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 » "Arrival" gets the wug treatment
Linguists have been having a field day with the movie "Arrival" (see: "'Arrival' arrives"). From Ollie Sayeed on Facebook, here's a playful take on the shot of Louise Banks (Amy Adams) holding up a whiteboard with the word "HUMAN" for the aliens' perusal. 
If you're unfamiliar with Jean Berko Gleason's famous "wug test," check out Wikipedia, or see this piece … [Link]
Language Log » Apostrophe in Hebrew
We've already looked at the use of an apostrophe in Hangul. Now Wendy Heller has sent in this photograph of a shop sign in Haifa, Israel: 
The apostrophe is a flower so as to be distinguished from the "י" (yōd) next to it. There's no mistaking that outsize "S" — going in the opposite direction of the Hebrew letters! The … [Link]
Omniglot blog » Parched torrents
Quite a lot of rain has fallen over the past day or so in the UK, thanks to Storm Angus, so I thought I’d look at the origins of some rain-related words. The word rain comes from the Old English rēn/reġn (rain), from the Proto-Germanic *regnaz (rain), possibly from the Proto-Indo-European *Hreǵ- (to flow) or from *reg- (moist, wet). When … [Link]
languagehat.com » Interview with Michael Emmerich.
This comment by Bathrobe (on the recent Hexabook post) linked to an interview so interesting I had to give it its own post: Hope Leman’s Interview with Michael Emmerich, Author of “The Tale of Genji.” I won’t quote the lengthy description of A Fraudulent Murasaki’s Bumpkin Genji (Nise Murasaki inaka Genji), because Bathrobe did so in that comment, which I … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » calling dingo
used as a slang term to describe something with a conflict of interest, much like it would be a conflict of interest to hire a dingo to babysit your infant while you leave the house. In this situation the dingo has a contrast of interest and will most likely NOT do a good job babysitting your infant.This term was first … [Link]
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