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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 15m

And if you want to learn more about the kinds of changes in language that happen over the course of individual lifespans, I’ve got an entire article that teaches you about exactly that:

Website: linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/iron-d...
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‘Shake it off’: Taylor Swift’s changing voice shows how our accents evolve

An analysis of Swift’s interviews suggests her speech pattern has changed over her career.

www.nature.com

Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 15m

This study is an excellent example of how the way we speak can change even as adults, when we tend to think of our language as fairly stable.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

‘Shake it off’: Taylor Swift’s changing voice shows how our accents evolve

An analysis of Swift’s interviews suggests her speech pattern has changed over her career.

www.nature.com

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 15m

This confirms what people have long noted—“that Swift had a fairly marked shift in her pronunciation once she moved to Tennessee and then back to Pennsylvania again.”

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 15m

An analysis of Taylor Swift’s interviews from three different eras of her career (and I don’t just mean the Eras Tour) show that her accent has shifted over time, from a notably Southern accent to now one that reflects the Pennsylvania dialect where she grew up.

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 15m

The Linguistics of a Showgirl: Linguists show how Taylor Swift’s accent has changed over the course of her career.

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 1d

Get your own copy of the book here:

amzn.to/4krA7qf

amzn.to

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 1d

Learn all about eponymous etymology from today’s special guest @JessZafarris.bsky.social as she gives you a sneak peek into her new book, “Useless etymology”—which comes out today!

Website: linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/useles...
Substack: linguisticdiscovery.substack.com/p/useless-et...

What’s in a name?: Eponymous etymology

A sneak peek at Jess Zafarris’ new book, “Useless etymology: Word origins for curious minds”

linguisticdiscovery.com

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 1d

What do the words “shrapnel”, “guy”, “pants”, and “sideburns” all have in common?

They’re all eponyms!—words derived from proper names. (Often “eponym” is used to refer to the source name instead though.)

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 1d

If you want more of the latest news, research, and interesting articles in language and linguistics, check out my free weekly digest!

Website: linguisticdiscovery.com/current-ling...
Substack: linguisticdiscovery.substack.com/s/current-li...

Current Linguistics - Linguistic Discovery

A weekly roundup of the latest language-related news, research in linguistics, interesting reads from the week, and newest books and other media dealing with language and linguistics.

linguisticdiscovery.com

Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 1d

Antarctic leopard seal ‘songs’ are surprisingly similar to nursery rhymes

theconversation.com/antarctic-le...

Antarctic leopard seal ‘songs’ are surprisingly similar to nursery rhymes

The fact that animals don’t use words makes it hard to decode their communication. But technology is starting to make it easier.

theconversation.com

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 2d

If you want more of the latest news, research, and interesting reads in language and linguistics, check out my free weekly digest!

Website: linguisticdiscovery.com/current-ling...
Substack: linguisticdiscovery.substack.com/s/current-li...

Current Linguistics - Linguistic Discovery

A weekly roundup of the latest language-related news, research in linguistics, interesting reads from the week, and newest books and other media dealing with language and linguistics.

linguisticdiscovery.com

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 2d

The Tsimane language only has basic color terms for blackish, whitish, and reddish.

However, Spanish-Tsimane bilinguals are starting to rework the Tsimane color system.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/bili...

@elisecutts.bsky.social

Bilingualism Is Reworking This Language's Rainbow

The Tsimane’ language divides the rainbow into blackish, reddish and whitish. But bilingual Spanish and Tsimane’ speakers are changing that

www.scientificamerican.com

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 3d

Want to learn more about how cuneiform developed? Check out this issue of the Linguistic Discovery newsletter: “From counting to language: How writing evolved”

Website: linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/sumeri...
Substack: linguisticdiscovery.substack.com/p/sumerian-n...

From counting to cuneiform: How writing was invented

The earliest version of cuneiform wasn't used to write language at all—it was used to count! And that Sumerian system of counting still influences our counting systems today. Here's the story of…

linguisticdiscovery.com

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 3d

Given what we know about the sounds these signs were used for much later, we can guess that the official’s name may have been Kushim. Given the very large amount of barley and the long accounting period, this tablet appears to be a summary of a balance sheet.

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 3d

This is an early clay tablet from Uruk used to record a transaction involving barley. The two signs in the bottom lefthand corner occur on 18 tablets from this period and probably represent the name of the official responsible for this transaction, or an institution or office.

An early clay tablet from Uruk used to record a transaction involving barley. The two signs in the bottom lefthand corner occur on 18 tablets from this period and probably represent the name of the official responsible for this transaction, or an institution or office. Given what we know about the sounds these signs were used for much later, we can guess that the official’s name may have been Kushim. Given the very large amount of barley and the long accounting period, this tablet appears to be a summary of a balance sheet. From “The story of writing” (Robinson)

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 3d

Tally marks, property/name marks, Incan quipu, certain types of cave paintings, and pictorial signs all generally fall under the category of proto-writing.

An Incan quipu in the Museo Machu Picchu, Casa Concha, Cusco.

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 3d

We call this early stage *proto-cuneiform* instead of just *cuneiform* because it was not yet a type of *writing*. Writing is a static representation of *language* whereas proto-writing is a static representation of *information* that isn’t systematically related to a specific language.

A proto-cuneiform tablet from the Jemdet Nasr period (c. 3100–2900 BCE). A dog on a leash is visible in the background of the lower panel.

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 3d

The signs do not represent sounds, they convey no grammatical information like verb tense or noun case, and there are no prefixes or suffixes. (More details about this particular tablet in a bit.)

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 3d

Before cuneiform became a fully-developed writing system, it was primarily a system of tallying different types of goods. Early cuneiform texts are all numerical tablets containing calculations and tallies of objects. 🧵

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 3d

As a linguist, I can tell you tons of things about the grammars of languages all over the world, how they work, and how they got that way, but I still can’t speak them. I only speak the languages I’ve gotten behind the wheel and practiced with. 🚘🗣️

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 3d

Studying linguistics is kind of like reading a car manual: it’ll teach you everything about how the car works, but when you’re done reading it you still won’t know how to drive.

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 4d

If you want more of the latest news, research, and interesting reads in language and linguistics, check out my free weekly digest!

Website: linguisticdiscovery.com/current-ling...
Substack: linguisticdiscovery.substack.com/s/current-li...

Current Linguistics - Linguistic Discovery

A weekly roundup of the latest language-related news, research in linguistics, interesting reads from the week, and newest books and other media dealing with language and linguistics.

linguisticdiscovery.com

Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 4d

The 12th edition of “Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary” comes 22 years after the book’s last hard-copy update and amid declining U.S. sales for analog dictionaries overall. It will be released Nov. 18, with preorders now available.

apnews.com/article/merr...

Hard pass. Cold brew. Dad bod. Merriam-Webster adds over 5,000 words to 'Collegiate' dictionary

Merriam-Webster has fully revised its popular “Collegiate” dictionary with over 5,000 new words. They include “petrichor,” “dumbphone” and “ghost kitchen.”

apnews.com

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 4d

Merriam-Webster just added 5,000 words to their collegiate dictionary, including “petrichor,” “teraflop,” “dumbphone” and “ghost kitchen.”

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Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 4d

Even though there are a lot of ⟨t⟩’s in these words, it turns out /t/ isn’t the most frequent sound in English! Learn why in this (paid) issue of the Linguistic Discovery newsletter:

Website: linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/englis...
Substack: linguisticdiscovery.substack.com/p/english-co...

Your cryptogram is lying to you—/t/ isn’t the most frequent consonant in English

What are the most frequent sounds across languages (and why)?

linguisticdiscovery.com