University of Edinburgh LangSoc

The official Tumblr of the University of Edinburgh Linguistics and English Language Society (affectionately known as LangSoc). Managed by Social Secretary @fortheloveoflanguistics [Disclaimer: The only way in which this blog is associated with the University of Edinburgh is in name]

[ycleptkyara]

[coffeeouducafe]

what they don’t tell you about linguistics

[allthingslinguistic]

A linguist friend sent in these two covers of the 1972 and 1973 proceedings of the Chicago Linguistics Society. Two questions: 

1) Why aren’t we still using pun-filled names like this?  2) Can we go back to calling conferences “festivals”? 

[mcgill-studyblr]

The life of a linguistics major is repeatedly saying different words in varying ways, trying to understand the concept being taught while praying your roommate doesn’t think you’re weird af

[linguisticconvoy]

semantics you didn’t see that coming..

[travellingual]

IRISH (GAEILGE)

Learning:

Bitesize Irish Gaelic (via sign up) - 163 lessons with audio (note: if you sign up for free, you can only access the lessons for 20 days. this will either be a great inconvenience or a great motivator.)

Erin’s Web - 128 lessons filled with in-depth grammar

EasyIrish! - Short course by RTÉ

EasyIrish.com - 28 basic podcast lessons

Daltaí na Gaeilge - Phrases, grammar and more

Gramadach na Gaeilge - In-depth grammar guide

Memrise | Basic Irish

E-books & PDFs

Colloquial Irish

Basic Irish & Intermediate Irish (Links to download)

Tools

/r/gaeilge

Pota Focal - EN<=>GA dictionary

Forvo - Listen to native pronunciation of words

Ranganna Test - gauge your level of understanding

Media

Radio | RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta (Irish music)

Tumblogs | thar-cionn, fuckyeahgaeilge

WELSH (CYMRAEG)

Say Something in Welsh - Short audio course

Memrise | All-Around Confidence: Everyday Vocab, 150 Welsh verbs for everyday conversation

BBC Welsh Grammar

Modern Welsh: A Comprehensive Grammar - Link to download PDF

/r/Cymru

Geiriadur - EN<=>CY dictionary

Forvo - Listen to native pronunciation of words

Radio | BBC Radio Cymru  (Welsh music, talk)

Tumblogs | thatcelticlad

TV | S4C (live TV and segments, available in UK only)

BRETON (BREZHONEG)

Kervaker - 19 lessons

Memrise | Basic Breton, thefartydoctor’s vocab-specific courses

Colloquial Breton - Link to download PDF

Breton Grammar

Forvo - Listen to native pronunciation of words

Radio | Radio Breizh (group of stations)

TV | France 3 Bretagne (live broadcast location-restricted, segments)

SCOTTISH GAELIC (GÀIDHLIG)

Beag air Bheag - 35 lesson course with audio by the BBC

LearnGaelic - A collection of courses and other resources

Memrise | Learn Basic Scottish Gaelic

Colloquial Scottish Gaelic

Gaelic Verbs: Systemised and Simplified

/r/gaidhlig

LearnGaelic Dictionary - EN<=>GD dictionary

Forvo - Listen to native pronunciation of words

Radio | BBC Nan Gaidheal (talk, music)

TV | BBC Alba (live and segments, available in UK only)

CORNISH (KERNOWEK/KERNEWEK)

Kesva: First Grade Course & Second/Third Grade Course - Text and audio course

Learn Cornish Now: First Steps - A small collection of vocab lessons

cornish dictionary - EN<=>KW dictionary

Forvo - Listen to native pronunciation of words

MANX (GAELG)

LearnManx.com - Lessons, texts and more

Kelly’s Manx Grammar - Brief guides

Fockleyreen - EN<=>GV dictionary

Forvo - Listen to native pronunciation of words

If you know of any good free online resources - for any language - message me! Any updates will be announced on my blog.

Dutch & Afrikaans + West Frisian · Limburgish

Finnish & Estonian + Sami · Võro

North Germanic: Swedish · Norwegian · Danish · Icelandic · Faroese

[liskantope]

While cycling today I had the most random thought: that it would be cool if a larger fraction of the populace were as interested in linguistics as I am, because then we could have TV documentaries like “Top 10 Most Extreme Phonologies” (which would have to include Hawaiian, Ubykh, and of course Pirahã).

[ricekrispyjoints]

if anyone tries to tell you that linguistics isn’t useful or practical, remember that one time I figured out my roommate’s crush by observing that she was about to produce a velar plosive when she stopped herself from saying his name

[allthingslinguistic]

The experience of becoming conscious of previously unconscious phenomena is one of the principal joys of linguistic work.

Wallace Chafe (via)

[snowgall]

The voice recognition system in the iPhone operates entirely on the basis of acoustic physics, not at all on linguistic phonetics. It attempts to match sounds with signal types that it has been trained to respond to in certain ways, but beware of imagining that it knows when you are saying something, or even what “saying something” means. The truth is that it cannot tell the difference between a labiodental fricative and an anal fricative. Let alone distinguish between when you’re saying something sensible and when you’re talking out of your ass.

Geoffrey K. Pullum, “Siri and Flatulence” (via linguisten)

[kingofthehillcaps]

[eulangsoc]

me: hoe don't do it

duolingo course release date: *changes*

me: oh my god

[kindofapolyglot]

native speaker: *says something I don’t understand* me:  native speaker: *laughs* me:

[languageoclock]

[smartergerman]

Right so ^^

[eulangsoc]

what your foreign language study says about you

spanish: you are trying to fulfill a requirement

french: you run a hipster blog and are far too defensive of the french language

latin: you value academia very highly but you value dick jokes more

ancient greek: like latin except you also hate yourself

old english: you care way too much about lord of the rings

russian: you are russian

italian: you are a naïve, romantic writer and you want to be a wine connoisseur (when you turn 21)

german: you are an intellectual overachiever who carries a heavy burden of existential angst

finnish: you just really like grammar for some reason

dutch: you have an oral presentation to give soon and are trying to lose your voice so you don't have to present

[wouldbepolyglot]

If only I spoke all the languages I own books for.

[showgirlsteve-blog]

Imagine the Avengers getting hit with some sort of spell that makes them revert to their first language

and everyone expects to be unable to understand Natasha’s Russian or Thor’s Norse (Allspeak is great but it isn’t his first language according to the spell)

but then Steve starts spouting Gaelic, because he grew up speaking English in public but his immigrant mother taught him her own language first

Tony speaks either Spanish or Italian, because that’s what his first nannies spoke

and the spell considers ASL a language just as much as any spoken language, so Clint is just signing and making faces at people

and Bruce is just very confused (“Why do you expect me to be speaking a different language? I’m from Ohio.”)

[theactorsjourney-deactivated201]

The Vision flying around screaming “ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ONE ONE ZERO ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ZERO ZERO ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ZERO ZERO ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ONE ONE ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ZERO ZERO ONE”

[the-average-gatsby]

A+ for the effort you put in