John Gordon Ross

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

Language Log » Using Sinitic characters in Korea

Friday 3 July 23:07:16 UTC 2015

S. Robert Ramsey is professor of East Asian linguistics at the University of Maryland and author of the excellent book titled The Languages of China. I often consult with Bob on matters pertaining to Korean and Japanese; he is a reliable source of information on these languages as well as on Chinese in its many varieties — both in their … [Link]

languagehat.com » Ants, Oats, Knees.

Friday 3 July 21:15:58 UTC 2015

I’m halfway through Annihilation (thanks, bulbul!), and one of the pleasures of the book is discovering phrases hitherto unknown to me that are attractive as linguistic items and interesting as real-world phenomena; so far they’re all biological, because the narrator of the book is a biologist: velvet ants sea oats cypress knees Interestingly, a velvet ant is not an ant, … [Link]

Omniglot blog » Coasts and competitors

Friday 3 July 16:23:09 UTC 2015

Sometimes when I see new words in English or other languages I can immediately break them down into their component parts and work out their roots, but other times I just accept words as whole entities without trying to work out their derivation. One such word in Welsh is arfordir, which I hadn’t tried to analyse before. Last weekend, however, … [Link]

Language Log » Ask Language Log: pronouncing apoptosis

Friday 3 July 10:32:14 UTC 2015

From AB, MD (CPT, MC, USA): I have an odd inquiry that I'm hoping you'll oblige. My question is about the preferred pronunciation of apoptosis. I believe the scientist who originally described this phenomenon asked a linguist to invoke an image of an Autumn tree shedding a leaf. We are now in an intense debate about the most accurate pronunciation … [Link]

Language Log » Ancestors

Friday 3 July 9:55:31 UTC 2015

The most recent xkcd: The business about eventually being either "an ancestor to all living humans, or none of them" might have been brought to mind by Adam Rutherford, "So you're related to Charlemagne? You and every other living European…", The Guardian, 5/24/2015. But it's true, and as discussed in "Being descended from Confucius", 2/9/2012, the basic idea goes back … [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » sausage fears

Friday 3 July 7:25:31 UTC 2015

a term to describe the actions of straight men who are afraid of showing any physical or emotional bond to the men they are friends with. This is akin to saying "no homo," and is a result of toxic masculinity and homophobia "Why is Derek afraid of hugging Jonathan?" "He's got mad sausage fears, bro." [Link]

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