Daily Archives: March 14, 2019

This article, accompanying a recent show at the British Library, provides a fascinating history of English through its material remains: http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20190118-how-migration-formed-the-english-language

Like many indigenous languages, sign languages of the world may also be endangered: https://theconversation.com/sign-languages-are-fully-fledged-natural-languages-with-their-own-dialects-they-need-protecting-109388

Children in a Lajamanu, Australia, have developed a new language called “Light Warlpiri”. They use sentence structures from Warlpiri, but verbs from Kriol and nouns from English, Warlpiri, and Kriol. https://www.sapiens.org/language/new-languages-discovered/

The more traditional sign offs (“Best”, “Best wishes”, “Sincerely”, etc.) may be being replaced by “xx” (=love). Where does this usage come from? https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/02/style/xx-email-signoff-signature.html

The apparently fake British accent of actors such as Katherine Hepburn explained: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-a-fake-british-accent-took-old-hollywood-by-storm?utm_source=share_by_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mailto_share

A speaker of a left-branching language (such as Japanese) may be better at remembering words, numbers, and spatial stimuli than a speaker of a right-branching language, research finds. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190204114641.htm

Studies are showing that vocal fry serves serious purposes. It may be used when speakers are in uncomfortable situations or when they are communicating information. Furthermore, younger people do not disparage those using vocal fry in the way that older … Continue reading →