the Weekly Linguist podcast

Episode 11: Keren Rice, part 1, on the Dene languages

This is an exciting week! We are talking to Dr. Keren Rice of the University of Toronto, former President of the Linguistic Society of America, the Canadian Linguistic Association and the Society for the Study of Indigenous Languages of the Americas. We discuss the Dene (formerly Athabaskan) languages of North America. Tune in for a fascinating discussion!

Episode 10: Dina Stanković, part 3, more on Serbian and Slavic Languages

On this week’s episode, we finish our discussion with Miss Dina Stanković, a budding young linguist who studies — and podcasts on! — Slavic languages. Last week we talked about the morphology and some syntax of Serbian. This week we continue with the language’s syntax, and then discuss interesting features of Serbian’s verbal aspect system.

Episode 9: Dina Stanković, part 2, more on Serbian and Slavic Languages

On this week’s episode, we continue our discussion with Miss Dina Stanković, a budding young linguist who studies — and podcasts on! — Slavic languages. Last week we talked about the history and socio-cultural context of Serbian, followed by a discussion of the phonetics and phonology (i.e. the sounds of) Serbian. This week we keep going by discussing the language’s morphology and begin a discussion on Serbian syntax.

Episode 8: Dina Stanković, part 1, on Serbian and Slavic Languages

On this week's episode, we are excited to introduce a budding young linguist who studies -- and podcasts on! -- Slavic languages! Miss Dina Stanković gives us an introduction to Slavic languages in general, and then we discuss Serbian, her heart language, in particular. Enjoy!

Episode 7: Joyce Bennett on Language and Empowerment among Kaqchikel Women in Guatemala

In this week’s episode, Jarrette talks to Dr. Joyce Bennett of Connecticut College about her research on the interplay between language, culture, and empowerment among Kaqchikel women in Guatemala. How and why are Kaqchikel women reclaiming their identity through clothing and language in Guatemala?

Episode 6: Anthony Grant, part 2, more on Lexicostatistics, Tagmemics, Word Borrowings, and Philippine languages

Today’s episode provides the listener with a few “outtakes” from Jarrette’s conversation with Anthony Grant that we weren’t able to include in the first episode (Episode 5) but that definitely were worth including! Topics include: cognacy grids and how lexicostatistics resembles biology, tagmemics, glottochronology, word borrowing, and an interesting discussion of Philippine languages.

Episode 5: Anthony Grant, part 1, on Lexicostatistics Today

On this week’s episode, we interview Dr. Anthony Grant of Edge Hill University in Ormskirk, Lancashire, in the UK. This episode discusses one aspect of language diversity around the world: the methodology called lexicostatistics. What is lexicostatistics? How is it related to the controversial idea of glottochronology? What can we learn from lexicostatistics, and why is it an important methodology in modern Linguistics? Tune in to find out!

Episode 4: Judie Maxwell, part 3, on Language Rights and Revitalization

In this episode, we finish the conversation with Judie Maxwell of Tulane University. Topics include: how languages encode human knowledge and worldviews; the autonomy of a language community to choose if, when, and where to speak their language (or not); heritage communities and heritage languages; the terms "extinct", "dead", "sleeping", and "reclamation" when talking about endangered languages; language domains; community buy-in; and the power of a single person to make a difference!

Episode 3: Judie Maxwell, part 2, on Language Death and Vitality

In this episode, we continue our conversation with Judie Maxwell of Tulane University. We start by talking about "the language split by a river" in Guatemala, and then we explore how languages dwindle down to a single speaker. We then discuss reasons why some people refuse to speak their language and about "safe domains" for a language, as well as the role schools can play in the vitality of languages.

Episode 2: Judie Maxwell, part 1, on Language Diversity

In this episode, we talk to our own professor Judith M. Maxwell of Tulane University about language diversity. Because the purpose of the podcast is to discuss the languages of the world, the first few episodes are intended to set the stage for a discussion of the world's languages. We talk very generally about how languages change and diversify themselves, giving a few examples of the processes that change language over time. We also discuss the effects of globalization on language diversity.