Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language.

Translating Shakespeare takes a knowledge of language, culture, and poetry — both in English and in the target language. There are tradeoffs and pitfalls, but a skilled translator can bring Shakespeare closer to our age, not just to another language. We're talking with translator Daniel Hahn, author of If This Be Magic: The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation.
Also, we're answering listener questions. Send us yours!
Timestamps
00:00 Start
00:21 Intros: Shakespearean insults
07:33 Pronouncing SUDOKU: Why so variable?
15:58 Ingressive speech
20:46 Nonplussed
26:59 Related or Not: Theme from Hugh
28:13 Related or Not: pooch, pouch, pocket, and poach
38:14 Related or Not: caddy and caddie
42:47 Related or Not: hemi-, demi-, and semi-
49:30 Chat with Daniel Hahn: Keeping everything but the words
52:51 Spanish as a language of translation
58:59 Translation closes the distance: Shakespeare in contemporary English
01:07:02 Poetic meter and when to break it
01:11:07 Punctuating the translation
01:16:08 Archaic words and the feel of Shakespeare
01:18:23 Hardest language to translate Skakespeare into?
01:20:43 Staying true to time and culture
01:26:05 Having fun
01:31:12 Monosyllables
01:34:32 The impact of GenAI on translation
01:37:38 Getting people to care about translation
01:40:37 Should multi-line highway word markings start near to us or start far?
01:47:48 Gender and the -ster suffix
01:56:12 Comment from Allyson: Soo-ee!
01:58:03 The Reads
02:02:01 Outtake

Each letter in our Latin alphabet tells a story. But what about spaces? Or writing direction? Should we get rid of some letters, or could we even do with more? Here to answer all these questions is Dr Danny Bate, author of Why Q Needs U: A History of Our Letters and How We Use Them.
Timestamps
00:00 Start
00:44 Intros: Special letters
05:46 News: Spanish okay at World Cup?
09:30 News: Forgetting is helpful in language acquisition
21:18 News: Bluey in Yolŋu
25:41 Related or Not theme by Jo
27:21 Related or Not: prodigy, prodigal, and prodigious
34:19 Related or Not: vice, device, divide
43:09 Related or Not: gauntlet and gaunt
49:48 Interview with Danny Bate, author of Why Q Needs U
50:16 About Danny's podcast: A Language I Love Is…
52:24 The Alphabet: greatest innovation since sexual reproduction
56:08 The case against boustrophedon
58:51 Letters flipped over time
01:02:40 Why are some letters more common than others?
01:06:14 Why does H get used in so many digraphs?
01:10:52 Thoughts on spelling reform
01:18:07 Why are L and R so squirrelly?
01:28:53 The evolution of spaces in written language
01:31:46 What letters can we get rid of?
01:35:15 Actually, no, we need a new letter
01:36:53 Communicating linguistic ideas to the public
01:44:02 Word of the Week: monoculture
01:53:43 Word of the Week: algae-TBQ agenda
02:00:15 Word of the Week: hobbylos
02:03:14 Word of the Week: tokenmaxxing
02:06:27 Word of the Week: Claudeonomics
02:11:21 The Reads
02:18:18 Outtakes: Back on our Bluey nonsense + On being a Dan

We created software that could generate human-like text output quickly and easily. Now we're dealing with the societal upheaval it's caused. What are the risks and rewards, and what can we learn about language from these large language models? Daniel — joined by Caitlin Green — has a chat with Dr Christopher Summerfield, author of These Strange New Minds: How AI Learned to Talk and What It Means. 
Timestamps
00:00 Start
00:46 Intros: Generative A.I. concerns
04:15 Shout out to our patrons!
05:03 News: AP Style Guide defines COUPLE
10:35 News: Men do vocal fry more
14:59 News: Uptalk from 1890
16:01 News: Is Singlish up?
22:22 Related or Not: Bonkers Mélange editon, theme from Ste
23:41 Related or Not: population, discombobulate, bobbin
29:09 Related or Not: goggle, goo-goo, agog
36:09 Related or Not: once, ounce, pounce, lynx
41:55 Interview with Christopher Summerfield: Do you like A.I.?
44:21 Consequences of AI: Will we know nothing, or know everything?
47:03 Are LLMs just spicy autocorrect?
48:44 Are LLMs simply regurgitating their training data?
49:51 LLMs are getting better fast
52:33 On consciousness and intentionality
55:58 Do LLMs (or humans) understand?
58:58 The Chinese Room
01:01:00 Should we avoid anthropomorphising language around LLM behaviour?
01:04:02 Why we dismiss LLMs
01:07:26 Accelerationists, anti-hypers, and X-risk: Which are you?
01:09:49 Safety, privacy, and security
01:14:29 The magic wand of policy
01:20:18 Fixing the hallucination problem
01:27:36 Goals of the book
01:31:18 Word of the Week: liminal
01:39:59 Word of the Week: pink slime journalism
01:44:44 Word of the Week: waste colonialism
01:48:13 Quick words: hot-washing, eppy, shoulder surgfing, news-jacking, bio-break
01:51:37 Word of the Week: wario
01:55:02 The Reads
02:01:06 Outtake: That time when a siren went off in Hedvig's Parisian hotel, mid-recording
Video for this episode: https://youtu.be/94SbeM0KpWw

Australian magpies are even cleverer birds than we thought. New research from Dr Stephanie Mason shows that they do two language-like things we used to think only humans could do: learn their calls socially, and combine their calls in a way that looks a lot like syntax. So are we calling this language? If so, how are the linguists taking it? Stephanie joins us to talk about magpies, media, and the territoriality of linguists.
Timestamps
00:00 Start
00:54 Intros: Your favourite bird
07:10 What's coming up: Magpies
09:34 Join us! Patreon spruikery
11:32 News: Jamaican MP shut down for speaking Jamaican in Parliament
19:35 News: Whale phonology
31:46 News: Unicode to include new genderless pronoun for Mandarin
36:37 News: China and the Rubio Workaround
38:16 Related or Not: New theme from Hugh!
40:05 Related or Not 1: SLAP, SMACK, and SWAT
45:45 Related or Not 2: SOUND
56:13 Related or Not 3: SPECK, SPECKLE, SPECTRE, and SPECTRUM
01:00:36 Talking about magpies with Stephanie Mason
01:03:38 About Australian magpies
01:06:17 The problem of anthropomorphism
01:15:21 What's the semantic content?
01:22:52 Linguists can be territorial about language
01:34:48 Social complexity drives new behaviours
01:45:19 Magpies learn their calls socially
01:49:42 Magpies combine their calls
01:58:44 Magpies learn calls across the lifespan
02:05:36 Finding those birds
02:08:10 Doing public engagement: Are metaphors actually helping?
02:17:26 Words of the Week: mog
02:24:54 Word of the Week: pied-à-terre
02:27:48 Word of the Week: dummymander
02:33:03 Word of the Week: Sooooo-ee!
02:39:22 Etymology of Guacamole
02:39:35 Comment: guacamole = testicle sauce?
02:41:28 The reads
02:46:28 Outtake

Wherever Irish speakers in the world get together, you can have a "pop-up Gaeltacht"! And we're having one on this episode. We've got author and TG4 presenter Laura Pakenham taking us through the history and orthography of this great and resilient language. Laura is the author of Irish: History and Culture Through Language.
Timestamps
00:00 Start
00:24 Introducing Laura Pakenham
10:12 About Laura: Getting the gig
15:01 Navigating "correct" usage v. common usage
21:05 Different Irish voices on TG4
21:56 Getting feedback from Gaeilge speakers
24:33 Gaeilge as it is today
30:15 Irish is fun and cool, not so much a duty anymore
37:55 On coming to Irish as a learner
41:30 Related or Not: Theme
42:49 Related or Not: JIG, GIGUE, and JOG
49:51 Related or Not: HEATH, HEATHER, and HEATHEN
56:31 Related or Not: SCRAP and SCRUPLES
01:01:10 Gaeilge orthography and phonology
01:08:37 Gaeilge words and idioms
01:13:36 Why are things often referred to as "she"?
01:15:43 Favourite Irish words?
01:17:40 Irish diaspora and its linguistic impact
01:21:30 Advice for language advocates
01:23:59 The reads