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"If your books were uploaded to LibGen/fed into the LLMs, add your name to the potential class action lawsuit by tomorrow." Details:

LibDem database: www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Attorney form: www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...

(This information comes via a reliable Discord source.)

Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI

Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.

www.theatlantic.com

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Diachronica journal @diachronica.bsky.social · Aug 15

We will be at ichl next week! Happy to talk about potential submissions

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Andrew Garrett @andrewgarrett.bsky.social · Aug 2

Entirely selfishly, I'm also pleased by echoes of work I've done: "Convergence in the formation of IE subgroups: Phylogeny and chronology" (2006); "Descent and diffusion in language diversification: A study of Western Numic dialectology" (with Babel, Houser & Toosarvandani, 2013).

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Diachronica journal @diachronica.bsky.social · Aug 1

Sing ~ Siew ? Song ~ saw? Sung ~ sow.

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Diachronica journal @diachronica.bsky.social · Aug 1

Here we are, please add us when you have a chance!

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Diachronica journal @diachronica.bsky.social · Aug 1

New article in the tone special issue
#linguistics
benjamins.com/catalog/dia....

Accent and tone
The double origin of the Paicî prosodic system
Florian Lionnet | Princeton University

Accent and tone
The double origin of the Paicî prosodic system
ORCID logoFlorian Lionnet | Princeton University
What happens when an accentual language develops a tonal contrast from laryngeal features: is the accent system kept alongside the new tone contrast? Is it lost? Do both prosodic systems merge? In this paper, I present the tone system of Paicî, which illustrates the latter outcome. Paicî seems to possess two integrated prosodic subsystems: a purely tonal H vs. L contrast, and a typologically unusual downstep with accentual properties. Building on Rivierre (1978), I show that a comparison with neighboring Xârâcùù, where accent is marked by a similar downstep, explains this apparently mixed system: the H/L tonal contrast emerged through tonogenesis in an already accentual language, where accent was marked by a downstep just like in Xârâcùù. This caused the former downstep to be reinterpreted as tonal. The Paicî case is interesting for the study of the interactions between accent and tone, both in synchrony and in diachrony.
Keywords: tone, accent, downstep, Paicî, Xârâcùù, Oceanic, New Caledonia

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Diachronica journal @diachronica.bsky.social · Aug 1

New article in our tone special issue
#linguistics
benjamins.com/catalog/dia....

Tonogenesis
A diachronic typology
Lilja Maria Sæbø | Oxford University
Eitan Grossman | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Steven Moran | University of Neuchâtel | University of Zurich

Tonogenesis
A diachronic typology
ORCID logoLilja Maria Sæbø | Oxford University
ORCID logoEitan Grossman | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
ORCID logoSteven Moran | University of Neuchâtel | University of Zurich
This article presents the Database of Tonogenetic Events (DTE), which describes 259 tonogenetic events from 104 genealogically and geographically diverse language varieties. The DTE allows us to identify the main types of reported tonogenesis triggering contexts, the types of resultant tones, and their effects on pitch. We illustrate the usefulness of the database with case studies addressing (i) the frequency of different types of tonogenesis, (ii) the diachronic pathways linking phonological triggering context and resultant tone, and (iii) areal trends. We also discuss the shortcomings of the database with respect to the diachronic typological study of tone.
Keywords: tonogenesis, typology, tone, historical linguistics

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Reposted by Diachronica journal

Nicole Holliday @mixedlinguist.bsky.social · Jul 31

Another reason humans are infinitely better than "AI": it can't keep up with language change. Urban Dictionary bests Gemini every time!

Gemini's definition of wireback:
The term "wireback" is not a recognized or established slang term. It's likely a misspelling or a misunderstanding of other terms

Urban dictionary definition of wireback: A slang term used to mock robots or AI, poking fun at their reliance on messy wires and artificial support, like a half-baked machine acting clever.
"That wireback botched it, guess the tin trash can’t keep up with the humans again!"

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Henry Sweet Society @henrysweetsoc.bsky.social · Jul 31

Are you working on topics related to the history of linguistics?🫵
Consider submitting an article to ✨Language & History✨, the journal of the Henry Sweet Society! It is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal published 3 times per year both online and in print.
www.henrysweet.org/language-and...

Language & History — Henry Sweet Society

Published in 3 issues per year both online and in print, Language & History is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal that aims to promote the study of the history of all branches of linguistic…

www.henrysweet.org

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Reposted by Diachronica journal

Julie A. Hochgesang @jahochcam.bsky.social · Jul 31

So glad this is out! Still wish we had the data processed in time for @jmhenner.bsky.social to use but pleased to have his contribution in more ways than 1. See below for a brief commentary re Jon, deaf linguists & participating in SiL research and doing it in a way that disrupts or crips it all

Series of 3 images of Jon during Zoom session expressing full support for open access in ASL

Zoom window of 4 participants - top left to bottom right - Frank smiling, Jon with two-handed heart gesture, Leeann smiling and Julie holding heart over heart with 🥹 face

Twitter thread showing Jon’s belief in open access work and recognition of the work it takes. Text:

Jon Henner @jmhenner - Paying participants. Assistants. Language Coders. Web coders. Web maintenance. Web systems. Technology.
This scales. If I want a project with 10 people I need to seed it thinking ahead.
5:15 PM - Dec 15, 2021

Julie A. Hochgesang, PhD @jahochcam Dec 15, 2021
Exactly

Hoping that #MoloASL will be released this upcoming summer and part of
#05S5ASL in the spring with more as the year progresses

Jon Henner @jmhenner • Dec 15, 2021
***
I don't want to collect good data and let it die on a VHS tape on my shelf like two generations ago. It needs to be available and accessible.

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Diachronica journal @diachronica.bsky.social · Jul 31

New #linguistics article!
Late Malayo-Polynesian
A new model of Austronesian linguistic relations
Alexander D. Smith | Fudan University
benjamins.com/catalog/dia....
Keywords: Malayo-Polynesian, Austronesian, subgrouping, linkages, language contact

Late Malayo-Polynesian
A new model of Austronesian linguistic relations
ORCID logoAlexander D. Smith | Fudan University
Models of higher-order Austronesian linguistic relations have traditionally involved the grouping of languages into large higher-order subgroups. In the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup, that tradition has led to the creation of subgroups covering great geographical distances all modeled as descending directly from the Malayo-Polynesian node. This research argues that the evidence for those large subgroups does not stand under scrutiny. Rather, the distribution of innovations throughout the Malayo-Polynesian region suggests that those innovations spread within a large network of dialects. That network, here dubbed the “Late-Malayo-Polynesian” network, replaces discrete higher-level nodes in the classical model of Austronesian linguistic relations.
Keywords: Malayo-Polynesian, Austronesian, subgrouping, linkages, language contact

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Andrew A.N. Deloucas @aandeloucas.com · Jul 23

Huge week for Sumerian culture:

Isabelle Marie @isabellemarie.bsky.social · Jul 23

Study translates fragmentary ancient Sumerian myth around 4,400 years old.
phys.org/news/2025-07...

Study translates fragmentary ancient Sumerian myth around 4,400 years old

A recent study by Dr. Jana Matuszak, published in the academic journal Iraq, examines the mythical narrative contained in a tablet (Ni 12501) dating to the Early Dynastic IIIb period (ca. 2540–2350 BC...

phys.org

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Diachronica journal @diachronica.bsky.social · Jul 23

New paper! #linguistics

benjamins.com/catalog/dia....
Learning to be (un)hip in panel data
Exploring quotative be like across the adult life‑span
Anne-Marie Moelders, Isabelle Buchstaller | Sociolinguistics Lab, University of Duisburg-Essen

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Diachronica journal @diachronica.bsky.social · Jul 23

benjamins.com/catalog/dia....

Tonogenesis in the Naduhup family of northwest Amazonia

While tone is widely encountered among Amazonian languages, Amazonia has generally been underrepresented in wider studies of tone and tonal diachrony. This paper offers a case study of tonogenesis wit...

benjamins.com

Diachronica journal @diachronica.bsky.social · Jul 23

New paper! #linguistics

Tonogenesis in the Naduhup family of northwest Amazonia
Mark Simmons | University of California San Diego
Patience Epps | University of Texas at Austin

Tonogenesis in the Naduhup family of northwest Amazonia
ORCID logoMark Simmons | University of California San Diego
ORCID logoPatience Epps | University of Texas at Austin
While tone is widely encountered among Amazonian languages, Amazonia has generally been underrepresented in wider studies of tone and tonal diachrony. This paper offers a case study of tonogenesis within the small Naduhup language family of western Amazonia. We propose that Naduhup tonogenesis was grounded in a prior contrast involving vowel length and was linked to coda voicing. Contact with neighboring languages in which tone was already present was also a likely catalyst. In addition to contributing to our understanding of tonogenesis in a part of the world where these processes are not well known, the Naduhup case provides an illustration of how vowel length, coda voicing, and intonation may all play a role in the emergence of tone.

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