Linguistics Behind the Scenes

In this brilliantly nerdy episode, Christina and Dominic explore those English words that seem to stand all on their own, with no linguistic parents or children in sight. But wait—are they really that isolated? Discover unexpected word families and the hidden building blocks of language. Learn why “annual” sounds fancier than “yearly,” why mnemonics are your best friend, and how to decode big, scary words like “misinterpretation”.

Would you wear a ballgown or a costume to a “fancy dress” party?

Is “understand” really about standing under something?

What are the best tricks for learning vocabulary in a foreign language?

(Please post your favourite mnemonics in the comments!)

Dominic and Christina compare English and German words like “Handschuh” (hand-shoe = glove) and “Armbanduhr” (bracelet-clock = watch) and conclude that if you know where to look, words can reveal a whole hidden network of meaning.

Full episode transcript available here:

https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/phil/english/sections/edling/sciencecommunication/podcast-transcripts.php#Episode14

Read the complete book for free here:

Consociation and Dissociation: An Empirical Study of Word-Family Integration in English and German. By Christina Sanchez. www.doi.org/10.24053/9783823373841.

Mentioned in this episode:

“How anyone (including YOU) can read German” by RobWords (Rob Watts). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VebSZrHmsI4.

Remembering the Kanji by James W. Heisig. https://hep.ph.liv.ac.uk/~payne/sgfSigmaThing/James%20W.%20Heisig%20-%20Remembering%20Kanji%204%BA%20Edition%20-%20Vol%201.pdf.

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/.

Grab a cocktail (or mocktail) and join Christina and Dominic for a spirited discussion on hybridity – in language, biology, culture, and beyond. From mules to dronkeys, creoles to hybrid cars, this episode explores what happens when things mix, blend, and blur the boundaries.

- Why is English like a linguistic cocktail?

- Can you really “borrow” words if you never give them back?

- Is “dislike” a Germanic-Romance Frankenstein?

- Why is “brunch” so linguistically satisfying?

With portmanteaus, pidgins, and even the infamous German “ß”, this episode celebrates the beautiful messiness of language – where nothing is truly “pure,” and things become richer through mixing.

Full episode transcript available here:

https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/phil/english/sections/edling/sciencecommunication/podcast-transcripts.php#Episode12

Full article available to read for free here:

Hybridization in language. By Christina Sanchez-Stockhammer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-21846-0_9

Once upon a time, Christina and Dominic embarked on a linguistic adventure through the enchanted world of fairy tales to explore the rich history, dark origins, and global legacy of the Brothers Grimm – and what it means to translate their magical style. In this whimsical episode, Christina and Dominic wander deep into the woods of Grimms’ Fairy Tales to talk about the linguistic magic thatbrings them to life.

- Who really wrote the most famous fairy tales?

- How do we translate a story and still keep its essence?

- Why are the original versions a little… darker than we remember?

- How can we measure the quality of a translation?

From enchanted animals and pumpkin carriages to UNESCO recognition and n-gram analysis, this episode blends folklore, philology, and a bit of fairy dust.

Full episode transcript available here:

https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/phil/english/sections/edling/sciencecommunication/podcast-transcripts.php#Episode11

Article mentioned in this episode:

Sanchez-Stockhammer, Christina. 2020. The potential of multi-word units as measures of fairy-tale style in Schneewittchen (Snow-White) and its English translations. In Ludwig Fesenmeier & Iva Novakova (eds.), Phraséologie et stylistique de la langue littéraire/Phraseology and stylistics of literary language, 305–327. Berlin: Peter Lang.

Christina and Dominic tackle the tangled world of compound words – from the monster nouns of German to the cake-based contradictions of English (listen and see!).

- Why are some German words so incredibly long?

- Why do some English compounds get hyphens, others spaces, and some nothing at all?

- Is English spelling total chaos, or is there a method to the madness?

From Mark Twain’s complaints about German to a surprisingly elegant rule of thumb for English spelling, this episode sheds light on the quirkier aspects of written language.

Full episode transcript available here:

https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/phil/english/sections/edling/sciencecommunication/podcast-transcripts.php#Episode10

Video tutorial “How to spell English compounds in 3 simple steps” [3:36 min]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTg1cyDwHbQ&t=2s

CompSpell website with online spelling tool and information about the simple compound spelling strategy: www.compounds.gwi.uni-muenchen.de

Mentioned in this episode:

Christina Sanchez-Stockhammer (2018): English compounds and their spelling. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Christina and Dominic explore the animated (and linguistic!) world of comics on screen. From Tintin to Spider-Man, they discuss how speech bubbles, onomatopoeia, and talking animals survive (or don’t) in their cinematic transformations.

- Why do comic book characters sound different in movies?

- Why did Spielberg choose British accents for a Belgian story?

- How are foreign languages represented in animated environments?

From speech bubbles to screenplays, motion capture to dubbing, this episode peels back the layers of adaptations, one linguistic choice at a time. Come for the comics, stay for the motion pictures.

Full episode transcript available here:

https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/phil/english/sections/edling/sciencecommunication/podcast-transcripts.php#Episode9

Full article available to read for free here:

How comics communicate on the screen: Telecinematic discourse in comic-to-screen adaptations. By Christina Sanchez-Stockhammer. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bsz:ch1-qucosa2-745518

Lost in pronunciation? Christina and Dominic explore the quirks of accents, fluency, and identity in language learning.

- What does your accent say about who you are?

- Is perfect pronunciation worth chasing?

- How do tricky English sounds like TH and R trip up learners around the world?

From rhotic R’s and intrusive R’s to dialect leveling, accommodation, and the secret life of weak forms, this episode explores how we speak, why we speak that way, and what it all says about us.

Listen in and join us on Linguistics Behind the Scenes!

Full episode transcript available here:

https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/phil/english/sections/edling/sciencecommunication/podcast-transcripts.php#Episode8

Full article available to read for free here:

“Do you say /ka:/ or /ka:r/?” What future teachers should learn about English phonetics, phonology and pronunciation. By Christina Sanchez-Stockhammer. https://monarch.qucosa.de/landing-page/https%3A%2F%2Fmonarch.qucosa.de%2Fapi%2Fqucosa%253A97159%2Fmets%2F/

Level up your linguistics! Dominic and Christina explore the intersection of video games and language.

- What’s the meaning behind Pikachu’s name?

- How can video games be educational?

- Are players more motivated to rescue a person or to save treasure when learning difficult words?

From portmanteau Pokémon to Indiana Jones-inspired learning, this episode explores how games and language go hand in hand.

Press play and join us on another episode of Linguistics Behind the Scenes!

Full episode transcript available here:

https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/phil/english/sections/edling/sciencecommunication/podcast-transcripts.php#Episode7

Play “Bridge of Knowledge” on Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.LMU_LRZ.bridgevr

Play on the iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bridge-of-knowledge-vr/id1552164117

More info about “Bridge of Knowledge”: www.bridgevr.de

Full article available to read for free here:

“Influence of narrative settings on learning success in Virtual Reality games: A case study with Bridge of Knowledge VR". By Katharina Jahn, Markus Suren, Christina Sanchez-Stockhammer & Günter Daniel Rey. https://doi.org/10.3389/frvir.2025.1550004.

Time flies… but how do we talk about it? Dominic and Christina work around the clock in this timely episode to explore temporal terms in different languages.

- Have digital clocks changed the way we talk about time?

- Why do Germans say “half seven” when they mean 6:30?

- Why do the Japanese have “morning rice” for breakfast and the Germans have “evening bread” for dinner?

From ancient calendars to the modern days of the week, from the time “before midday” to late-night Mediterranean dinners, this episode chronicles expressions of time and their cultural origins.

It’s about time! Don’t be late for this edition of Linguistics Behind the Scenes!

Full episode transcript available here:

https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/phil/english/sections/edling/sciencecommunication/podcast-transcripts.php#Episode6

Full article available to read for free here:

“Abend ward, bald kommt die Nacht…” Die Korrelation von Tages- und Uhrzeiten im deutsch-englischen Vergleich. By Christina Sanchez-Stockhammer and Jenny Arendholz. https://monarch.qucosa.de/landing-page/https%3A%2F%2Fmonarch.qucosa.de%2Fapi%2Fqucosa%253A96397%2Fmets%2F/

What's in a name? Christina and Dominic dig into the fascinating world of names – past and present.

- Did early humans have language and names, and how can we ever know?

- Why are prehistoric human remains often given numbers instead of names?

- What’s the story behind the names of famous finds like Lucy and Ötzi the Iceman?

- Can linguists and archaeologists work together to create respectful names for prehistoric people?

From Shakespeare to skeletons, from surnames to science, jointhe hosts as they explore how names shape identity – even for those who lived thousands of years ago.

Full episode transcript available here:

https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/phil/english/sections/edling/sciencecommunication/podcast-transcripts.php#Episode5

Full articles available to read for free here (in German):

Ötzi und Hauna: Ein linguistisches Modell zur Namengebung bei ur- und frühgeschichtlichen Menschenfunden. By Christina Sanchez-Stockhammer, Philipp W. Stockhammer and Kerstin P. Hofmann. https://doi.org/10.33675/BNF/2024/1-2/4

Sollen wir den Knochen einen Namen geben? Und wenn ja, welchen? (De)Personalisierung und Objektifizierung prähistorischer Menschen. By Kerstin Hofmann, Christina Sanchez-Stockhammer and Philipp W. Stockhammer. https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.1092.