How did language start? What do all languages have in common? How does language really work? Many answers have been posed to these questions, but one thing is for sure: interaction is the combustion chamber where everything happens. We're having a chat with linguistic lion Stephen Levinson, author of The Interaction Engine.

Timestamps

• Introductions: 0:19
• These fascinating facts about language will make you (or Dr Levinson) a hit at any party: 3:47
• The mechanics of speech production: 06:01
• What's going on when we're talking or listening? 8:46
• Cultural differences in conversational norms: 20:33
• Universals of interaction: 22:10
• Metaphors of space may have been a motivator for language: 25:53
• The role of gesture in language development: 28:47
• Cooperation and empathy in language: 34:59
• What one thing explains the most about language?: 45:56

Disclosure: Hedvig is employed at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, where Dr Levinson is an emeritus director.

How do large language models (LLMs) do their thing, and it is anything like how we do our thing? What can we learn about human language from this software? The answer might involve constructions — pairings of form and meaning that we use to make language. And here to discuss it with us is constructionist pioneer and linguistic legend, Professor Adele Goldberg.

Timestamps

• Intros: 1:14
• News: 7:13
• Related or Not: 34:18
• Interview with Adele Goldberg: 46:40
• Words of the Week: 1:38:19
• The Reads: 1:56:50
• Bonus chat with Adele Goldberg: 2:03:16
• Outtakes: 2:13:11

Gesture is everywhere. We wave our hands when we talk, even if we're alone. Signed languages are, of course, full languages that use gesture. And it could even be argued that emoji are the online equivalent of gesture. It's inescapable. And why would we want to do without it, when it's so useful? So we're talking about gesture and language with Dr Lauren Gawne, author of Gesture: A Slim Guide.

Our chat with Lauren is available on video, so you can see all the gestures! Link: https://youtu.be/kHPgyXhl8Kk

Timestamps

• Intros: 0:19
• News: 7:42
• Related or Not: 23:20
• Interview with Lauren Gawne: 44:10
• Words of the Week: 1:32:53
• The Reads: 1:48:10

It's Eurovision season! We love to talk about what we can learn about language from this international song contest, but even we didn't realise that there was so much to learn. Language choice, language policy, language and gender and metaphor — and all of this has been packed into a unit at Umeå University: Linguistics and the Eurovision Song Contest. Paulette van der Voet and Solveig Bollig are heading up the course, and they're here to tell us all about it… and nerd out with Hedvig besides.

Timestamps

• Cold open: 0:00
• Intros: 0:39
• News: 7:39
• Related or Not: 26:41
• Interview with Paulette and Solveig: 38:53
• Words of the Week: 1:30:08
• Comment from John: 1:49:18
• The Reads: 1:53:53
• Outtakes: 2:02:25

Artificial intelligence (so-called) is typified by its boom and bust cycles, and we're in a boom now. But as more and more money pours in with decreasing returns, we're going to see a shakeout, and hype is rushing in to stoke the enthusiasm. In other words, the con is on.

Dr Emily M. Bender and Dr Alex Hanna are co-hosts of the podcast Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, and the authors of The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want. They join us for this episode.

Video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/wxGeXMzlwng

If you repeat something twice, how many times did you do it? Can more than one dinner be "the perfect dinner"? And what does "every other" mean?

We are once again fixing English, in a live episode in which we pile all our friends into a room and vote on vexing semantic questions. These results are binding on English-speakers throughout time and space, because that's how language works. By committee!

Timestamps

• Cold open: 0:00
• Intros: 0:55
• News: 4:12
• Related or Not: 31:06
• Fixing English: 47:59
• Words of the Week: 1:13:44
• The Reads: 1:34:00
• Outtakes: 1:42:40

Spelling reform in English: a constant failure? Or a secret success? Waves upon waves of optimists have tried to make English spelling reflect its sound and escape its etymological origins, but have never seen their vision fully realised. Author Gabe Henry has chronicled the attempts, and he joins us on this episode. 

Gabe is the author of Enough Is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Easier to Spell, available from Dey Street Books.

Timestamps

• Cold open: 0:00
• Intros: 1:44
• News: 9:50
• Related or Not: 32:21
• Interview with Gabe Henry: 49:23
• Words of the Week: 1:33:41
• Comment: 1:50:50
• The Reads: 1:53:57
• Outtakes: 2:03:28

First words and last words get a lot of attention. But how did words get to have such a place of prominence? What would we see if we focused on interaction instead? A new book looks at words, gestures, and silence at the beginning and end of life. Daniel has a chat with the author of Bye Bye I Love You, Dr Michael Erard.

Timestamps

• Cold open: 0:00
• Intros: 1:05
• News: 6:59
• Related or Not: 35;54
• Interview with Michael Erard: 47:56
• Words of the Week: 1:33:32
• Comment: 1:45:46 
• The Reads: 1:49:43
• Outtake: 1:56:01

Breaking news: The president of the United States intends to sign an executive order designating English the official language of the USA. Is this a big deal? Why was this necessary, and what happens now? Dr Carmen Fought joins us on this episode.

Timestamps

• Theme and intros: 0:00
• Discussing the executive order with Carmen: 0:56
• Thanks and reads: 47:38

What really goes on behind the scenes at the biggest Word of the Year vote in linguistdom? Are we really going to stick with sanewashing for our word? And which words did we miss? We lock in and crash out with New Words Data Czar Dr Kelly Wright.

Timestamps

• Open: 0:00
• Intros: 0:57
• Words: 6:54
• Related or Not: 59:22
• Comments: 1:19:19
• The Reads: 1:24:00
• Outtake: 1:32:39