History and Philosophy of the Language Sciences

History and Philosophy of the Language Sciences episodes:

• 05.31.2024

  Podcast episode 40: Interview with Nick Riemer on politics, linguistics and ideology

  In this interview, we talk to Nick Riemer about how linguistic theory and political ideology can interact. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts References for Episode 40 Ahmed, Sara. 2012. On being included: Racism and diversity in institutional life. Durham, NC: Duke University...

  
• 04.30.2024

  Podcast episode 39: Interview with Ingrid Piller on Life in a New Language

  In this interview, we talk to Ingrid Piller about her forthcoming co-authored book Life in a New Language. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References for Episode 39 Kachru, Braj B. 1985. ‘Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: The English language...

  
• 03.31.2024

  Podcast episode 38: Interview with Dan Everett on C.S. Peirce and Peircean linguistics

  In this interview, we talk to Dan Everett about the life and work of the American pragmatist philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce and Everett’s application of Peirce’s ideas to create a Peircean linguistics. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References...

  
• 02.29.2024

  Podcast episode 37: Interview with Michael Lynch on conversation analysis and ethnomethodology

  In this interview, we talk to Michael Lynch about the history of conversation analysis and its connections to ethnomethodology. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References for Episode 37 Button, Graham, Michael Lynch and Wes Sharrock (2022) Ethnomethodology, Conversation Analysis and...

  
• 11.30.2023

  Podcast housekeeping December 2023

  In this brief audio clip, we provide an update on what’s been happening with the podcast – and what’s coming up. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts McElvenny, James. 2024. A History of Modern Linguistics: From the Beginnings to...

  
• 09.30.2023

  Podcast episode 36: Interview with Ghil‘ad Zuckermann on revivalistics

  In this interview, we talk to Ghil‘ad Zuckermann about language reclamation and revival in Australia and around the world. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References for Episode 36 The Barngarla trinity: people, language, land. The Barngarla trilogy: (1) Barngarlidhi...

  
• 07.31.2023

  Podcast episode 35: Interview with Nick Thieberger on historical documentation and archiving

  In this interview, we talk to Nick Thieberger about the value of historical documentation for linguistic research, and how this documentation can be preserved and made accessible today and in the future in digital form. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts...

  
• 06.30.2023

  Podcast episode 34: Interview with Mary Laughren on Central Australia languages and Ken Hale

  In this episode, we talk to Mary Laughren about research into the languages of Central Australia in the mid-twentieth century, with a focus on the contributions of American linguist Ken Hale. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References for...

  
• 05.31.2023

  Podcast episode 33: Formalism and distributionalism

  In this episode, we examine the formalist aspects of the linguistic work of Edward Sapir and Leonard Bloomfield, and see how their methods were turned into the doctrines of distributionalism by the following generation. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts |...

  
• 04.30.2023

  Podcast episode 32: Leonard Bloomfield and behaviourism

  In this episode, we discuss the leading American linguist Leonard Bloomfield and his connections to the psychological school of behaviourism and the philosophical doctrines of logical positivism. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References for Episode 32 Primary sources Bloomfield, Leonard...

  
• 03.31.2023

  Podcast episode 31: The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

  In this episode, we explore the historical background to linguistic relativity or the so-called ‘Sapir-Whorf hypothesis’. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References for Episode 31 Primary sources Boas, Franz, ed. (1911), Handbook of American Indian Languages, Part I, Washington DC:...

  
• 03.31.2023

  Podcast housekeeping April 2023

  This clip is a brief audio update on what’s been happening with the podcast, and what’s going to happen in the next few months. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts

  
• 11.30.2022

  Podcast episode 30: Interview with Andrew Garrett on Alfred Kroeber

  In this episode we talk to Andrew Garrett about the life, work and legacy of American anthropologist Alfred Kroeber. Kroeber achieved a number of firsts in American anthropology: he was Boas’ first Columbia PhD and the first professor of anthropology...

  
• 10.31.2022

  Podcast episode 29: Interview with Marcin Kilarski on the study of North American languages

  In this interview, we talk to Marcin Kilarski about the history of the documentation and description of the languages of North America. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References for Episode 29 Primary sources Bloomfield, Leonard. 1946. “Algonquian”. Linguistic structures of...

  
• 09.30.2022

  Podcast episode 28: Franz Boas and the Boasians

  In this episode, we begin our exploration of American linguistics by looking at the innovative contributions of Franz Boas (1858–1942) and his circle of students. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References for Episode 28 Primary sources Bastian, Adolf (1893), Controversen...

  
• 07.31.2022

  Podcast episode 27: Interview with Peter Trudgill on sociolinguistic typology

  In this interview, we talk to Peter Trudgill about how the structure of speaker communities may influence the structure of languages. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References for Episode 27 Aronoff, Mark. 1994. Morphology by itself: stems and inflectional classes....

  
• 06.30.2022

  Podcast episode 26: Interview with Philipp Krämer on creoles and creole studies

  In this interview, we talk to Philipp Krämer about the history of the study of creole languages and present-day efforts to standardise creoles around the world. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References for Episode 26 Primary sources Adam, Lucien (1883):...

  
• 05.31.2022

  Podcast episode 25: Interview with Felicity Meakins on contact linguistics

  In this interview, we talk to Felicity Meakins about Pidgins, Creoles, and mixed languages. We discuss what they are, and how they are viewed in both linguistic scholarship and in speaker communities. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References...

  
• 03.31.2022

  Podcast episode 24: Interview with Lorenzo Cigana on the Copenhagen Circle

  In this interview, we talk to Lorenzo Cigana about Louis Hjelmslev and the Copenhagen Linguistic Circle. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References for Episode 24 Primary Sources ‘Travail collectif du Cercle linguistique de Copenhague’, in Proceedings of the Sixth International...

  
• 02.28.2022

  Podcast episode 23: Interview with Noam Chomsky on the beginnings of generative grammar

  In this interview, we talk to Noam Chomsky about the intellectual environment in which generative grammar emerged. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References for Episode 23 Primary Sources Bloomfield, Leonard (1933). Language. New York: Henry Holt and Co. Carnap, Rudolf (1936)....

  
• 01.31.2022

  Podcast episode 22: Interview with Christopher Hutton on linguistics under National Socialism

  In this interview, we talk to Christopher Hutton about linguistic scholarship under National Socialism and how this relates to linguistics today. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References for Episode 22 Primary Sources Boas, Franz (1911), Handbook of American Indian languages,...

  
• 12.31.2021

  Podcast episode 21: Karl Bühler’s Organon model and the Prague Circle

  In this episode, we look at psychologist Karl Bühler’s (1879–1963) Organon model of communication and observe its influence on the linguists Nikolai Trubetzkoy (1890–1938) and Roman Jakobson (1896–1982), who were associated with the Prague Circle. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts...

  
• 11.30.2021

  Podcast episode 20: Interview with Jacqueline Léon on Firth, Malinowski and the London School

  In this interview, we continue the theme of the previous episode and talk to Jacqueline Léon about John Rupert Firth (1890–1960), Bronisław Malinowski (1884–1942) and the London School. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References for Episode 20 Primary Sources Archives...

  
• 10.31.2021

  Podcast episode 19: Meaning and British linguistics – Firth, Malinowski and the context of situation

  In this episode, we look at the central role the analysis of meaning played in British linguistics in the first half of the twentieth century. We focus on the work of John Rupert Firth (1890–1960) and Bronisław Malinowski (1884–1942) and...

  
• 09.30.2021

  Podcast episode 18: Interview with H. Walter Schmitz on Victoria Lady Welby

  In this interview, we talk to H. Walter Schmitz about pioneer of semiotics Victoria Lady Welby. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References for Episode 18 Primary Sources Hayakawa, Samuel Ichiyé (1939), Language in Thought and Action, New York: ‎ Harcourt,...

  
• 08.31.2021

  Podcast episode 17: Philipp Wegener and the beginnings of functionalism

  In this episode, we take a step back to explore the earliest beginnings of functional linguistics as represented by the work of Philipp Wegener. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References for Episode 17 Primary Sources Bréal, Michel (1866), ‘De la...

  
• 06.30.2021

  Podcast episode 16: Interview with Chloé Laplantine on Émile Benveniste

  In this episode, we talk to Chloé Laplantine about the life and work of French structuralist Émile Benveniste. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References for Episode 16 Primary Sources Annuaire du Collège de France. 1937-1938. Paris: Ernest Leroux. Benveniste, Émile. 1937....

  
• 05.31.2021

  Podcast episode 15: Roman Jakobson, Prague Circle structuralism and phonology

  In this episode, we enter the age of classical structuralism by exploring the phonological research of Roman Jakobson and his colleague Nikolai Trubetzkoy undertaken within the Prague Linguistic Circle. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts References for Episode 15 Primary...

  
• 03.31.2021

  Podcast episode 14: The emergence of phonetics in the 19th century

  In this interview, we talk to Michael Ashby about the emergence and development of phonetics in the 19th and early 20th century. https://hiphilangsci.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/hiphilangsci_015_int.mp3 Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts Archive DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4767962 References for Episode 14 Primary Sources Brücke, Ernst Wilhelm von (1856),...

  
• 02.28.2021

  Podcast episode 13: Interview with John Joseph on Saussure

  In this interview, we talk to John Joseph about Ferdinand de Saussure. https://hiphilangsci.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/hiphilangsci_013_int.mp3 Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts Archive DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4767939 References for Episode 13 Primary Sources Arnauld, Antoine and Claude Lancelot (1660), Grammaire générale et raisonnée contenant les fondemens de l’art...

  
• 01.31.2021

  Podcast episode 12: Language as a system – Ferdinand de Saussure

  In this episode, we look at Ferdinand de Saussure’s contributions to linguistics, which are widely considered to be foundational to the later movement of structuralism. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts Archive DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4767891 References for Episode…Read...

  
• 11.30.2020

  Podcast episode 11: Interview with Floris Solleveld on disciplinary linguistics in the 19th century

  In this interview, we talk to Floris Solleveld about the character of linguistic research in the 19th century. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts Archive DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4767978 References for Episode 11 Primary Sources Adelung, Johann Christoph and…Read...

  
• 10.31.2020

  Podcast episode 10: Neogrammarian critics – Hugo Schuchardt and Karl Vossler

  In this episode, we examine some of the major critiques directed against the Neogrammarians and see what they tell us about the state of linguistics around the turn of the nineteenth to the twentieth century. We focus in particular on…Read...

  
• 09.30.2020

  Podcast episode 9: The Neogrammarians

  In this episode, we introduce the Neogrammarians, the dominant school of linguistics in the closing decades of the nineteenth century. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts Archive DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4767863 References for Episode 9 Primary Sources Brugman, Karl…Read...

  
• 08.31.2020

  Podcast episode 8: Language as an institution – William Dwight Whitney

  In this episode, we look first at the critiques of Schleicher’s “physical” and Steinthal’s “psychological” theory of language put forward by the American linguist William Dwight Whitney. We then turn to Whitney’s own conception of language as a “human institution”…Read...

  
• 06.29.2020

  Podcast episode 7: Interview with Clara Stockigt on missionary grammars in Australia

  In this interview, we talk to Dr Clara Stockigt about missionary grammars in Australia and their links to the academic linguistic scholarship of the time. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts Archive DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4767849 References for Episode…Read...

  
• 05.30.2020

  Podcast episode 6: Schleicher’s morphology and Steinthal’s Völkerpsychologie

  In this episode, we look first at August Schleicher’s proposal for a linguistic “morphology” and its intellectual background in nineteenth-century biology. We then compare Schleicher’s approach to the scheme of language classification developed by H. Steinthal within Völkerpsychologie, or “psychology…Read...

  
• 05.30.2020

  Podcast episode 6: Schleicher’s morphology and Steinthal’s Völkerpsychologie

  In this episode, we look first at August Schleicher’s proposal for a linguistic “morphology” and its intellectual background in nineteenth-century biology. We then compare Schleicher’s approach to the scheme of language classification developed by H. Steinthal within Völkerpsychologie, or “psychology…Read...

  
• 04.29.2020

  Podcast episode 5: Comparativism in the mid-19th century – August Schleicher and materialism

  In this episode, we look at the expansion of comparative-historical linguistics around the middle of the nineteenth century. We focus in particular on the figure of August Schleicher, the great consolidator of the field, and his “materialist” philosophy of science.…Read...

  
• 04.29.2020

  Podcast episode 5: Comparativism in the mid-19th century – August Schleicher and materialism

  In this episode, we look at the expansion of comparative-historical linguistics around the middle of the nineteenth century. We focus in particular on the figure of August Schleicher, the great consolidator of the field, and his “materialist” philosophy of science.…Read...

  
• 03.30.2020

  Podcast episode 4: Interview with Jürgen Trabant on Wilhelm von Humboldt

  In this episode, we talk to Jürgen Trabant about Wilhelm von Humboldt. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts Archive DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4767830 References for Episode 4 Primary sources Humboldt, Wilhelm von (1836), ‘Über die Verschiedenheit des menschlichen Sprachbaues’,…Read...

  
• 03.30.2020

  Podcast episode 4: Interview with Jürgen Trabant on Wilhelm von Humboldt

  In this episode, we talk to Jürgen Trabant about Wilhelm von Humboldt. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts References for Episode 4 Primary sources Humboldt, Wilhelm von (1836), ‘Über die Verschiedenheit des menschlichen Sprachbaues’, Über die Kawi-Sprache auf der Insel…Read...

  
• 02.29.2020

  Podcast episode 3: Language classification

  In this episode, we look at language classification in the first half of the nineteenth century and at some key ideas in the work of Wilhelm von Humboldt. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts Archive DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4767813…Read...

  
• 02.29.2020

  Podcast episode 3: Language classification

  In this episode, we look at language classification in the first half of the nineteenth century and at some key ideas in the work of Wilhelm von Humboldt. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts References for Episode 3 Primary Sources…Read...

  
• 01.31.2020

  Podcast episode 2: Comparative-historical linguistics – Bopp and Grimm

  In this episode, we look at the emergence of comparative-historical grammar, focusing on the work of Franz Bopp and Jacob Grimm. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts Archive DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4767805 References for Episode 2 Primary Sources Bopp,…Read...

  
• 01.31.2020

  Podcast episode 2: Comparative-historical linguistics – Bopp and Grimm

  In this episode, we look at the emergence of comparative-historical grammar, focusing on the work of Franz Bopp and Jacob Grimm. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts References for Episode 2 Primary Sources Bopp, Franz (1816), Über das Conjugationssystem der…Read...

  
• 12.30.2019

  Podcast episode 1: Pre-history of comparative-historical linguistics

  The first series of the History and Philosophy of the Language Sciences Podcast looks at the history of modern linguistics. We begin in this episode by examining the pre-history of comparative-historical grammar. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google…Read...

  
• 12.30.2019

  Podcast episode 1: Pre-history of comparative-historical linguistics

  The first series of the History and Philosophy of the Language Sciences Podcast looks at the history of modern linguistics. We begin in this episode by examining the pre-history of comparative-historical grammar. Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts References for…Read...