Language Stuff

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 » Yves Bonnefoy est mort.

Sunday 3 July 22:13:31 UTC 2016

I report with sadness that the great French poet Yves Bonnefoy died July 1; the only English-language source to cover the event appears to be BBC News, though I trust the NY Times, Guardian, and other big guns are preparing substantial obits. (In French, Libé gives its piece the nice title “Yves Bonnefoy disparaît en son arrière-pays.”) I have posted … [Link]

Language Log » A new polysyllabic character

Sunday 3 July 17:17:02 UTC 2016

Here it is, folks: Magnifique! I'll explain the pronunciation, construction, and meaning of this marvelous creation after providing some linguistic background about the Sinitic lexicon and Chinese script. Not all Sinitic words are monosyllabic. Indeed, the average length of a word in Modern Standard Mandarin (MSM) is just about two syllables. Even in Literary Sinitic / Classical Chinese, there were … [Link]

Language Log » "Linguistics has evolved"

Sunday 3 July 14:16:23 UTC 2016

From alice-is-thinking on tumblr, three weeks ago, forwarded by a 20-year-old correspondent: http://alice-is-thinking.tumblr.com~ The accompanying note: this seems to be a rly common phenomenon among millennials who are especially active on social media – myself included It's been picked up for example by Gretchen McCulloch at All Things Linguistic, who is writing a book about internet language, and by many … [Link]