01 May 2013 30 Apr 2013 29 Apr 2013 28 Apr 2013 27 Apr 2013 26 Apr 2013 25 Apr 2013 24 Apr 2013 23 Apr 2013 22 Apr 2013 21 Apr 2013 20 Apr 2013 19 Apr 2013 18 Apr 2013
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