Can we predict the future of English? | Current trends and language change

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Linguistics Behind the Scenes

Linguistics BTS

18 episodes

6 days ago

This podcast is for everyone who enjoys or even loves language. Have you ever wondered why we speak or write like that? And how we can find out what is usual, "right" or "wrong" in language use? Then join linguistics professor Christina Sanchez-Stockhammer and linguistics enthusiast Dominic Piazza on a backstage tour of linguistic research as they engage in entertaining chats about all the many fun and interesting aspects of language. Visit our website: https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/phil/english/sections/edling/sciencecommunication/podcast.php

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Can we predict the future of English? | Current trends and language change

Linguistics Behind the Scenes

52 minutes 9 seconds

3 months ago

Can we predict the future of English? | Current trends and language change

Welcome, time travelers, to a tour through the evolution of the English language! Christina and Dominic chat about the quirks of linguistic prediction, and the weird and wonderful ways language changes right under our noses.

- Who’s at the origin of linguistic change?

- How is American English sneaking into other dialects?

- Will "fewer" finally lose to "less"?

- Can we forecast language like the weather?

From glottal stops to German “Handys” and English “earworms,” this episode explores digital slang and global English influences, and ventures into the question how linguists test their predictions – not with crystal balls, but using data, probabilities, and a whole lot of curiosity.

Full episode transcript available here:

https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/phil/english/sections/edling/sciencecommunication/podcast-transcripts.php#Episode13

Full article available to read for free here:

Can we predict linguistic change? An introduction. By Christina Sanchez-Stockhammer. https://varieng.helsinki.fi/series/volumes/16/introduction.html.

Read more about the topic in the freely available online volume Can we predict linguistic change? Edited by Christina Sanchez-Stockhammer. https://varieng.helsinki.fi/series/volumes/16/.

Mentioned in this episode:

- Tom Scott: The language sounds that could exist, but don't. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uZam0ubq-Y.

- Ig Nobel prizes: https://improbable.com/ig/about-the-ig-nobel-prizes/.