Author | Lightnews

May Helena Plumb

@mayhplumb.bsky.social

1.7K followers 330 following 4.8K posts

needlecrafter, dancer, baker, Mainer, she/her PhD in Linguistics, now doing non-ac qual research

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May Helena Plumb @mayhplumb.bsky.social · Feb 16

Yeah sure I started grad school and resubmitted a journal article but my proudest accomplishment of 2017 is this embroidered English vowel chart

Reposted by May Helena Plumb

Josef Fruehwald @jofrhwld.bsky.social · 4d

I present, the lenition hypercube

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May Helena Plumb @mayhplumb.bsky.social · 9d

What if leech but also hammer head but also moray eel??

Reposted by May Helena Plumb

FrontRangeWildflowers @frwildflowers.bsky.social · 12d

Yellow lichen growing on pink granite today 🌿

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May Helena Plumb @mayhplumb.bsky.social · 12d

(Caveat that research articles on this are often positioned from deficit model / medical model of disability. Also this was me doing a quick literature scan, I'm not an expert on this side of linguistics!)

May Helena Plumb @mayhplumb.bsky.social · 12d

E.g., one of the articles mentions that individuals with ASD can have greater discrimination of pitch outside of a language context, while lower discrimination of tonal categories

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

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May Helena Plumb @mayhplumb.bsky.social · 12d

For child language acquisition, it looks like researchers have found atypical patterns in both perception and production of tone. But (this is a bit of my own intuition) it's possible this is a manifestation of something broader about acquisition of phonology, not specific to tone...

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Reposted by May Helena Plumb

John Rogers @johnrogers.bsky.social · 13d

Your quarterly nag to share your delicious bio juices with strangers in a socially acceptable way!

A white poster on the wall of a blood donation center reminding donors of the next available day they can donate.

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May Helena Plumb @mayhplumb.bsky.social · 21d

I pre-ordered this so fast, didn't even check my book budget haha 😅 I'm so excited for this!!

May Helena Plumb @mayhplumb.bsky.social · Oct 1

It's a non-partisan health policy organization: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiser_...

Here's the original source of the chart, with more context on their analysis: www.kff.org/affordable-c...

ACA Marketplace Premium Payments Would More than Double on Average Next Year if Enhanced Premium Tax Credits Expire | KFF

KFF estimates that, if Congress allows the enhanced premium tax credits to expire at the end of this year, ACA Marketplace enrollees on average would see their premium payments more than double next y...

www.kff.org

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May Helena Plumb @mayhplumb.bsky.social · Sep 30

From a friend, seen in a Chicago gift shop...

ADS Word of the Year 2024 is alive and well in the wild #WOTY24

A pack of paper napkins in a shop. They are black with metallic gold text, block capital letters reading "Were you about to rawdog my table?"

The are made by Pretty Alright Goods

May Helena Plumb @mayhplumb.bsky.social · Sep 18

Omg your nails match the little heart crest on their head

Reposted by May Helena Plumb

Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · Sep 4

The world is a lot right now so perhaps you also need an adorable tuxedo kitty with a tiny soul patch. In a tub. ❤️

Rainesford Stauffer @rainesford.bsky.social · Sep 4

I have never encountered a creature who loves the bathtub the way Harry does.

A black and white tuxedo cat laying on his back in a white bathtub.

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May Helena Plumb @mayhplumb.bsky.social · Sep 4

Yes! Here's a GDrive link: drive.google.com/file/d/1KZVM...

Labov1975WhatIsALinguisticFact.pdf

drive.google.com

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May Helena Plumb @mayhplumb.bsky.social · Sep 3

This is gorgeous! I especially love the design of the asteroid belt

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Reposted by May Helena Plumb

Patrick Vallely @pjvphotography.bsky.social · Aug 28

"Pat, why do you carry that ridiculous 600mm lens on long hikes?"

Buddy, I can see mountains reflected in the eyes of a trailside pika.

Tighter crop of the same pika, focusing on its head.

An even tighter crop, focusing more on the pika's eye.

An extremely tight crop of the pika's eye, emphasizing their reflection of an early morning mountain scene.

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May Helena Plumb @mayhplumb.bsky.social · Aug 14

I think "likely" is modifying "race" there - acknowledging that the race data in their modeling is asleep estimated I guess? The wording is very awkward 😅

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May Helena Plumb @mayhplumb.bsky.social · Aug 14

Yeah I have to assume that "Likely race in major urban areas plays a major role in that modeling." is doing a LOT of work in their methods (independentvoterproject.org/voter-stats/tx). Primary turnout is low and usually twice as many Rs as Ds

L2's methodology for Texas: Texas voters do not register by party. However, when those voters participate in a partisan
primary, that ballot choice is recorded and reported on the state voter file. In the absence of
stronger indications (e.g. partisan political contributions or identification due to the holding of
partisan public office) the most recent even-year partisan primary ballot is used. Texas reports
participation in presidential preference primaries in which large percentages vote, particularly in
the Republican races. In the absence of any even-year partisan primary participation, the most
recent odd-year local partisan primary is used. This information is supplemented through the
use of modeling analytics. Likely race in major urban areas plays a major role in that modeling.

May Helena Plumb @mayhplumb.bsky.social · Aug 9

I was floored just by the silhouette, but then THE DIVE!!

Reposted by May Helena Plumb

Brett "Solidarity 2025" Banditelli @banditelli.org · Aug 9

GLORIOUS PELICAN FOOTAGE OMG HOW IS THIS MY LIFE 😭😭🪶

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Reposted by May Helena Plumb

Jeremy B. Yoder 🧬📊🌿🏳️‍🌈🖖🏻 @jbyoder.org · Aug 7

I'm going to finish this manuscript by the end of the week, I told myself

Distracted Boyfriend meme: ME looking away from WRITING THE DISCUSSION SECTION to ogle MAKING NEW RESULTS FIGURES

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Reposted by May Helena Plumb

Premee Mohamed @premeemohamed.com · Jul 31

BIG STICK

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Jul 31

Supersized stick insect discovered in high-altitude trees in Australia

The 40cm-long insect, named Acrophylla alta, weighs slightly less than a golf ball and may be the heaviest insect in Australia * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A newly discovered stick insect which weighs slightly less than a golf ball may be the heaviest insect in Australia, scientists say. The 40cm-long new species, named Acrophylla alta, was found in the high altitudes of the Atherton tablelands in north Queensland – and scientists said the habitat could be part of the reason for its large size. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by May Helena Plumb

lukelukeluke @lukelukeluke.bsky.social · Jul 30

Here are some nice mushrooms

A family of mature and very wiry collared parachute mushrooms grow from a blackened bit of decayed stick, held between two fingers in a green summer forest. All photos by me

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May Helena Plumb @mayhplumb.bsky.social · Jul 3

I am 30yo and my family used speed dial on our landline up through the end of my high school years. I'd be curious about the under 20s (based on my experience of when my friends' families stopped having landlines)

May Helena Plumb @mayhplumb.bsky.social · Jun 10

That looks so wrong to me when I see it, but also I've found a counter-example in my regular life. My transit app uses a clock like that. I got nothing!

May Helena Plumb @mayhplumb.bsky.social · Jun 10

Looking at this clock graphic, I'm interpreting it as a turning mechanism and thinking the down arrow will turn the dial from top to bottom, therefore showing me the number that is "above" the current one. Which, if it was a combination lock, would be a higher number.

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