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@thelinguistthing
Hi ! :D
I'm a first year French linguistics student ! I made this blog to find other language nerds like me and to gather interesting bits of data and informations about linguistics (and to compile said infos for my studies.)
Languages I'm studying:
French (native language), English (fluent), Italian (B2),Korean (A2), Chinese (A1) , Dutch (A1)
Welcome !
summer
1. make a syllabus for yourself - books, media, places, recipes
2. complete 40% of it
3. eat every fruit u can
Legolas pretty quickly gets in the habit of venting about his travelling companions in Elvish, so long as Gandalf & Aragorn aren’t in earshot they’ll never know right?
Then about a week into their journey like
Legolas: *in Elvish, for approximately the 20th time* ugh fucking hobbits, so annoying
Frodo: *also in Elvish, deadpan* yeah we’re the worst
Legolas:
~*~earlier~*~
Legolas: ugh fucking hobbits
Merry: Frodo what’d he say
Frodo: I’m not sure he speaks a weird dialect but I think he’s insulting us. I should tell him I can understand Elvish
Merry: I mean you could do that but consider
Merry: you can only tell him ONCE
Frodo: Merry. You’re absolutely right. I’ll wait.
#legolas’ hick accent vs #frodo’s ‘i learned it out of a book’ accent #FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
Legolas: umm well your accent is horrible
Aragorn: *hollering from a distance* HIS ACCENT IS BETTER THAN YOURS LEGOLAS YOU SILVAN HICK
Frodo: :)
Frodo: Hello. My name is Frodo. I am a Hobbit. How are you?
Legolas: y’alld’ve’ff’ve
Frodo, crying: please I can’t understand what you’r saying
Ok, but Frodo didn’t just learn out of a book. He learned like… Chaucerian Elvish. So actually:
Frodo: Good morrow to thee, frend. I hope we twain shalle bee moste excellente companions.
Legolas: Wots that mate? ‘Ere, you avin’ a giggle? Fookin’ ‘obbits, I sware.
Aragorn: *laughing too hard to walk*
@ghostriderofthearagon
dYinGggGggg…
i mean, honestly it’s amazing the Elves had as many languages and dialects as they did, considering Galadriel (for example) is over seven thousand years old.
english would probably have changed less since Chaucer’s time, if a lot of our cultural leaders from the thirteenth century were still alive and running things.
they’ve had like. seven generations since the sun happened, max. frodo’s books are old to him, but outside any very old poetry copied down exactly, the dialect represented in them isn’t likely to be older than the Second Age, wherein Aragorn’s foster-father Elrond started out as a very young adult and grew into himself, and Legolas’ father was born.
so like, three to six thousand years old, maybe, which is probably a drop in the bucket of Elvish history judging by all the ethnic differentiation that had time to develop before Ungoliant came along, even if we can’t really tell because there weren’t years to count, before the Trees were destroyed.
plus a lot of Bilbo’s materials were probably directly from Elrond, whose library dates largely from the Third Age, probably, because he didn’t establish Imladris until after the Last Alliance. and Elrond isn’t the type to intentionally help Bilbo learn the wrong dialect and sound sillier than can be helped, even if everyone was humoring him more than a little.
so Frodo might sound hilariously formal for conversational use (though considering how most Elves use Westron he’s probably safe there) and kind of old-fashioned, but he’s not in any danger of being incomprehensible, because elves live on such a ridiculous timescale.
to over-analyse this awesome and hilarious post even more, legolas’ grandfather was from linguistically stubborn Doriath and their family is actually from a somewhat different, higher-status ethnic background than their subjects.
so depending on how much of a role Thranduil took in his upbringing (and Oropher in his), Legolas may have some weird stilted old-fashioned speaking tics in his Sindarin that reflect a more purely Doriathrin dialect rather than the Doriathrin-influenced Western Sindarin that became the most widely spoken Sindarin long before he was born, or he might have a School Voice from having been taught how to Speak Proper and then lapse into really obscure colloquial Avari dialect when he’s being casual. or both!
considering legolas’ moderately complicated political position, i expect he can code-switch.
…it’s also fairly likely considering the linguistic politics involved that Legolas is reasonably articulate in Sindarin, though with some level of accent, but knows approximately zero Quenya outside of loanwords into Sindarin, and even those he mostly didn’t learn as a kid.
which would be extra hilarious when he and gimli fetch up in Valinor in his little homemade skiff, if the first elves he meets have never been to Middle Earth and they’re just standing there on the beach reduced to miming about what is the short beard person, and who are you, and why.
this is elvish dialects and tolkien, okay. there’s a lot of canon material! he actually initially developed the history of middle-earth specifically to ground the linguistic development of the various Elvish languages!
Legolas: Alas, verily would I have dispatched thine enemy posthaste, but y’all’d’ve pitched a feckin’ fit.
Aragorn: *eyelid twitching*
Frodo: *frantically scribbling* Hang on which language are you even speaking right now
Pippin, confused: Is he not speaking Elvish?
Frodo, sarcastically: I dunno, are you speaking Hobbit?
Boromir, who has been lowkey pissed-off at the Hobbits’ weird dialect this whole time: That’s what it sounds like to me.
Merry, who actually knows some shit about Hobbit background: We are actually speaking multiple variants of the Shire dialect of Westron, you ignorant fuck.
Sam, a mere working-class country boy: Honestly y'all could be talkin Dwarvish half the time for all I know.
Pippin, entering Gondor and speaking to the castle steward: hey yo my man
Boromir, from beyond the grave: j e s u s
Tolkien would be SO PROUD of this post
It got better
there may come a day when i do not reblog this post, but it is NOT THIS DAY
Okay. Last line had me.
Common Words & Phrases from AAVE
Gullah & Early AAVE
Gumbo – From Bantu kingombo (okra), brought by enslaved Africans and became the name of the Creole stew thickened with okra.
Goober – From Kikongo nguba, the Bantu word for peanut that entered American English via enslaved Africans.
Yam – From West African languages (e.g., Wolof nyami, "to eat"), brought over during the slave trade and adopted into Southern cuisine.
Banjo – From a Bantu root (mbanza), the instrument was crafted by enslaved Africans based on West African string instruments.
Bogus – Likely from Hausa boko-boko (deceitful, fraudulent), entering American English through African American speech in the 19th century.
Juke (box/joint) – From Gullah juke (rowdy, disorderly), derived from Wolof dzug (to live wickedly), later attached to roadside bars.
Tote (to carry) – From West African languages (e.g., Kikongo tota, "to pick up"), recorded in Gullah before spreading to mainstream English.
Dig (to understand) – From Wolof degg (to understand), popularized by jazz musicians in the 1930s after entering English through AAVE.
Jazz – Possibly from West African or Creole slang for energy/sex, first documented in AAVE in Chicago around 1912.
Okay (OK) – Though its origin is debated, strong evidence traces it to West African languages (e.g., Wolof waw kay) via enslaved Gullah speakers.
Hip/Hep – From Wolof hipi (to open one's eyes, to be aware), entering jazz slang in the early 1900s before going mainstream.
Hepcat – A compound of "hep" + "cat" (jazz slang for a person), literally meaning "one who has his eyes open" in West African-influenced jazz culture.
Jazz, Blues & 1940s–60s Era
Cool (as in fashionable/calm) – Originated in jazz circles, likely from saxophonist Lester Young, and entered mainstream via West African aesthetic concepts of composure.
Cat – A jazz-era term for a skilled musician or cool person, derived from West African-influenced jive talk.
Crib – Jazz slang for a house or apartment, popularized in the 1940s before becoming mainstream in the 1990s.
Hokum – AAVE slang for nonsense or BS, used in blues and jazz before being adopted more widely.
Diss – Short for "disrespect," coined in AAVE and popularized through hip-hop in the 1980s and 1990s.
Bad (meaning good) – From AAVE, where inversion of meaning creates emphasis (something so "bad" it's actually good), used since early jazz era.
Jive – AAVE slang for deceptive talk or a style of jazz dancing, used by Cab Calloway in his 1930s Hepster Dictionary.
1970s–90s (Hip-Hop & Pre-Internet Era)
Homeboy/Homegirl – AAVE for a close friend from one's neighborhood, popularized in hip-hop and later shortened to "homes" in casual speech.
Dope (meaning great) – Shifted from "stupid" in standard English to "excellent" in AAVE during the 1980s hip-hop era.
Props – Short for "proper respects" in AAVE, used in hip-hop to acknowledge skill or achievement before entering mainstream slang.
Word (as in "I agree") – AAVE interjection ("Word!" or "Word is bond") meaning "I'm telling the truth," derived from Nation of Islam teachings.
Phat (meaning cool/great) – AAVE acronym believed to stand for "Pretty Hot And Tempting," though likely an invented backronym; popularized in 90s hip-hop.
The Bomb – AAVE phrase for something excellent or top-quality, widely used in hip-hop lyrics before mainstream adoption.
Def – AAVE slang for "excellent," popularized by Run-DMC's "King of Rock" and 80s hip-hop culture.
Fresh – AAVE for stylish or excellent, used in early hip-hop and 80s pop culture before spreading globally.
Wack – AAVE for "bad, inferior, uncool," popularized in hip-hop and later mainstream youth speech as the opposite of "cool."
Hella – AAVE intensifier meaning "very" or "a lot of," originating in Oakland/Bay Area AAVE in the 1970s-80s.
Cap / No Cap – AAVE meaning "lie" and "no lie," popularized by Bay Area rap in the 2010s, derived from "capping" (exaggerating).
1990s–2000s (Internet Adoption & Ballroom Culture)
Slay – From AAVE and Black ballroom culture (Paris is Burning, 1990), meaning to do something extremely well, now mainstream via social media.
Spill the Tea – From AAVE (originally "spill the T," with "T" meaning truth), popularized by drag culture and Black queer communities.
Shade (as in insult) – From Black ballroom culture (documented in Paris is Burning), meaning a subtle insult, now used broadly in pop culture.
Reading (as in insulting) – From ballroom culture ("reading" someone), meaning to publicly insult with wit, immortalized in Paris is Burning.
Kiki – AAVE from ballroom culture meaning a casual gathering for gossip or chatting, later mainstreamed through pop music (e.g., Kesha).
Fierce – AAVE and ballroom term meaning exceptionally good or intense, applied to fashion, performance, or attitude.
Woke – From AAVE meaning socially and politically aware, first used in 1940s Black activism before resurging with Black Lives Matter.
Shook – AAVE meaning startled or upset, used in 1990s New York hip-hop (e.g., Mobb Deep) before mainstream adoption in the 2010s.
On Fleek – AAVE phrase meaning perfectly executed, coined in a 2014 Vine by Peaches Monroee, one of the last pre-AI viral AAVE innovations.
Finna – From AAVE contraction of "fixing to" (preparing to), documented in Southern AAVE for decades before wider use and dictionary recognition.
Chile – A phonetic spelling of "child" in Southern AAVE, used as a term of endearment or exclamation since at least the 1970s (The Wiz, 1978).
2010s–Present (Social Media & Gen Z Slang Pipeline)
Lit – AAVE meaning exciting or excellent (originally "intoxicated" or "on fire"), popularized in hip-hop before becoming a Gen Z staple.
Bae – AAVE term of endearment meaning "before anyone else" or just a shortened form of "babe/baby," mainstreamed in the 2010s.
Ratchet – AAVE originally meaning a rowdy, aggressive woman (from "wretched"), later used to describe anything wild or out of control.
Turnt – AAVE meaning excited or intoxicated, from "turned up" in hip-hop lyrics, mainstreamed in early 2010s party slang.
Clap Back – AAVE for a sharp, witty comeback or retaliation, popularized in hip-hop (e.g., Ja Rule's 2003 song "Clap Back") before internet slang.
Bussin' – AAVE meaning delicious or excellent, applied to food or anything great, popularized on TikTok in the 2020s.
Sus – AAVE shortening of "suspicious" or "shady," used for decades before Among Us made it a global meme in 2020.
Snatched – AAVE originally describing flawless hair/makeup or a tight waist, now used to praise anything perfectly executed.
Periodt – AAVE emphatic form of "period" (meaning "end of discussion"), with a hard "t" for emphasis, popularized on Black Twitter before global use.
Bonus: My personal favorite AAVE term that I see used online religiously is receipts! AAVE meaning the proof shown to back up an accustation
i dont CARE that its your special interest bitch whats your SOURCE !!!!!!
"source: me ! hahaha🥰" NO !!!!!!! SOURCE: First Name Middle Initiall. Last Name, Name of Book, (City: Publisher, year) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No talking about the things that interest you! We no longer trust you to have read books/watched documentaries/learned/comprehended! No sharing interesting things with friends! No giving opinions based on having synthesized information!
I 1000% do not envy young people. It seems even more miserable to be a teenager/young adult now that it was when I was those ages (when it was just, you know, regular miserable. Now it's off-the-charts misery and no fun and be careful all the time and judge each other harshly and be anxious and lonely).
Are you lost ? This is about academia and serious topics. If you share information that someone is unable to verify, and they ask you for a source, "well its my special interest" is not a satisfactory answer. You do realise that sometimes people have conversations about serious things where having verifiable information is in fact important, right ? You do realise that some people have special interests wherein not spreading falsehoods is actually of really significant importance ? My special interest is nationalism. I got a degree in the topic. This isnt about someone being wrong about the length of their favourite whale or the year a certain toy was manufactured
Also, I really, really cannot stress this enough, is someone asks you for a source and you cant remember off the top of your head, "I will get back to you on that" is in fact acceptable. You can go double check and then get back to them.
I have an insider knowledge of academia industry and I just feel the need to explain the disconnect that happened here with some context.
My partner works an academia job (I also have a graduate degree, so I'm very familiar with how academia is supposed to work) and I'm honestly flabbergasted by some of the things he tells me. Students post-COVID no longer seem to grasp that they are in school to learn and not to receive a product/service they have purchased (But it's not entirely their fault that they see it that way, and I'll explain why).
This means that cheating (especially via AI) is rampant and few students read the syllabi or pay attention long enough to understand what a source is or why they're important, let alone how to cite or evaluate their quality/veracity. They just use AI to cite their sources and the AI often makes up fake sources that don't even exist.
These students have no idea just how much they are publicly embarrassing themselves and I feel bad for them. They genuinely think they aren't getting caught and that their professor thinks (or should think) "their work" is good.
Cheating is also happening to a lesser degree in legitimate post-graduate research because professors and grad students are pressured to churn out research to earn money for the institution and obtain tenure.
Speaking as an insider in academia, the industry is crumbling at the seams. At some point it transitioned from an epistemological pursuit to a capitalist endeavor (like everything else), and that's where the shift happened. Young people have been marketed a product/experience, not an education/work program. Of course they are confused and unmotivated to learn. The marketing has led them to believe they are paying professors to give them a qualification they can put on their resume. Not that they are earning that qualification through effort. They are paying for it.
The other commonality among many of my partners' students is that they came to college for "the college experience," a fun time in young adulthood that, again, is marketed. It's built into the system of universities—come live at this cool place with other young people where you get great amenities! Education is just a side piece marketing scheme that's used more to get students' parents on board than the students themselves. Think about it. How else are you going to convince mom to let her 18-year-old come to a place that's full of drinking, partying, drugs, and other potential parent-deterrents? Convince her it's the only way her kid can have a better future.
Anyways, as a result of the whole late-stage capitalism thing, universities have made big adjustments to where their funds go (hint: it's sports). Arts programs and degrees are now rapidly being cut across America, and I mean full colleges. For example, the school (a well known one) where my partner received his PhD just dissolved their entire English department, Linguistics department, and several other art and humanities departments. The tenured professors who worked those jobs now have no choice but to leave.
Like most industries, academia is also trying to "optimize" their profits. As a result, they're cutting faculty jobs. When professors retire, the jobs disappear so no new people join the department. PhD students who just graduated (in most fields, including STEM) with the hopes of becoming professors are finding it practically impossible to find jobs, because they just don't exist.
We're really thriving here in academia.
Also, this is not to say that not citing sources is okay and should be normalized. I just felt it would be useful to explain why this might be happening.
imagine if people talked about any other language the way they talk about japanese
french doesn't have swear words, instead of swearing they say "putain" which is an archaic non-formal word used to refer to a prostitute
woah @vaporousvicariousventi i didn't know that that's so interesting :0 french culture is so beautiful and polite, and i really respect how much they all love their mum <3 it's so heartwarming, wish we could be more like them in this country 🙄
Qui va leur dire que « ta mère » n'est que la version courte de « ta mère la pute » ? Pas moi.
En réalité quand on dit "ta mère" on invoque la Vierge Marie notre mère à tous pour inciter l’adversaire à se repentir.
Tu as tout à fait bon, c’est pour rester aligné avec les cousins du Québec et leur très coloré vocabulaire dit de « sacrer » ( ils n’insultent pas, ils ne sont pas vulgaire, ils sacrent, c’est un verbe )
Inutile de faire l’exemple mais pour la cause : esti, tabarnak, colice, chris ( après la mère, le fils … ), ciboire, calvaire, ( et toutes variantes avec saint-quelquechose ie: saint-cimonaque )
one may think "language" is french or spinach for "the nguage". this is a folk etymology myth, it is actually more like mile -> mileage. "How much language are you getting out ofthose words"
I regret to inform everyone that this is actually not that far off the real etymology. The 'langue' part of language comes from the latin 'lingua', meaning 'tongue', and the '-age' suffix is something the word picked up in old french as a suffix of action (like how a 'pilgrimage' is 'that thing pilgrims do'). So really it's more like 'what that tongue do'
Well, that's upsetting.
I'm a linguist and this is completely true.
Also the Proto Indo-European root for tongue is cursed and needs to be brought to your attention:
late 13c., langage "words, what is said, conversation, talk," from Old French langage "speech, words, oratory; a tribe, people, nation" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *linguaticum, from Latin lingua "tongue," also "speech, language" (from PIE root *dnghu- "tongue"). The -u- is an Anglo-French insertion (see gu-); it was not originally pronounced.
So it's come my attention that there are a lot of students, particularly in humanities and social sciences disciplines, who need to hear this, so here goes:
Do the readings.
Oh my God, just do the readings. I promise, it gets easier once you get into the habit of it.
What makes a good student? Doing the readings. Literally just doing the readings is enough to make you a good student.
The readings *are* the course. The lectures are just priming you for the readings. The tutorials and seminars are just how we collectively process the readings. If the readings were intended to be optional, they would have been listed under the "optional readings" heading.
"Oh but I hate this reading! The author's an idiot, they're wrong about everything" Good. Do the reading and then tear it apart in class. This isn't high school, you're not expected to mindlessly absorb things anymore
If you're in physics, do the derivations. Don't believe that any equation given to you is true. Derive it. Convince yourself that it must be true, and understand the limitations of its truth.
The very first lecture I give my students emphasizes that they do not have to accept the readings as truth from on high. They don't even have to like them! Critical reading is perhaps the most important skill I hope they take away from my course, and you can't develop it if you're not doing the fucking readings!
#the number of ENGLISH MAJORS who refuse to read and then complain about not understanding the class discussions#I'm begging y'all. the information is in the words
Also - the amount of grad students I have witnessed using ChatGPT to do the literature review for them, and not bothering to read any paper is frankly concerning.
Do people realise this is the basis of research? Learning about other people's work and getting ideas that are yours?? Sometimes even just a sentence can change your entire perception about a topic!
If you want to have a quick idea about the content of a paper to see if it is relevant for you, do as god fucking intended - read the abstract, the introduction and the conclusion for fuck's sake
Why would you even keep studying - at any level - if you are not curious about a topic? If you take just the lazy road without developing and applying critical thinking skills?
"none of those words are in the bible" but it's me nitpicking about what textile manufacturing techniques weren't invented until late antiquity and are thus anachronistic translations of biblical language
#you did NOT knit me together in my mother's womb. that was weaving. #offshoot of me wincing every time someone uses 'embroidered' to describe ancient greek fabrics that would've definitely been tapestry-woven #it makes a difference!!! #knitting and weaving have VERY different symbolic/metaphorical connotations!!! #embroidery is a secondary process applied to already-complete textiles! different implications! (op)
I used the phrase "waiting on tenterhooks" and then thought "what the hell is a tenterhook".
It's these things! So when you're waiting on tenterhooks, you're stretched tight like a piece of cloth. Very evocative, now that I know what it means.
like 40% of english idioms are just Textiles Again
official linguistics post
god actually baited us into creating the tower of babel so that He could create His most beloved children: autistic linguistics enthusiasts
Why does like every language do things with their R sounds that nobody else understands
At the risk of sounding anti-intellectual, I think that college should be free and also not a requirement for employment outside of highly specialized career fields
At the risk of sounding like an effete intellectual, I do actually think you should be allowed to just take college courses indefinitely
Linguistics and Language Podcasts
Looking for podcasts about language and linguistics? Here’s a comprehensive list with descriptions! I’ve also mentioned if shows have transcripts. If there are any I missed, let me know!
Linguistics
Lingthusiasm A podcast that’s enthusiastic about linguistics by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne (that’s me!). Main episodes every third Thursday of every month, with a second bonus episode on Patreon. (Transcripts for all episodes)
Because Language Every week Daniel, Ben, and Hedvig cover the news in linguistics and tackle a particular topic. (previously Talk the Talk) (Transcripts for all episodes after release)
The Vocal Fries Every episode Carrie Gillon & Megan Figueroa tackle linguistic discrimination in relation to a particular group. (Transcripts for some episodes)
En Clair A podcast about forensic linguistics from Dr Claire Hardaker at Lancaster University. Episodes released monthly, with a range of topics from criminal cases to literary fraud. (Transcripts for all episodes)
Language on the Move Conversations about linguistic diversity in social life. (Transcripts for some episodes)
Said & Done A podcast about languages and the people who speak them, from the Columbia LRC
Accentricity From Sadie Durkacz Ryan, a lecturer in sociolinguistics at Glasgow University. Season one has six episodes.
All About Accents A podcast all about accents with linguist and accent coach Dani Morse-Kopp in conversation with her partner Lucas Morse.
Tomayto Tomahto Led by Talia Sherman, a Brown University undergrad, this interview-based podcast explores language.
Field Notes Martha Tsutsui Billins interviews linguists about their linguistic fieldwork. (Transcripts for all episodes)
History and Philosophy of the Language Sciences sub-30 minute episodes about the history of linguistics from James McElvenny, with the occasional interviews.
Lingua Brutalica Jess Kruk and Wes Robertson take on the world of extreme metal.
Say It Like You Play It A podcast about games, language and culture.
The Language Revolution Changing UK attitudes to languages.
The Secret Life of Language An interview podcast from the University of Melbourne’s School of Languages and Linguistics.
JSLX Conversations Podcast A podcast produced by the Journal of Sociolinguistics. (Transcripts for all episodes)
Lexis A conversation about linguistics with a topical UK focus, from Matthew Butler, Lisa Casey, Dan Clayton and Jacky Glancey.
Kletshead A podcast about bilingual children for parents, teachers and speech language therapists from Dr. Sharon Unsworth. Also in Dutch.
Linguistics Lounge A podcast about language and discourse with Tony Fisher and Julia de Bres. Transcripts for all episodes.
CorpusCast from Dr Robbie Love, available alongside other shows in the Aston University podcast feed or in video format.
Life and Language Michaela Mahlberg chats with her guests about life and why language matters.
Toksave – Culture Talks A podcast from the PARADISEC Archive, where the archived records of the past have life breathed back into them once again.
Theory Neutral Covering typology and descriptive grammars with Logan R Kearsley.
PhonPod Podcast Interview-based podcast about phonetics and phonology.
Linguistics Careercast A podcast devoted to exploring careers for linguists outside academia.
Language
The Allusionist Stories about language and the people who use it, from Helen Zaltzman (Transcripts for all episodes) (my review).
Grammar Girl Episodes are rarely longer than 15 minutes, but they’re full of tips about English grammar and style for professional writing, and more! (Transcripts for all episodes).
A Language I Love Is… A show about language, linguistics and people who love both. An interview-based podcast hosted by Danny Bate.
Word of Mouth BBC Radio 4 show exploring the world of words with Michael Rosen.
America the Bilingual Dedicated to the pursuit of bilingualism in the USA.
Words & Actions A podcast about how language matters in business, politics and beyond.
Subtitle A podcast about languages and the people who speak them, from Patrick Cox and Kavita Pillay. For those who miss Patrick’s old podcast, The World in Words.
The Parlé Podcast from Canadian Speech-Language Pathologist Chantal Mayer-Crittenden.
Slavstvuyte! A podcast for everyone who is fascinated by Slavic languages from Dina Stankovic.
Subtext A podcast about the linguistics of online dating.
Conlangs
Conlangery Particularly for those with an interest in constructed languages, they also have episodes that focus on specific natural languages, or linguistic phenomena. Newer episodes have transcripts.
Linguitect Matt, Rowan and Liam explain linguistic topics and talk about how to build them into your conlang.
Dictionaries
Word For Word From Macquarie dictionary, with a focus on Australian English.
Fiat Lex A podcast about making dictionaries from Kory Stamper & Steve Kleinedler. One season.
Word Matters From the editors at Merriam-Webster, hosted by Emily Brewster, Neil Serven, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski.
English
Unstandardized English Interview-based podcast. Disrupting the language of racism and white supremacy in English Language Teaching.
History of English Meticulously researched, professionally produced and engaging content on the history of English. (My reviews: episodes 1-4, episodes 5-79, bonus episodes).
Lexicon Valley Hosted by John McWhorter.
That’s What They Say Every week linguist Anne Curzan joins Rebecca Kruth on Michigan public radio for a five minute piece on a quirk of English language.
A Way With Words A talk-back format show on the history of English words, cryptic crosswords and slang.
Words/etymology
Something Rhymes With Purple Susie Dent and Gyles Brandreth uncover the hidden origins of language and share their love of words.
Telling our Twisted Histories Kaniehti:io Horn brings us together to decolonize our minds– one word, one concept, one story at a time.
Word Bomb Hosts Pippa Johnstone and Karina Palmitesta explore one word per week, using particular words for a deep dive into linguistic and social issues. (Transcripts for all episodes)
Words for Granted In each episode Ray Belli explores the history of a common English word in around fifteen minutes.
Lexitecture Ryan, a Canadian, and Amy, a Scot share their chosen word each episode.
Bunny Trails Shauna and Dan discuss idioms and other turns of phrase.
Translation & Interpreting
Brand the Interpreter Interviews about the profession, from Mireya Pérez.
The Translation Chat Podcast a podcast on Japanese to English media with Jennifer O’Donnell, and translators and editors in the Japanese to English localization.
In Languages other than English
Parler Comme Jamais A French language podcast from Binge Audio.Monthly episodes from Laélia Véron.
Sozusagen A German language podcast of weekly 10 minute episodes.
Talking Bodies A German language podcast about speech, gesture and communication.
Registergeknister A German language linguistics podcast of the Collaborative Research Center 1412 at the Humboldt University of Berlin.
Språket A Swedish language podcast from Sveriges Radio about language use and change.
Språktalk A Norwegian language podcast with Helene Uri and Kristin Storrusten from Aftenposten.
Klog på sprog A Danish language podcast that playfully explores the Danish language.
Kletshead A Dutch language podcast about bilingual children for parents, teachers and speech language therapists from Dr. Sharon Unsworth. Also in English.
Over taal gesproken A Dutch language podcast from the Institute for the Dutch language and the Dutch Language Society.
BabelPodcast A Portuguese language podcast from Brazil, hosted by Cecilia Farias and Gruno.
El Racionalista Omnívoro a Portuguese language podcast about linguistics, history, cinema, literature and more, hosted by Antonio Fábregas.
War of Words A Spanish language podcast about linguistics from Juana de los Santos, Ángela Rodríguez, Néstor Bermúdez and Antonella Moschetti.
Con la lengua fuera A Spanish language podcast from Macarena Gil y Nerea Fernández de Gobeo.
Hablando mal y pronto A Spanish language conversational podcast from Santiago, Juan and Magui.
Rhapsody in Lingo Cantonese podcast on language and linguistics.
Back Catalogue
These are podcasts that had a good run of episodes and are no longer being produced.
Spectacular Vernacular A podcast that explores language … and plays with it Hosted by Nicole Holliday and Ben Zimmer for Slate. Transcripts available. 19 episodes from 2021 and 2022.
Science Diction a podcast about words—and the science stories behind them. Hosted by Johanna Mayer, this is a production from WNYC Science Friday. 42 episodes from 2020-2022.
Troublesome Terps The podcast about the things that keep interpreters up at night. 70 episodes from 2016-2022.
The World in Words From PRI, episodes from 2008-2019.
How Brands are Build (season 1 of this show focuses on brand naming)
Very Bad Words A podcast about swearing and our cultural relationship to it. 42 episodes from 2017 and 2018.
The Endless Knot is not strictly a language podcast, but they often include word histories, linguistics podcast fans episode may find their colour series particularly interesting.
Given Names (four part radio series from 2015, all about names. My review)
Odds & Ends
There are also a number of podcasts that have only a few episodes, are no longer being made, or are very academic in their focus:
The Black Language Podcast Anansa Benbow brings you a podcast dedicated to talking about Black people and their languages. Five episodes from 2020.
Speculative Grammarian Podcast (from the magazine of the same name, about 50 episodes from Dec 2009-Jan 2017)
Linguistics Podcast (on YouTube, around 20 episodes in 2013 introducing basic linguistic concepts)
Evolving English: Linguistics at the Library (8 episodes 2018), from the British Library.
Language Creation Society Podcast (8 episodes, 2009-2011)
LingLab (very occasionally updated podcast from graduate students in the Sociolinguistics program at NC State University)
Hooked on Phonetics five episodes from Maxwell Hope from 2019 and 2020.
Glossonomia Each episode is about a different vowel or consonant sound in English. 44 episodes from 2010-2014.
Distributed Morphs An interview-based podcast about morphology, from Jeffrey Punske. Eight episodes in 2020.
Word to the Whys a podcast where linguists talk about why they do linguistics. Created by TILCoP Canada (Teaching Intro Linguistics Community of Practice). 10 episodes in 2020 and 2021.
The Weekly Linguist An interview podcast about the languages of the world and the linguists who study them from Jarrette Allen and Lisa Sprowls. 21 episodes in 2021.
Silly Linguistics (ad hoc episode posting, but episode 7 is an interview with Kevin Stroud for History of English fans)
Linguistics After Dark Eli, Sarah and Jenny answer your linguistics questions in hour-ish long episodes.
WACC Podcast (guest lectures at Warwick Applied Linguistics)
Sage Language and Linguistics
Let’s Talk Talk
Queer Linguistics has a couple of episodes, with a bit of classroom vibe
GradLings An occasionally-updated podcast for linguistics students at any stage of study, to share their stories and experiences.
Canguro English A podcast about language for people learning languages. 103 episodes from 2018-2021.
Why is English? A podcast about how the English language got to be the way it is, from Laura Brandt. Seven episodes from 2020 and 2021.
Animology Vegan blogger Colleen Patrick Goudreau uses her love of animals as a starting point for exploring animal-related etymologies. 27 episodes from 2017-2020.
Wordy Wordpecker Short weekly episodes from Rachel Lopez, charting the stories of English words. 14 episodes from 2018.
Speaking of Translation A monthly podcast from Eve Bodeux & Corinne McKay. 10 episodes from 2020-2021.
Se Ve Se Escucha (Seen and Heard) Language justice and what it means to be an interpreter, an organizer and bilingual in the US South, from the Center for Participatory Change. Episodes from 2020.
This is an updated listing from December 2024. I’m always excited to be able to add more podcasts to the list, so if you know of any linguistics/language podcasts not here, please let me know! I wait until a show has at least 5 episodes before I add it to the list, and I like to let people know when transcripts are available.
The 2024 update to the Linguistics and Languages podcast list!
Click through to the original post to see the latest version.
