English Language Studies

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/19/opinion/language-female-friendship-mothers.html

This article from the BBC needs to be read critically. Does British English really have a lot to fear from American English?

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20170904-how-americanisms-are-killing-the-english-language?ocid=ww.social.link.email

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/27/technology/donald-trump-twitter-spelling.html

A large number of factors –– social, geographical, political, linguistic –– have been proposed to account for the number and range of languages in the world. One thing that is agreed upon is that there are a greater number of languages in tropical climates (at lower latitudes). A group of scholars began by modeling the languages of Australia and was able to show that the number of languages correlated with rainfall and possible group size. While other factors may be relevant elsewhere (migration, political warfare, etc.), the proposed model represents a starting point in modeling language diversity:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-human-beings-speak-so-many-languages/?WT.mc_id=send-to-friend

An analysis of Jane Austen’s language compared to that of novels published in the same period shows that she uses a higher proportion of intensifiers (quite, really), time markers (always), descriptions of states of mind (dislike, sorry), terms denoting women and family relationships, and modal auxiliaries (must, should). All of these may be broadly described as more “emotional” language, and this fact may account for her enduring popularity:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/06/upshot/the-word-choices-that-explain-why-jane-austen-endures.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/14/business/women-sexism-work-huffington-kamala-harris.html?_r=0

https://www.ubyssey.ca/features/larry-grant-finds-a-voice/

UBC’s own Eh-lab (Director Martina Wiltschko) and Derek Denis (Post-doc, Univ. of Victoria) are featured in this excellent article/interview on Canadian eh:
http://www.cbc.ca/1.4115715

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/magazine/can-prairie-dogs-talk.html?_r=0

Here is an smart article “decoding” the meaning of some common words that Donald Trump uses frequently:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/07/bad-dudes-dumb-deals-trumpspeak-decoded-donald-trump-language?CMP=share_btn_link