Christian DiCanio
@cdicanio.bsky.social
Phonetician and linguist studying prosody and indigenous languages of Mexico / Fonetista y lingüista que estudia idiomas indígenas de México. University at Buffalo. He - él - il - sij³. 🏳️🌈
Also ttrpg (rifts, d&d)
https://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~cdicanio
Also ttrpg (rifts, d&d)
https://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~cdicanio
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took at university.
Also avoiding linguistics/language courses:
Near Eastern Myth
The history of sexuality in America
Animal behavior / ethology
Physical Anthropology
Chemistry
Also avoiding linguistics/language courses:
Near Eastern Myth
The history of sexuality in America
Animal behavior / ethology
Physical Anthropology
Chemistry
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took at university.
Also avoiding linguistics/language courses:
The physics of music
Cosmology
Privateers and pirates
Stone sculpture
Java 5
Also avoiding linguistics/language courses:
The physics of music
Cosmology
Privateers and pirates
Stone sculpture
Java 5
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took at university.
Avoiding English/Ling/Music courses (Majors/Minor)...
Intermediate Jogging
19th Century Russian Literature
Chekhov
Political Philosophy
The Medieval Church
Avoiding English/Ling/Music courses (Majors/Minor)...
Intermediate Jogging
19th Century Russian Literature
Chekhov
Political Philosophy
The Medieval Church
January 31, 2026 at 3:07 AM
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took at university.
Also avoiding linguistics/language courses:
Near Eastern Myth
The history of sexuality in America
Animal behavior / ethology
Physical Anthropology
Chemistry
Also avoiding linguistics/language courses:
Near Eastern Myth
The history of sexuality in America
Animal behavior / ethology
Physical Anthropology
Chemistry
The incomprehension is cognitive dissonance. It happens when you live in a bubble or when your belief system is just a moral justification for selfishness.
A striking part of the reaction to ICE is the solidarity of those not under attack with those who are and the incomprehension of the right who think it's madness or secretly someone is paying and organizing, because self-organized determined resistance mystifies them.
January 28, 2026 at 6:33 PM
The incomprehension is cognitive dissonance. It happens when you live in a bubble or when your belief system is just a moral justification for selfishness.
Triqui distinguishes b/w arguments under focus and args that are “pointed to” in disambiguation, e.g. “we use *that* herb when we cook this.” The former is syntactic but the latter is morphological. I’ve been calling it the “emphatic," but only for lack of a better term. Alternatives?
#linguistics
#linguistics
January 21, 2026 at 1:27 PM
Triqui distinguishes b/w arguments under focus and args that are “pointed to” in disambiguation, e.g. “we use *that* herb when we cook this.” The former is syntactic but the latter is morphological. I’ve been calling it the “emphatic," but only for lack of a better term. Alternatives?
#linguistics
#linguistics
I’m convinced that there is no longer any way in LaTeX to draw autosegmental representations with delinking or multiple association lines. In my dissertation, I just used pstricks, but that is a hornet’s nest of incompatibilities now. I’ve fiddled with forest and tikz on CTAN, but...
January 17, 2026 at 9:05 PM
I’m convinced that there is no longer any way in LaTeX to draw autosegmental representations with delinking or multiple association lines. In my dissertation, I just used pstricks, but that is a hornet’s nest of incompatibilities now. I’ve fiddled with forest and tikz on CTAN, but...
Dismissive terms (like ‘agitator’) are used to justify violence against people. This is the term that apparently is being used to describe US citizens protesting in Minneapolis and elsewhere and it’s dangerous. Words matter. Is there a linguistic solution to a “marketing” of terms? Some thoughts...
January 16, 2026 at 5:09 PM
Dismissive terms (like ‘agitator’) are used to justify violence against people. This is the term that apparently is being used to describe US citizens protesting in Minneapolis and elsewhere and it’s dangerous. Words matter. Is there a linguistic solution to a “marketing” of terms? Some thoughts...
Reposted by Christian DiCanio
"Huseynov had been working as a [neuroscience] researcher at the [University at Buffalo] Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences since 2022 on a work authorization approved by the Department of Homeland Security"
January 14, 2026 at 1:10 PM
"Huseynov had been working as a [neuroscience] researcher at the [University at Buffalo] Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences since 2022 on a work authorization approved by the Department of Homeland Security"
As I cut into the part of my grammar where I discuss the Triqui obviative and emphatic (super proximate?), I am tempted to discuss the literature on givenness, or maybe accessibility. But both seem like these deep rabbit holes to jump into in the middle of a grammar. 1/2
January 14, 2026 at 3:08 AM
As I cut into the part of my grammar where I discuss the Triqui obviative and emphatic (super proximate?), I am tempted to discuss the literature on givenness, or maybe accessibility. But both seem like these deep rabbit holes to jump into in the middle of a grammar. 1/2
Reposted by Christian DiCanio
It would take a two-word amendment to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to subject ICE agents and other federal law enforcement officers to the same liability for constitutional violations that local and state officers currently face.
If Congress actually cared about what it's seeing, it could pass that overnight.
If Congress actually cared about what it's seeing, it could pass that overnight.
January 12, 2026 at 10:56 PM
It would take a two-word amendment to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to subject ICE agents and other federal law enforcement officers to the same liability for constitutional violations that local and state officers currently face.
If Congress actually cared about what it's seeing, it could pass that overnight.
If Congress actually cared about what it's seeing, it could pass that overnight.
After teaching a seminar on information structure last semester, I've begun to actually write a chapter on it for my grammar. One of my favorite Triqui sentences is the following one. It demonstrates several fun things at once…
1/2
1/2
January 8, 2026 at 2:17 AM
After teaching a seminar on information structure last semester, I've begun to actually write a chapter on it for my grammar. One of my favorite Triqui sentences is the following one. It demonstrates several fun things at once…
1/2
1/2
Solidaridad con gente venezolana y respeto a personas y paises para efectuar sus propios destinos con libertad. Nos debemos ayudar por comunicarse y escucharse. Esperamos un mundo con líderes inteligentes que respetan a sus cuidadanos. #solidaridad #freevenezuela
January 6, 2026 at 2:56 AM
Solidaridad con gente venezolana y respeto a personas y paises para efectuar sus propios destinos con libertad. Nos debemos ayudar por comunicarse y escucharse. Esperamos un mundo con líderes inteligentes que respetan a sus cuidadanos. #solidaridad #freevenezuela
Reposted by Christian DiCanio
My wish for 2026 is that Europeans will be as critical and vigilant about authoritarianism and racism in their own country as they are about them in the U.S. and that Americans will be as critical and vigilant about authoritarianism and racism in the U.S. as Europeans are.
December 31, 2025 at 3:06 PM
My wish for 2026 is that Europeans will be as critical and vigilant about authoritarianism and racism in their own country as they are about them in the U.S. and that Americans will be as critical and vigilant about authoritarianism and racism in the U.S. as Europeans are.
I wish more people posted about linguistics on bsky. Even if I try to follow all linguists, people end up talking about politics all the time. When #bsky is just another ragebait or anxietybait machine, people avoid it.
I care about politics of course, but I try to have boundaries too.
I care about politics of course, but I try to have boundaries too.
It is unclear to me how much traction Glossa: a journal of general linguistics is getting on BlueSky. I am thinking of switching communication about new papers to LinkedIn, which gives better insight into the # of views garnered. Give us a like if you want Glossa to stay on the Blue side of things.
December 30, 2025 at 9:33 PM
I wish more people posted about linguistics on bsky. Even if I try to follow all linguists, people end up talking about politics all the time. When #bsky is just another ragebait or anxietybait machine, people avoid it.
I care about politics of course, but I try to have boundaries too.
I care about politics of course, but I try to have boundaries too.
Clothing shopping is terrible when you are over 40 and a bit out of shape. I don't know what person invented the idea that gay men must all like it.
December 26, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Clothing shopping is terrible when you are over 40 and a bit out of shape. I don't know what person invented the idea that gay men must all like it.
Reposted by Christian DiCanio
"Ellison is currently making a hostile bid to ... acquire the media behemoth Warner Bros. Discovery. ... the president has used recent episodes of 60 Minutes to suggest he is displeased with Mr. Ellison’s stewardship of CBS."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/b...
‘60 Minutes’ Pulled a Segment. A Correspondent Calls It ‘Political.’
www.nytimes.com
December 22, 2025 at 4:23 AM
"Ellison is currently making a hostile bid to ... acquire the media behemoth Warner Bros. Discovery. ... the president has used recent episodes of 60 Minutes to suggest he is displeased with Mr. Ellison’s stewardship of CBS."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/b...
Carmen quietly meditates on Paul's half-graded calculus exams as they happened to be lying in the sun this morning. I do not believe she helped with grading otherwise.
December 21, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Carmen quietly meditates on Paul's half-graded calculus exams as they happened to be lying in the sun this morning. I do not believe she helped with grading otherwise.
Reposted by Christian DiCanio
If any journalist wants to talk to a trans man with a PhD in Human Genomics who was trained in labs that studied the evolution of sex, I'm right here
Or just keep platforming Republicans who have a 5th grade understanding of biology so they get more trans people killed, sure 🤷🏻♂️
Or just keep platforming Republicans who have a 5th grade understanding of biology so they get more trans people killed, sure 🤷🏻♂️
December 18, 2025 at 5:27 PM
If any journalist wants to talk to a trans man with a PhD in Human Genomics who was trained in labs that studied the evolution of sex, I'm right here
Or just keep platforming Republicans who have a 5th grade understanding of biology so they get more trans people killed, sure 🤷🏻♂️
Or just keep platforming Republicans who have a 5th grade understanding of biology so they get more trans people killed, sure 🤷🏻♂️
Leaving aside their role in aiding a research workflow with segmentation, have MFCCs taught us anything about speech production or perception? They're not acoustic cues for production or perception. The brain selectively attends to different aspects of the spectrum, not an undifferentiated whole.
December 17, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Leaving aside their role in aiding a research workflow with segmentation, have MFCCs taught us anything about speech production or perception? They're not acoustic cues for production or perception. The brain selectively attends to different aspects of the spectrum, not an undifferentiated whole.
In this writing and reviewing season, I would like to kindly remind linguists to not hide your data or your observations behind what you think is "the main theoretical point of the paper." Cursory data and description are the linguistic impostor syndrome in writing. 1/2
December 10, 2025 at 9:12 PM
In this writing and reviewing season, I would like to kindly remind linguists to not hide your data or your observations behind what you think is "the main theoretical point of the paper." Cursory data and description are the linguistic impostor syndrome in writing. 1/2
Submitted my labphon abstract (with my student Mariana). I am actually quite excited for both LabPhon and the 2nd Corpus Phonetics conference to be in Montreal this coming June. I’m helping co-organize CorpusPhon again with @echodroff.bsky.social, @mzhang89.bsky.social, and @chenzi.bsky.social.
December 7, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Submitted my labphon abstract (with my student Mariana). I am actually quite excited for both LabPhon and the 2nd Corpus Phonetics conference to be in Montreal this coming June. I’m helping co-organize CorpusPhon again with @echodroff.bsky.social, @mzhang89.bsky.social, and @chenzi.bsky.social.
What does it take to convince Americans that immigrants, regardless of their status in this country, are not bad people? that they commit crime at half the rate as non-immigrants? that they are 80-90% of the agricultural workforce? that they improve depressed communities? 1/2
December 3, 2025 at 3:21 AM
What does it take to convince Americans that immigrants, regardless of their status in this country, are not bad people? that they commit crime at half the rate as non-immigrants? that they are 80-90% of the agricultural workforce? that they improve depressed communities? 1/2
Out now. Obstruent singletons are usually associated w/function words and geminates w/content words, but this is less true for sonorants. So, the contrast in the former class becomes weaker. It's here where the length contrast has been lost in other varieties.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Just How Contrastive Is Word-Initial Consonant Length? Exploring the Itunyoso Triqui Spontaneous Speech Corpus - Christian DiCanio, Jared Sharp, 2025
Itunyoso Triqui (Otomanguean: Mexico) has a typologically uncommon contrast between singleton and geminate consonants which occurs only in word-initial position...
journals.sagepub.com
November 30, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Out now. Obstruent singletons are usually associated w/function words and geminates w/content words, but this is less true for sonorants. So, the contrast in the former class becomes weaker. It's here where the length contrast has been lost in other varieties.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
I started looking at #bsky again just to realize that it’s mostly doomscrolling. Like, I want to follow informed people who care about things in the world, but when every post is “look, we’re f4kt!” then I kind of want to hide and avoid panic. Can't we communicate better?
November 30, 2025 at 5:13 AM
I started looking at #bsky again just to realize that it’s mostly doomscrolling. Like, I want to follow informed people who care about things in the world, but when every post is “look, we’re f4kt!” then I kind of want to hide and avoid panic. Can't we communicate better?