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
the world in words » John Smith, Pocahontas, and the beginnings of American English
A detail of a window panel at St Helena’s Church in Willoughby, Britain (Photo: Patrick Cox) Willoughby, Lincolnshire is a village a few miles inland from the North Sea. It’s also the birthplace of adventurer John Smith. Smith was baptized in the village church, St Helena’s. The church dates back to the 14th century. There have been several additions in the … [Link]
Language Log » ER and ERM in the spoken BNC
From John Coleman: Inspired by your recent Language Log pieces, I tried an analysis of "er" vs "erm" in the Spoken BNC. These are the two main transcriptions for filled pauses labelled as "UNC" in the Claws-5 tagset and also "UNC" in the richer set of pos labels used in BNC. I.e. they are distinguished from items labelled as ITJ … [Link]
Omniglot blog » српски (Serbian)
Last week I started learning Serbian (српски) in preparation for the Polyglot Conference in Novi Sad in Serbia in October. Whenever I visit a country whose language I don’t already speak I learn at least the basics of their language, so I couldn’t go to Serbia without learning some Serbian. I’m using online materials, such as Serbian Lessons and an … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » God Donut
A way to say "God Dammit" when political correctness is required. It is derived from the iPhone autocorrect function. This auto correct is driving me crazy, God Donut!
[Link]
languagehat.com » Too Many Books, Part Umpteen.
I’ve linked to essays about this sort of thing before (e.g., here and here); now I present for your perusal Alice Fishburn in the Financial Times (of which she is an editor): It was as I tried to squeeze all 784 pages of Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch – my final purchase of 2013 – on to an already overcrowded bookshelf … [Link]
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