The Science of Linguistics (with

This week Tom Scott joins us to chat about linguistics, the scientific study of language. If you learn anything from this episode, let it be that a conversation with someone that likes linguistics is always going to go off the rails with as many tangents as possible...
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References & Further Reading
www.linguisticsociety.org/res...
• What is Linguistics?: ...
linguistics.ucla.edu/undergra...
link.springer.com/book/10.100...
www.linguisticsociety.org/res...
www.britannica.com/science/li...
www.google.co.uk/search?q=is+...
kzbin.info?searc...
• What is Linguistics?: ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interna...
www.ipachart.com/
linguistics.ucla.edu/undergra...
linguistics.uchicago.edu/unde...
www.forbes.com/sites/robtoews...
www.linguisticsociety.org/con....
all-about-linguistics.group.s....
all-about-linguistics.group.s...
www.theatlantic.com/internati...
www.britannica.com/topic/lang...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hockett...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti....
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
www.thoughtco.com/syntax-gram....
www.thoughtco.com/semantics-l...
www.britannica.com/science/pr...
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/le...
Follow the SCI GUYS
@notcorry / @lukecutforth

[@SciGuys]

Which & how many languages do you speak?

[@saulcontrerasOfficial]

2, English, Spanish, and I want to learn Italian, which would make it 3.

[@ConsciousAtoms]

Dutch and English. My passive German is quite good but that's because German is so similar to Dutch. I can't really speak German, though. In theory, I should be able to speak & understand French as I was taught French for 4 years in highschool but I'm afraid my French is mostly non-existent.

[@lentoff1]

3: German, English, Spanish, and some others I have started learning: Russian, Turkish, French, Italian, and well... Latin😅

[@elenabalionyte2747]

English, Lithuanian, Russian, German, and Dutch

[@soupster857]

english, french, poor german, learning poor portuguese and poor scots gaelic

[@thiel_spencer]

I just have to say, I'm so glad sign lanauages were mentioned as actual languages! I only took two terms of ASL to fill a credit requirement for my transfer degree, so I'm far from an expert and I'm not Deaf, but I ended up being absolutely *fascinated* by it. There were so many intricacies and little facets to it that I never could have imagined. I would love to go back and learn more! p.s. S.E.E (Signed Exact English) is the exact English words and grammer but mapped into signing they were talking about. It's much more clunky and slow compared to ASL.

[@deadlymelody27]

In the UK its called SSE, sign supported english. Must be different for asl and bsl. But yeah its bsl but English grammar. I teach my child baby sign language and they use SSE, because its not about teaching them to sign bsl, but use sign to help give them any communication, signed or spoken.

[@chestermightbeafrog]

Love to hear the meat folds of Tom Scott flap along with the other sci guys. This episode was fascinating

[@AlmightyRawks]

Why did you have to put it like that.... Ok *begrudgingly* 10/10 comment

[@sogghartha]

fun note about disaster: that aster part comes from latin astrum meaning star, they believed the stars could be interpreted as good or bad omens, so quite literally it means 'bad star'

[@alishak8241]

wait wait wait you got TOM SCOTT on your podcast? 😳😳 that's amazing, congratulations! looking forward to it

[@fallhaunt1952]

with TOM FUCKING SCOTT?? this is amazing, I can't wait!

[@georgedoty-williams2085]

I thought his middle name was David

[@MaxxSuri76]

Corry: language rules weren't made up by anyone Conlangs: are we a joke to you?

[@petraw9792]

Conlangs try to mimic natural language evolution, though, right?

[@MaxxSuri76]

@@petraw9792I mean they can use rules from existing languages, which could count as mimicking other languages, but not really their evolution. I guess if the conlang lives long enough it could have a natural evolution, though. The creator could also create a rule that the conlang changes along with the existing language it is based on, but I don't think that would qualify as natural

[@sponge1234ify]

@@petraw9792 for conlangs that try to mimic natural languages, sure. But you don't have to follow that. I know it's one year later, but if you want to see how much conlang can *really* differ from natural language, search for "Cursed Conlang Circus". And that's just one recent event! Conlang is an artform in that there's absolutely *no* rules but your own.

[@I_Love_Learning]

@@petraw9792 No, but some do. Many go for other goals, like Esparanto or Loglan.

[@Coccinelf]

Greetings from Québec! It was nice to hear someone talk about us! I obviously can’t speak for all of the other countries but here, when we were thought English as a second language in school, it was exactly as poor as Corry described his experience learning a second language in a British school. I was thought English for 9 years and I can’t tell you what level I was at but it was really really low. Like I couldn’t understand Harry Potter. It was when I took it upon myself to learn it that I started to improve and eventually became fluent. Internet helped me tremendously. In fact I’d say internet is essential if you don’t live somewhere your target language is spoken. When I was growing up, it was like Tom said, every movie or TV-show that was originally in English was dubbed in French. Also, the radio had quota of French music to respect. I’m pretty sure that is the main difference between my experience (as a 40 year old) and someone younger who has had access to streaming services in English their whole life. On the order of adjectives, when there are too many, I start to sweat, but it only boils down to your level of exposure to English. You just try to find what sounds better, which is way easier when you are typing than talking! Completely unrelated to anything you talked about: many mistakes native English speakers make, I rarely make. Like homophones. there, they’re, their or your, you’re. The list is long. It’s not because I’m an advance speaker. You just learn the rules when you are a beginner and then those kinds of mistakes flash in neon light any time you read casual English (and let’s face it, sometimes formal English too). Native English speakers learned this stuff spoken as toddlers so it’s not the same in the brain? I don’t know, I’m not a linguist! I’m sure the same is true with many languages. Mistakes native speakers make than learners rarely do. Thanks for the podcast, it was really interesting!

[@freshwater5544]

Actually, native English speakers mess up homophones all the time. Just go to a non-intellectual video's comments

[@Coccinelf]

@@freshwater5544 That's exactly what I'm saying! Maybe I wasn't clear, I'll try to correct it.

[@freshwater5544]

@@Coccinelf nah, it's just late at night here so I read it wrong, you're good

[@tsikli8444]

If you want a language that swears beautifully look no further than one of my natives, Cantonese - the sheer quality, intensity, and beauty of our swearing is incredible.

[@Silkenray]

I’m pretty sure “disaster” actually does come from “dis” meaning “bad”, and “astra” as in “star”. It comes from old timey divination or fortune telling - something terrible happening after (say) a shooting star or nova was observed, or was astrologically predicted, or another similar portent.

[@Silkenray]

Romeo and Juliet’s romance was a disaster in both senses

[@deadlymelody27]

With Luke talking about when you can tell someone speaks english as a second language instead of a native speaker, I noticed while working somewhere where i was the only native english speaker when i was younger, things like "since 5 years" instead of "5 years ago" or "for 5 years", or even "open the lights" and "close the lights" instead of turn on and off. I had a friend when I was younger who was born in Jordan, she spoke Arabic as a first language but then learnt english from about age 6 to the point where it wouldve been her primary language as she didnt necessarily read and write arabic, and spoke it at home, but used her english with her peers exclusively. And she used "open the light". I dont know if there was a point where she wouldve changed that, or whether it was understood so why change it? But i just find it fascinating where, in a lot of other languages it is "open the light" (i think it is in french, one language i know a little of). Another fascinating one is when you change between two languages, hearing a non native speaker speak in their language and then say "kitchen" when they obviously have a word for that in their language but its not actually in the right context or whatever, that using the english word makes more sense for a workplace kitchen or something. All this makes me realise that instead of trying to study languages, giving up and doing psychology which i then didnt continue all the way, I shouldve done linguistics because i absolutely love it and im shit at actually speaking other languages, but talking about bits of language, im great 🤣

[@crptpyr]

I think one of the most interesting times I've seen that was when I was in a group chat with primarily Malaysian people, and a few native English speakers. The Malaysians had slightly different ways of phrasing things that was pretty universal to them, and it got to a point where those of us who were native English speakers actually started using their syntax/grammar when speaking with them and sort of assimilating to the specific way they spoke English. it was really interesting to see and be part of in real time from a linguistic perspective

[@deadlymelody27]

@@crptpyr yeah i saw that on tv before with someone who was english but living in india working at the embassy or something and he was speaking in sort of an indian accent and using phrases that were more indian english syntax. Honestly i just find it all so fascinating. You find it here in england if an area has a large population of other nationalities then obviously any native english speakers tend to end up speaking similarly to them.

[@petraw9792]

I guess when you exclusively speak English in an environment without English native speakers and a similar cultural background between all speakers, you'd develop your own variety of English. Learners of English who learn in isolation consume a lot of media from English speaking countries, so we hear the 'correct' phases a lot and imitate them. But even learning at school is really different. I think you can tell if someone learned English exclusively at school because they have a non-native-like way of expressing themself unique to their L1. I can tell if Germans only ever heard other Germans speak English. (And to be honest, it makes me cringe.)

[@PVempati]

honestly, im the same as your friend, concerning my own native language and english. consuming american and english media ive noticed that i tend to say things like 'on the light' which while techincally not wrong idt, is definitely not something a native english person would say.

[@jaredf6205]

I want to see more linguistics videos from Tom Scott! His channel started by doing a mix of linguistics and computer science and as much as I love everything else he does, I’m a big language nerd and need more.

[@k0pstl939]

You should definitely check out lingthusiasm that they mentioned!

[@frida3025]

Härskarteknik is a word in Swedish as well! It’s also more than spoken language, with body language and stuff too. I didn’t realise that it doesn’t really exist as a word in English but it’s a concept that people use and so it should have an English word I guess… Härskare is directly translatable as emperor or ruler, but i can’t come it with a good translation

[@lassi8519]

Maybe sophistry would be somewhat an equivalent in English?

[@elisakinsey1086]

I think I learnt it as master suppression techniques.

[@rowaboat6019]

I learned in high school: Dutch 8 years English 8 years French 7 years German 3 years Ancient Greek 7 years Latin 8 years And I did a Frisian course for half a year I've also been learning Japanese for about 5 years as a hobby. But fluently I just speak Dutch and English

[@MidnightEkaki]

Wow you guys got Tom Scott on here! This was a great episode I loved your guys' chemistry, very fun!

[@einaccount5193]

I didn't realize that it's a thing to slap your lap and say "well" when speaking English, but it did stand out to me when you mentioned it since in German you do the same thing but with the word "so", which also loses its normal meaning in this very specific context of standing up and leaving

[@AnnaNicole.]

As an American in high school, my Spanish teacher taught us a couple swear words in probably the first week of class. "If you are going to swear in this class, you are going to do it in Spanish."

[@Mercure250]

One field of linguistics that I think is also fascinating is historical linguistics, or the study of the history of languages. You end up finding up things you thought were unrelated are actually related, and that things you thought were related are actually unrelated and just sound or look similar by sheer coincidence. You also learn to debunk folk etymologies. For example, I heard Lindybeige (well, I think it was him, I might be misremembering) say once that it makes more sense to write "defence" with a C, because it comes from "fence". It is actually the other way around : "fence" comes from "defence", and "defence" comes from Old French "defense", itself from Latin "defensa". So, in reality, it would actually make more sense, from an etymological point of view, to write both "defense" and "fense" with an S.

[@petraw9792]

If I ever get a free trip in the Tardis I'd go back and record Proto-Indo-European.

[@Mercure250]

@@petraw9792 I would too

[@3r4cha]

i found tom through the sci guys episode which they discussed leap seconds (i don’t remember the ep title but that came up as a topic on an ep a while ago) , and have watched him consistently since so this feels very full circle

[@adamphilip1623]

Brilliant episode! I feel like this is kind of a milestone too, I'm pretty sure Corry said ages ago that Tom Scott was one of his dream guests. I thought Tom fit the dynamic of the show very well, I'd love to see him on again maybe on a future computer science related episode!

[@IrisMobiel]

This was such a fun episode! I love linguistics and just finished my degree in language disorders, so I was very excited for you guys to dive into this topic :D

[@cre-k8-ive]

I love the discussion on signed languages! I'm not D/deaf but I'm from the US and have taken several ASL courses. The placement in space is a huge part. There are some things you literally draw out in space. It's also really cool because of the tonality. Expressions and energy are key to getting your story out. Also, translation vs transcreation: I say interpretation vs translation. Translation is direct but interpretation is about getting the idea and point across.

[@naota3k]

25:34 hearing Tom say this doesn't actually surprise me in the least. I grew up playing a TON of Dance Dance Revolution/In the Groove (the scrolling arrow 'dancing' games), and people would always ask me "how are you reading those arrows so fast?!" I'm not. I'm reading patterns, and my brain is figuring out EXACTLY what it needs to do on-the-fly. Once you've practiced songs you like enough, you can even anticipate the patterns and become insanely proficient.

[@MaxxSuri76]

Well, I was procratinating instead of working on my translation studies thesis, but the topic of this episode is certainly a sign that I should get back to it.

[@olivercoulthard5468]

I love Lingthusiasm and Gretchen, such a good and easily accessible podcast, will make you make weird noises out loud in public though!

[@avriiile]

OH GODS, THE BRITISH CINEMATIC UNIVERSE IS REAL. - THIS CROSSOVER IS A DREAM COME TRUE

[@deadlymelody27]

In british english its called Sign Supported English (SSE). When its English grammar but using BSL signs

[@deadlymelody27]

Yessssss, this is what i was waiting for!

[@crptpyr]

I came here for Tom Scott, was super taken aback as soon as I recognised Luke bc I used to watch his stuff and haven't seen him in ages. Had to tab back in when I heard his voice bc I recognised it so strongly and it threw me for an absolute loop

[@quinnstraught9636]

(??SPOILERS??) Ok so I had to know where disaster came from as soon as they started talking about it; (from google so probably not entirely accurate) it comes all the way from the Latin 'astrum' meaning star, which became 'astro' in Italian, retaining the definition. Then the Italian 'dis-' was added to make it 'disastro', literally "Ill-starred event". It then became 'désastre' in French, retaining the definition of "ill-starred, unlucky", and the adjective 'désastreux'. But here it slowly went from 'ill-starred' to just 'unfortunate, calamitous'; French already had the word 'etoile' for 'star' or 'astro' by the time 'désastre' became a part of their lexicon, so even though the general spelling stuck around it didn't really mean anything, leading it to slowly lose the association with the stars before finally landing in middle English as 'disaster', "A calamitous or devastating event". So at one point (and I guess currently if you're speaking in Italian or Latin) it was dis-aster, "ill-starred", but in modern English that 'dis' is no longer a prefix despite being spelt and pronounced the same as the 'dis-' in say 'dismember', it's just a part of the word. Adding onto that, thanks to English's more Germanic roots, we didn't adopt 'astro' or 'aster' for star, and French had 'etoile'; it maintained the astrological connection for a time, but it wasn't to last unfortunately. TL;DR is it wasn't for French, disaster would've been spelt disstar /j

[@connieeverafter3029]

I loved the football journalist who translating Jurgen Klopp's press conference and heard Harry Kane as Hurricane so translated his name as 'Strong Wind' instead of Harry Kane.

[@freshwater5544]

This episode has perfect timing! Just started a language degree and I had to learn the IPA consonants this week. Been watching Tom's video series on linguistics and it's really motivating

[@Vanda-il9ul]

Slovak, Czech, English, a bit German. 4 languages.

[@borbling]

English, Swedish, learning Greenlandic

[@charliev4156]

So excited to see an episode about linguistics, especially with Tom. It’s an interest I’ve had for a while even tho I only speak English fluently(speak a small amount of a couple other languages, can make basic sentences/small talk kinda)

[@ochestramaster]

One of the best episode so far! Love it! I prefer these episodes where there is more room to get out of the script and room for the guest to give their insight!

[@paomurilloj]

This has to be the best episode on this podcast, this is surreal

[@superdrwholock]

omgggg this is awesome, I love that Tom came on the pod, I love his videos

[@alexbrewster4317]

i have my first lecture back in the morning, this is good preparation for my final year of my own linguistics degree lol thank you for the book recommendation i want to write about internet language for my diss!! also my flatmate last year used toms video on swearing to write one of our assignments, iconic

[@gerhard6051]

Frighteningly, the 'unethical experiment' that Tom describes at 23:12 has been performed 'at least four times' according to Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_deprivation_experiments We actually learned about the one by HRE Frederick in school.

[@petraw9792]

And then there's the involuntary experiment in which deaf children invented their own sign language: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaraguan_Sign_Language

[@AnnekeOosterink]

I studied English language and culture on a Dutch university, (which was basically English history, English (and Canadian, Indian, South African etc, except American) literature, historical linguistics (ie Old and Middle English), and linguistics in general, from phonetics and phonology to sociolinguistics and second language acquisition etc) but that university also had a linguistics department; Taalkunde. And there was this weird thing where we had all the same courses, some of which were in Dutch and some were in English, for the first year or so. Like, we had a lecture with all the language and linguistics students in Dutch, and then do the seminars in the language you were studying. So that was a bit of an issue with translating terms, and deciding which words I should use on the exam etc. It also throws off English people, because it sounds like I double-majored in linguistics and literature. Anyway, I speak Dutch as my mother tongue, English near-native, German semi-fluently (I can hold a basic conversation, and read newspaper articles, but not a novel) and French just enough to buy bread and ask for directions. I also understand a dialect of Dutch, but don't speak it. My grandfather exclusively spoke in that dialect so I can understand it just fine, but I never learned to speak it. I really like the idea that was briefly touched on in the episode, that English started as a pidgin language, lots of fun to see whether I can find the equivalent word in Dutch or German, or French for example, and see how those words have diverted meaning (if they have) or to find loan words that came in later and have changed meaning completely, or have fundamentally misunderstood the meaning or morphology of the original word. Both Dutch loanwords in English and vice versa. :)

[@user-es7ui5mc1m]

Omg this is so relatable! I'm from Germany but also did an English degree. When I did Erasmus in Ireland where I was supposed to only be able to take classes within my degree (which was "English", so I was put on the "English" course at the Irish uni but to them that meant English literature, not "English" in the sense of the German "Anglistik" which includes linguistics and literature and cultural studies, etc.). I ended up actually being allowed to take linguistics classes as well while I was there but that meant I was in lectures with all linguistics students, not anyone who did English or even another language. Everyone around me was so confused when we talked about the differences between degrees and I said linguistics, history, cultural studies, etc were part of my degree. And I did another subject as well, so my friend once told me it sounded like I was doing at least 3 degrees at once.

[@chelsuh614]

Loved this! I'm an ESOL teacher because I find myself contemplating applied linguistics almost daily. So much fun :) and shout out to the Lingthusiasm Podcast!

[@annalisasteinnes]

I once watched a video of people using sign language to speak to an interviewer, and it was so interesting to learn about their personalities just through their signing. Like, some people signed more slowly with bigger gestures, so were very rapid and sort of "clipped". There's a lot of nuance and subtext communicated.

[@3r4cha]

one of the best episodes yet!!

[@4eyesinthecorner399]

As someone who has now decided to study linguistics at university after watching some of Tom’s videos on the subject, this was very insightful and interesting

[@VermisTerrae]

This makes me miss ASL classes so bad!! I studied it for a year through my local community college, and it was the coolest thing I've ever learned in school. I remember the first time I saw BSL in a video with subtitles, I almost panicked, thinking I had somehow lost the ability to recognize any of the signs I knew, until I realized it wasn't American, lol. I think everyone should know at least the basics of their local sign language. Absolutely to interface with Deaf folks in our communities, but also because it's just incredibly useful. Need to communicate something quietly? Need to tell someone something through a window of a building or underwater? Need to say something if your mouth, throat, or ears get damaged? Sign language is incredible and applicable in so many areas.

[@3r4cha]

tom scott in a sci guys episode has made my day :))

[@whooareyoou]

I think this is my favourite episode to date - may or may not have sparked a desire to study linguistics. I speak three languages, having grown up in Latvia with a Swedish-raised father & American-raised mother. ADHD runs in the family, so communication has always been a doozy (in both the positive and negative sense), but living in England for a few years has put an entirely new spin on things. The lengths to which some, particularly the older generation, go to avoid putting almost anything in direct terms is the most difficult 'language' I've attempted to learn, and there are social settings that leave me biting my nails about what messages I might have unknowingly sent if my naturally straightforward approach wasn't sufficiently reined in. Do any of you have experience presenting - to use a phrase I picked up while binging The Crown - an 'excess of personality' in the company of individuals you don't wish to offend? How do you bridge such stark differences when it comes to the understanding of a successful interaction?

[@jackriley603]

This video makes me so happy Tim Scott and sci guys are my two favourite

[@elisam.r.9960]

I know that was a typo, but now I have this rather unsettling image of a US Senator from South Carolina as a guest.

[@fahrenheit2101]

Unironically fascinating - especially the bit about phonemes vs morphemes etc.

[@AmalieSteffensen]

20:00 I have a very interesting perspective on the stroop effect. We did an experiment with it in class (hi, I'm a linguistics major) and we had a few exchange students. Though all of the exchange students knew the basic colours in Danish, it was much easier for them to say the actual colour or the word rather than read it. So what you get is essentially an Italian looking at the Danish word for red, rød, written in blue, blå, and going "blå" faster than like half the Danish students, despite her Danish still being quite low level, which requires her to translate the name of the colour in her head from Italian to Danish. Also, I'm sorry, but I have to STRONGLY disagree with the term "linguistics area of the brain". Sure, we have good reason to believe that some parts of the brain are associated with certain parts of the language, fx how damage to Broca's area tend to cause Broca's aphasia, etc., but there is NO one specific area of the brain that is reserved for language. Guess this comment just turned into me talking abt stuff I know from doing the subjects Language, Cognition and the Brain.

[@snorkfyren]

i once talked to someone who spoke fluent norwegian because her mother was norwegian, but she had never lived here. it was so weird because she sounded fluent, but also used alot of words and phrases people our age would never really use when speaking. some things that were more common to be used written, as well as just like old ways of speaking.

[@olivercoulthard5468]

So excited, I love linguistics

[@user-es7ui5mc1m]

From the sign languages I've come in contact with, BSL is actually the outlier when it comes to the alphabet! ASL, French Sign Language, Irish Sign Language and German Sign Language all use one hand and use similar signs (with a decent amount even being the exact same) to fingerspell.

[@chayabastian3311]

I want to start of by saying I love this podcast! I have been listening for about 1.5 years now and have really been enjoying learning facts and stuff that I wouldn't learn normally and listening to jokes at the same time! :) To the question: I was raised bilingual but currently speak 3 languages and I'm learning my 4th! I speak Dutch, German and English and I'm learning Swedish at the moment as well!

[@jacobaeden]

i would like to add the drama of linguistics as a current linguistics student. i only know 2: 1. generative vs universal grammar 2. world englishes vs global englishes (ELF)

[@jacobaeden]

language is a dialect with an army and a navy can be heard throughout the undergrad degree esp the 1st year and the way tom scott can remember all of those things

[@jacobaeden]

not the grice's maxims at the end

[@Johnny_T779]

I speak French, English, German and a bit of Italian (but only when I'm drunk... I don't know why).

[@ritadpt]

I speak Portuguese, English and German and I know a little bit of French and Spanish. "Let it go" was translated in Portuguese to something somewhat equivalent to "it's over now" which was kind of cute. ALSO I had a lesson in secondary school in English (as a foreign language) on the order of adjectives and it was on one of our exams!

[@georgedoty-williams2085]

Yeah, in Latin American Spanish, "Let It Go" was translated as "Libre soy", or "I am free"

[@2small4theMall]

the episode picture for this on spotify has tom and the tongue on it but still says "the science of kinks" and it's so funny

[@Silkenray]

Weirdly, multidisciplinary is easier to pronounce in American English because we emphasise disciplinary differently. If you’re wondering why I said I spoke American English but used British English spelling, it’s because I’m an American expat who has lived in the UK for 17 years and I’m linguistically somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

[@lampje5185]

the Belgium thing was quite correct, it has a complex history, but that was basically the current situation!

[@milksheihk]

Know a Polish woman here in Australia, this is the only English speaking country she's lived in but she has an American accent because of the media she grew up with.

[@coralovesnature]

Yay, I love linguistics, it’s so fascinating!! I only speak English fluently, but can also speak/ understand some level of Spanish and Ho Chunk (a local indigenous language where I live).

[@chickenelafsworld7105]

Fun fact: some parts of the US DO have 2 official languages! I believe it’s decided on a state by state basis. My state’s constitution is even in both English and Spanish.

[@danadnauseam]

The Scots Wikipedia story reminds me of English as She is Spoke. It's basically a 19th century English introduction added to an 18th century Portuguese-English phrasebook written by a non-English speaker working from a Portuguese-French phrasebook. He tried to impose Romance morphological patterns onto English, made some real blunders in sorting phrases by subject, and made some strange decisions as to subject matter.

[@theanyktos]

This was absolutely fascinating, I had a blast

[@saschabeth1852]

Linguistics has been one of the most fascinating things to me every since I read Ted Chiang’s short story “Story of Your Life.” I’d love for you to do a part two episode one day!

[@happyteaparty1063]

I read your comment and then read the whole story and it was really great. Now I want to see the movie based on the story. So thank you very much for this recommendation

[@shannon2762]

Such a fun episode!

[@munchykitten]

omg i love linguistics. also i speak arabic, english, french, and some spanish

[@EyeGlassTrainofMind]

From my time studying language and literacy-- Luke is pretty much spot on. This is why we have to train literacy--we haven't evolved yet to naturally read but we have evolved to naturally speak or sign.

[@spudmadethis]

I have also shaken Charles sausage fingers. I agree, it’s hard to ignore 🤣

[@l5468]

I clicked on this video because of Tom - absolutely did not expect Luke Cutforth to be there as well omg! I used to watch you religiously when I was in 8th grade hahahah. But this podcast episode was so entertaining, I'm gonna bingewatch other episodes now! And on Corry's accent - until you said it yourself, I kept thinking "he sounds like an anglicised American, so maybe he's from Northern Ireland? Scotland?" and I was rightttt!

[@heteranthera3473]

This was really interesting. I love languages. In school I learned English, Spanish and Latin, but forget so much of it^^ I also learned a little bit Japanese, which is so different and interesting in comparison to the roman languages.

[@cosmo_3]

i speak 3 languages, swedish, english and spanish ✌🏼

[@resourceress7]

Some of my favorite linguistics courses were historical linguistics (how languages change over time) and sociolinguisticc (how sociocultural aspects affect language use). The smallest to largest unit of analysis (phone to pragmatics) list is used a lot, but leaves out several other major areas of linguistics. Thanks for mentioning sign languages several times. And yes, in sign language linguistics, we still call it phonemes and phonology and phonotactics when we're talking about the smallest structural unit that doesn't have its own meaning. I don't see a problem with that, as someone with a sign linguistics degree. Especially since linguistics uses "morph-" to mean meaning, but in other sciences it means shape. One of the many joys of linguistics. The way the words/signs are used by a community is what makes them correct.

[@lucielquinn6489]

Is speak (ordered from best to worst) 1: Danish (My mothertongue), English (Learned in school, but mainly through the internet) 2: Japanese (Lived in Japan for a year, and studied the language for about 2 years prior) 3: German (Learned in school, Danish has a lot of loan words from German, so it's somewhat intelligible, even if you haven't studied it as a Danish speaker) 4: Mandarin Chinese (Learning in school currently) Bonus: Can understand Norwegian and Swedish to a degree (Though they usually can't understand me :')) Danish is a sucky language)

[@saulcontrerasOfficial]

Is anyone else getting the option to have KZbin read the comments out loud? This is great for illiterate people and reading long comments because sometimes people like to write paragraphs and this would make them easier to read.

[@noahsev12]

this was so good

[@ZeSheshamHahu]

Borat is based on Hebrew as Sasha Baron Cohen speaks it almost perfectly.

[@lampje5185]

omg our let it go (dutch version) actually just means let (laat) it (het) go (gaan). although (for form reasons I think,) it is changed the first time they say it: laat het los, laat het gaan (let it loose, let it go)

[@Vanda-il9ul]

Tom Scott! Boys, you are amazing!

[@hooniesdiamond]

Linguistics student studying Korean let's gooo this looks like it's going to be so entertaining!

[@wolfrhl5]

What Tom is saying about English/French in Canada is, technically, true. It's not true in practice, especially as you move further west (away from Quebec). For example, plenty of Canadian Broadcasting Company programs are monolingual in English.

[@LittleCazzy]

Really interesting episode. Also language I speak: English - Natively Welsh and German - I just about get by if I was in area where English isn't spoken Thai, Mandarin and Dutch - I have a very very basic understanding but couldn't get by Korean - I can read most of it but not understand most of it

[@JennaGetsCreative]

My mother tongue is English (Canadian), I've studied French to the university level and yet would NOT consider myself fluent, I'm working through Norwegian on DuoLingo, and at one point in my teen years I dabbled in Portuguese.

[@jessilovely]

French, Spanish, English, learning Thai. Understand Portuguese and a bit of Italian cos of Spanish. Know one song in Danish and can swear in German. I’ve had a colourful life 😂

[@yohanrives3752]

Actually, the place of the adjective in french is more compicated than that. It can be placed before the noun in some cases because we were influenced by frankish in that matter. For example, we say une femme blonde, a blond woman, but une belle femme, a beautiful woman.

[@ljones3487]

I empathise with your guest. Two years ago I was studying post grad. level linguistics, and I know nothing! 😅

[@ecila246]

I literally can't unhear the scottish accent that corry has now, I didn't realise until now that it wasn't an american accent, which I guess proves the point he was making lol

[@reykjavik0792]

I speak german, english and learned russian as a third language in school. Right now i am starting to learn norwegian. Also in germany we have the slapping our thighs when we are leaving as well, we just say “so” to accompany it, which is basically “well” in german

[@deovolente5867]

It finally happened! My wish came true!

[@carb_8781]

i love linguistics so much

[@chocfudgebrowni]

40:40 omg shakira songs being english and then spanish also is fascinating. It's a great way to learn some of the language too

[@Nico_M.]

23:30 I think that experiment was done, although I don't think it was intentional. I remember hearing about a group of deaf children in a Central American country that invented their own sign language.

[@bradthemusicduck4895]

I speak English, but am currently learning German & Dutch.

[@GumSkyloard]

The subtitle thing also happens in Portugal, believe it or not. Kids' media (cartoons, Live-Action Disney or Nickelodeon shows, *some* kids movies, so on) are usually dubbed in European Portuguese. Anything more mature (adult cartoons, any sort of live-action show from abroad) is usually subbed. Exceptions do apply, though. For some reason, The Simpsons movie had both a subtitled, and a dubbed version, which is odd considering that the show itself was never dubbed into European Portuguese. We also tend to adapt formats and shows from other countries and make our own versions, truly Portuguese in both feel and sound.

[@sushirolle24]

2:02 - I speak German, English and French :D I'm also really interested in Spanish, Polish and Swedish :D

[@singerofsongs468]

In American English, or at least in the dialect of American English that I speak, your issues with “multidisciplinary” don’t exist! I say it like Luke does without thinking about it, because we tend to pronounce most words that end in -ary as if they rhyme with the word “dairy.”

[@Boggythefroggy]

45:28 so I wanted to say because you guys might not remember, but there’s specific adjectives you always put in front of nouns! The acronym is BAGS and refers to beauty, age, goodness and size. It’s the reason why you say “Le Petit Prince” and “le bonne chance” !

[@GaleAeras]

I speak Mandarin and English fluently, Hokkien and Malay conversationally. As a speaker of two Chinese languages, I would maintain that the Chinese "dialects" are separate language. The only thing uniting these languages is the shared writing system and some similar vocab, which I would argue is no different from the similarities between English and French, for example.