Sociolinguistics

U and Non-U: The Linguistic Class Divide That Rocked 1950s Britain

In the 1950s, a fierce debate erupted in Britain over a simple yet profound idea: that your choice of words…

3 weeks ago

The First-Contact Linguist: The Ethical Tightrope of Studying a Previously Uncontacted People’s Language

What are the ethical responsibilities of a linguist who is the first outsider to document a language from a previously…

3 weeks ago

Speaking in Tones: The Art and Science of Politeness in Japanese (Keigo)

Beyond "konnichiwa" lies Keigo, a complex system of Japanese politeness that goes far beyond simple pleasantries. This linguistic art form…

3 weeks ago

The Fight for Purity: Inside the Académie Française and the Quest to Protect the French Language

For nearly 400 years, the forty "immortals" of the Académie Française have stood as the official guardians of the French…

3 weeks ago

The Language of the Sea: How Maritime Pidgin Shaped Global Communication

Long before English dominated global communication, the world's oceans were a linguistic laboratory where sailors, merchants, and pirates forged simplified…

3 weeks ago

The Language Catchers: Racing Against Time to Document Endangered Tongues

Every two weeks, a language dies, taking with it a unique way of seeing the world. Meet the "Language Catchers,"…

3 weeks ago

A Word to Name the Unspeakable: Raphael Lemkin and the Creation of “Genocide”

Discover the powerful story of Raphael Lemkin, the Polish-Jewish lawyer who witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust and created a…

3 weeks ago

Where is Esperanto Spoken?

Esperanto, the most successful constructed international auxiliary language, was invented in the late 19th century by L. L. Zamenhof with…

2 years ago

The Welsh Not: A Controversial Practice in the History of Language

Introduction The Welsh Not is a fascinating yet contentious chapter in the history of languages. It was a practice used…

2 years ago

The Southern Accent and Perceptions of Education

The question, "Why do southern accents sound uneducated?" is rooted in stereotypes and prejudices which are worth unpacking and challenging.…

2 years ago

This website uses cookies.