A Language I Love Is...

Time for the 6th episode of ALILI... and for Dr Stephen Hopkins to wind back the clock on the language you are currently reading – we're heading back to Old English! Stephen is a real pro, and this interview with him is both an engaging and entertaining introduction to the earliest days of English.

Stephen's brilliant Twitter site: https://twitter.com/phil_lol_ogist

Host: Danny Bate

Guest: Dr. Stephen Hopkins

Music: Bossa Nova by William_King

Artwork: Willow Marler

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Here's Episode 5 of A Language I Love Is... and for this episode, Dr Sāmapriẏa Basu guides us into the Caucasus, the "mountain of tongues", a region rich in languages and language families. Our way in is via the modern language of Ossetian, an Indo-European relative marooned by history from the rest of its family.

Sāmapriẏa's wonderful Twitter site: ⁠https://twitter.com/avzaagzonunaada⁠

Host: Danny Bate

Guest: Dr. Sāmapriẏa Basu

Music: Bossa Nova by William_King

Artwork: Willow Marler

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 4 of ALILI is here and its task is to introduce the linguistic cosmos that is the Sanskrit language. Dr Krishnan Ram-Prasad joins me to run through the basics of Sanskrit, from its prehistoric origins to its prestigious status in India today. Krishnan expertly offers a wealth of information, all presented with the palpable enthusiasm of a true fan.

Find Krishnan's website and work here: https://krishnanjramprasad.co.uk

Host: Danny Bate

Guest: Dr. Krishnan Ram-Prasad

Music: Bossa Nova by William_King

Artwork: Willow Marler

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 3 of ALILI is a deep dive into the Germanic languages, expertly navigated by George Walkden, who shares a wealth of information about this language family through his love for one particular member: Old Saxon. Having introduced the language, its few (but fun) sources and himself, George uses the example of Old Saxon to make some great points about the connections between language, politics and the accidents of history.

Host: Danny Bate

Guest: Prof. George Walkden

Music: Bossa Nova by William_King

Artwork: Willow Marler

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 2 of ALILI and it's time to head back to ancient Mesopotamia and hear all about Akkadian, an influential lingua franca of the ancient world. Old it may be, but Akkadian still has much to tell us about its many cousin languages still spoken to this day. Akkadian expert Iris Kamil both introduces and shares a little of her boundless enthusiasm for the language and its surprisingly relatable sources.

Host: Danny Bate

Guest: Iris Kamil

Music: Bossa Nova by William_King

Artwork: Willow Marler

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here's Episode 1, in which my friend Sarah van Eyndhoven kindly offers both her time and expertise to join me to talk about the Scots language. This language of the Lowlands of Scotland has a long history, reaching back into early medieval times, and also a complicated history with its southern cousin, English. Sarah is on hand to untangle all this history, as well as offering her thoughts on the future of the language. The episode ends with a fun fact from me about a superb Scots sound.

Host: Danny Bate

Guests: (Dr) Sarah van Eyndhoven

Music: Bossa Nova by William_King

Artwork: Willow Marler

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello there! This is my introduction to a new podcast all about language, linguistics and loving both. In this initial episode, I set out the premise and format of the whole idea, which I've been thinking over for a couple of years now. Watch this space for the episodes proper, very soon!

Music: Bossa Nova by William_King

Artwork: Willow Marler

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.