Linguistics

Some might regard it as ‘brain rot’, but the first word of the year just for tweens and teenagers could be the most hopeful development of 2025What connects the word “vape”, the crying-laughing emoji and the phrase “squeezed middle”? No, it’s not just a biting crossword clue for “millennial”: they have all previously been crowned word of the year. Admittedly, there are now so many “words of the year” that, if they were physical objects, they could make a decent-sized museum collection. Which, as it happens, is exactly how I like to imagine them – artefacts of their time, telling a story of a changing society.This year’s winners – from “parasocial” (Cambridge D..

Several of my PRC M.A. students have told me that the following tool for the computation of dialect closeness has become quite popular in China: fāngyán yīnxì xiāngsì dù cèshì方言音系相似度測試 ("Dialect phonological similarity test"),V3.2.358 (source) It became popular and widely spread in Chinese social media recently, as a simple tool/quiz that helps you to […]

Aufzeichnung der Buchpräsentation mit den Autor*innen Stefan Dollinger, Anneliese Rieger-Roschitz und Simon Schwaighofer (9. Dezember 2025, Universitätsbibliothek Wien, FB Linguistik, Sensengasse 3a) Moderation: Herbert Schendl Videolink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MV8W2dRkXA Zum Buch Dieses beschwingt und pointiert geschriebene Buch beschreibt die 300-jährige Romanze der Österreicher mit „ihrem“ Standarddeutsch. Das österreichische Hochdeutsch, so das Argument, ist der passende

Esol education has become politicised as part of the wider discussion on migration.

Following up on Diana Shuheng Zhang's notes on forty Northeasternisms (11/12/25), Yizhi Geng gives us another helping. While Diana's collection is based mainly on Dalian city, Yizhi's comes from Changchun. "mǎ húlu马葫芦": "manhole" (lit., "horse gourd / calabash / cucurbit"), where "mǎ húlugài马葫芦盖" refers to "manhole-cover". According to older generations, this word came from Japanese, […]

The Linguistics Section of the Department of Humanities at the University of Pavia (Italy) (https://studiumanistici.dip.unipv.it/it/ricerca/le-sezioni/linguistica-teorica-e-applicata) encourages expressions of interest for applications alongside a local research supervisor to the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme (MSCA PF) financed by the European Commission from excellent postdoctoral researchers in the fields of: - Historical linguistics - Indo-European s

Cascadilla Press is now selling sets of mini-posters for linguistics adapted from vintage propaganda poster designs and old WPA poster art. These are 5.5" x 8.5" (140 x 216 mm) mini-posters printed on a premium matte 16 pt cover stock as a set of 9 different designs. You can see the set and order at: https://www.cascadilla.com/miniposters.html

This is the 1st Call for Papers for a new volume titled "Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching: The Case of the Nordics" (edited by Pia Sundqvist, Liss Kerstin Sylvén, and Hayo Reinders). We welcome submissions that present empirical data as well as papers targeting theoretical/conceptual perspectives or methodological issues that illuminate innovative learning and teaching practices. Please see the full CfP here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KAOqg1bP7oGga3pdA94WGfuDSS_4Dn41Yb1xyAA

Words reflecting anger and swearing are more common in people with personality dysfunction.

Trump's Wednesday evening speech got a lot of media coverage, as expected — but along with descriptions of (and responses to) the content, there were also many references to the tone, and specifically to the pace. Thus Cameron Andrews ("Doctor Sounds Alarm After Trump, 79, Gives ‘Manic’ Address", Daily Beast 12/18/2025) quote a series of […]

We are pleased to announce the publication of the first edition of BibLexSpan – Bibliografía de estudios sobre unidades léxicas del español: https://biblexspan.fr/ BibLexSpan is an open access bibliographic database that brings together references to studies devoted to the lexical units of the Spanish language. “Lexical unit” is understood as any element of Spanish, including morphemes, words, and multiword expressions (locutions, constructions, phraseological units, sayings, and proverbs). I

The Department of Linguistics at Bielefeld University (Germany) is pleased to announce a new international Master’s program, taught entirely in English, starting in April 2026. We welcome applications and inquiries from prospective students in Germany and around the world. The MA in Linguistics at Bielefeld University offers a solid and broad foundation, followed by specialization in the areas that most interest you. We offer seven different profiles: Communication, Computational Linguisti

Privacy, Identity and Linguistics – Deidentification, Pseudonymisation, Anonymisation in Linguistics Editors: Therese Lindström Tiedemann, Lisa Södergård We would like to invite contributions to an anthology about privacy, identity and linguistics. Contributions should be about how linguists are (and have been) anonymising or pseudonymising their data, how participants (and people mentioned) are affected by different means to protect personal and sensitive information, and finally, how ling

From surya: I took this at the Grand Street Skewer Cart in Manhattan. In particular the shorthand is interesting (for examplekǎomántou考曼头 [lit., "examine long / extended / graceful / etc. head"] instead ofkǎomántou烤馒头 ["baked steamed bun"] for CRISPY STEAM BUN). Is the dropping of the radicals a systematic practice for quick handwriting? Maybe only if […]