Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language.

A podcast about linguistics, the science of language.

Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language. is a science podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 100 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language., a science show with 100 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language.

  145: Face With Tears of Joy (live with Keith Houston and friends)

  Sep 2, 20261h 34m

  Emoji, once regarded as some kind of frivolous nonsense, have become an important way we communicate online. But how did these little pictures come to our devices? What is the Unicode Consortium, and how did they get involved? And who is the Levitating Suit Guy? Fear not; author Keith Houston is here to give us the whole story in front of a live audience. Keith is the author of Face With Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji . Timestamps 00:00 Start 02:21 Introducing Keith Houston, author of Face With Tears of Joy 03:28 Put your top five emoji in chat 08:03 What's the state of emoji now? 10:11 How did the Unicode Consortium get involved? 22:30 The strange history of Levitating Suit Guy 27:37 The latest emoji in v17.0 30:12 Changes to some emoji 38:22 What gives an emoji staying power? 47:12 Related or Not: Theme by David 48:10 Related or Not 1: orchard and hoard 52:46 Related or Not 2: belle, bell, ball, & ball 59:01 Related or Not 3: Italian aceto (vinegar) & Spanish aceite (oil) 01:03:45 Why don't they use emoji on Reddit? 01:05:26 Are emoji now more acceptable in serious contexts? 01:08:34 Do speakers of some languages use emoji more? 01:13:00 Any languages where they just don't use emoji? 01:13:59 Does everyone call them "emoji"? 01:16:13 Sociolinguistic trends in emoji? 01:22:12 The reads: Which emoji is closest to your name? 01:33:06 Afterparty

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  Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language.

  144: Sociophonetics Deep Dive (with Jennifer Nycz, Lauren Hall-Lew, and Kelly Wright)

  Aug 21, 20261h 8m

  Why don't we all sound the same? Are some accents easier to learn? And are there reasons for the differences in how people sound and sign, or is it just random? We use sound and sign to encode information about our age, place, gender, sexuality, and so much more. Sometimes we're not even aware of how we do it. But we're fixing that on this episode with Jennifer Nycz and Lauren Hall-Lew , editors of Sociophonetics: Implications for Phonological and Phonetic Theory . Timestamps 00:00 Start: Introducing Jennifer Nycz and Lauren-Hall Lew 01:57 What is sociophonetics? 03:01 What's in our own sociophonetic background? 10:10 Why is it always vowels, vowels, vowels? 13:03 Why don't we all just sound the same? 15:09 You can hallucinate accents by seeing a photo 16:00 Sound encodes gender and sexuality 20:57 Chronolects, Boomerlects, and GenX-lects 22:04 Tweens to teens: What to expect sociophonetically? 27:33 Are there reasons for sound variation and change? 34:16 Why does a community change faster than an individual? 38:37 Does media have an influence on accent? 42:17 How much are we consciously aware of? 44:52 Are some accents easier? 48:39 What are the sociophonetic hot spots? 50:54 Are American women more nasal? 52:09 Persistent misconceptions 54:49 Fight linguistic discrimination, or teach marginalised people to "pass"? 01:03:03 The sociophonetics of signed languages

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  Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language.

  143: How to Kill a Language (with Sophia Smith Galer)

  Aug 11, 20262h 17m

  How does it feel to be isolated from a language and a culture that could have been yours? There are many paths to language loss, but there are also many ways back. Language revitalisation is now happening for communities and individuals. We're talking about it with journalist and lingToker Sophia Smith Galer , author of How to Kill a Language: Power, Resistance, and the Race to Save Our Words . Timestamps 00:00 Start 00:34 Intros: How are you "going"? 05:54 News: A font that can poison data for GenAI 13:51 News: A lost Golden Age of language in the Holocene 27:33 News: New language support for Netflix, Disney+ 33:59 Related or Not: Theme from Gordon 34:37 Related or Not: ramshackle 41:39 Related or Not: nap 48:57 Related or Not: adder, deer, natter, otter, hydra 54:12 Chat with Sophia Smith Galer: Her language background 01:00:31 The pain of separation from one's own language 01:05:01 Attacks on multicuturalism 01:07:34 Is all language death language murder? 01:09:41 The role of parents in language transmission 01:16:52 Factors influencing language survival 01:26:50 Will GenAI help or harm minority languages? 01:35:33 Challenging monoglossic language ideology 01:40:36 Sophia encourages linguistic curiosity 01:43:11 Responding to a review: Is it okay if languages die? 01:53:21 Word of the Week: slop zombie 01:55:29 Word of the Week: eternity leave 01:56:24 Word of the Week: spherical bastard 01:58:10 Word of the Week: the butter's penthouse 02:01:47 Word of the Week: Jimothy 02:04:42 Comments: Ingressive speech 02:08:33 The Reads 02:15:40 Outtakes: Hedvig's plant

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  Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language.

  142: If This Be Magic (with Daniel Hahn)

  Jul 28, 20262h 2m

  Translating Shakespeare takes a knowledge of language, culture, and poetry — both in English and in the target language. There are tradeoffs and pitfalls, but a skilled translator can bring Shakespeare closer to our age, not just to another language. We're talking with translator Daniel Hahn , author of If This Be Magic: The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation . Also, we're answering listener questions. Send us yours! Timestamps 00:00 Start 00:21 Intros: Shakespearean insults 07:33 Pronouncing SUDOKU: Why so variable? 15:58 Ingressive speech 20:46 Nonplussed 26:59 Related or Not: Theme from Hugh 28:13 Related or Not: pooch, pouch, pocket, and poach 38:14 Related or Not: caddy and caddie 42:47 Related or Not: hemi-, demi-, and semi- 49:30 Chat with Daniel Hahn: Keeping everything but the words 52:51 Spanish as a language of translation 58:59 Translation closes the distance: Shakespeare in contemporary English 01:07:02 Poetic meter and when to break it 01:11:07 Punctuating the translation 01:16:08 Archaic words and the feel of Shakespeare 01:18:23 Hardest language to translate Skakespeare into? 01:20:43 Staying true to time and culture 01:26:05 Having fun 01:31:12 Monosyllables 01:34:32 The impact of GenAI on translation 01:37:38 Getting people to care about translation 01:40:37 Should multi-line highway word markings start near to us or start far? 01:47:48 Gender and the -ster suffix 01:56:12 Comment from Allyson: Soo-ee! 01:58:03 The Reads 02:02:01 Outtake

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  Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language.

  141: Why Q Needs U (with Danny Bate and Caitlin M. Green)

  Jul 16, 20262h 24m

  Each letter in our Latin alphabet tells a story. But what about spaces? Or writing direction? Should we get rid of some letters, or could we even do with more? Here to answer all these questions is Dr Danny Bate , author of Why Q Needs U: A History of Our Letters and How We Use Them . Timestamps 00:00 Start 00:44 Intros: Special letters 05:46 News: Spanish okay at World Cup? 09:30 News: Forgetting is helpful in language acquisition 21:18 News: Bluey in Yolŋu 25:41 Related or Not theme by Jo 27:21 Related or Not: prodigy, prodigal, and prodigious 34:19 Related or Not: vice, device, divide 43:09 Related or Not: gauntlet and gaunt 49:48 Interview with Danny Bate, author of Why Q Needs U 50:16 About Danny's podcast: A Language I Love Is… 52:24 The Alphabet: greatest innovation since sexual reproduction 56:08 The case against boustrophedon 58:51 Letters flipped over time 01:02:40 Why are some letters more common than others? 01:06:14 Why does H get used in so many digraphs? 01:10:52 Thoughts on spelling reform 01:18:07 Why are L and R so squirrelly? 01:28:53 The evolution of spaces in written language 01:31:46 What letters can we get rid of? 01:35:15 Actually, no, we need a new letter 01:36:53 Communicating linguistic ideas to the public 01:44:02 Word of the Week: monoculture 01:53:43 Word of the Week: algae-TBQ agenda 02:00:15 Word of the Week: hobbylos 02:03:14 Word of the Week: tokenmaxxing 02:06:27 Word of the Week: Claudeonomics 02:11:21 The Reads 02:18:18 Outtakes: Back on our Bluey nonsense + On being a Dan

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