Taylor Melton
@hungrylinguist.bsky.social
I'm a linguist and lecturer at the Overseas Chinese University of Science and Technology in Taiwan. I often post about #linguistics, food, and culture and the Linguistics of food!
Come for the food; stay for the linguistics
Come for the food; stay for the linguistics
This is a fantastic resource. I think Ill use it with my classes next semester.
January 29, 2026 at 3:15 PM
This is a fantastic resource. I think Ill use it with my classes next semester.
It says it closed on February 10th. Will it open again?
February 27, 2025 at 2:45 PM
It says it closed on February 10th. Will it open again?
Interestingly, the discourse around genocide is usually the same whether talking about the Armenians, Jews, Kurds, etc.
And we see the same discourse around current events
"A Problem from Hell" by Samantha Powers p210
And we see the same discourse around current events
"A Problem from Hell" by Samantha Powers p210
February 27, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Interestingly, the discourse around genocide is usually the same whether talking about the Armenians, Jews, Kurds, etc.
And we see the same discourse around current events
"A Problem from Hell" by Samantha Powers p210
And we see the same discourse around current events
"A Problem from Hell" by Samantha Powers p210
How was the coining of the word 'genocide' by Raphael Lemkin inspired by Kodak (yes, the cameras).
He read George Eastman's reason for the word Kodak:
1. It's short
2. Easy to pronounce
3. Doesn't resemble anything else in the art
Lemkin sought to do the same as well and settled on Genocide.
He read George Eastman's reason for the word Kodak:
1. It's short
2. Easy to pronounce
3. Doesn't resemble anything else in the art
Lemkin sought to do the same as well and settled on Genocide.
January 5, 2025 at 11:47 PM
How was the coining of the word 'genocide' by Raphael Lemkin inspired by Kodak (yes, the cameras).
He read George Eastman's reason for the word Kodak:
1. It's short
2. Easy to pronounce
3. Doesn't resemble anything else in the art
Lemkin sought to do the same as well and settled on Genocide.
He read George Eastman's reason for the word Kodak:
1. It's short
2. Easy to pronounce
3. Doesn't resemble anything else in the art
Lemkin sought to do the same as well and settled on Genocide.
Chinese skills leveling up. My wife told me a joke with a pun in Chinese and I got it!
Guess the sports brand if you take a cow to the north pole. . .
牛北冷死
(cow north freeze to death)
[Chinese pronunciation of New Balance]
Guess the sports brand if you take a cow to the north pole. . .
牛北冷死
(cow north freeze to death)
[Chinese pronunciation of New Balance]
December 21, 2024 at 2:55 AM
Chinese skills leveling up. My wife told me a joke with a pun in Chinese and I got it!
Guess the sports brand if you take a cow to the north pole. . .
牛北冷死
(cow north freeze to death)
[Chinese pronunciation of New Balance]
Guess the sports brand if you take a cow to the north pole. . .
牛北冷死
(cow north freeze to death)
[Chinese pronunciation of New Balance]
Reposted by Taylor Melton
Bill Labov made it possible for John Rickford and therefore Renee Blake and therefore me, to have a rich life in linguistics. He knew that Black students and speakers had so much to contribute. We will forever owe him a debt of gratitude for his contributions to the field, but also to all of us ❤️
December 18, 2024 at 12:58 AM
Bill Labov made it possible for John Rickford and therefore Renee Blake and therefore me, to have a rich life in linguistics. He knew that Black students and speakers had so much to contribute. We will forever owe him a debt of gratitude for his contributions to the field, but also to all of us ❤️
This explains the general apathy of most students in my classes. I'd say on average 3-4 students out of 50 will show up on time and actually try hard, doing all classwork and study.
Many are shocked when they think just showing up, sitting on their cell phone doesn't help them pass.
Many are shocked when they think just showing up, sitting on their cell phone doesn't help them pass.
December 18, 2024 at 12:26 AM
This explains the general apathy of most students in my classes. I'd say on average 3-4 students out of 50 will show up on time and actually try hard, doing all classwork and study.
Many are shocked when they think just showing up, sitting on their cell phone doesn't help them pass.
Many are shocked when they think just showing up, sitting on their cell phone doesn't help them pass.
I'm on my second Taiwanese crime thriller and I'm beginning to see a pattern different from US / German /Nordic ones: they will make you cry.
They're heavy into gut-wrenching drama, exploring the lives of victims families and the aftermath as well as the detective's
Victim's Game
Copycat Killer
They're heavy into gut-wrenching drama, exploring the lives of victims families and the aftermath as well as the detective's
Victim's Game
Copycat Killer
December 8, 2024 at 1:07 PM
I'm on my second Taiwanese crime thriller and I'm beginning to see a pattern different from US / German /Nordic ones: they will make you cry.
They're heavy into gut-wrenching drama, exploring the lives of victims families and the aftermath as well as the detective's
Victim's Game
Copycat Killer
They're heavy into gut-wrenching drama, exploring the lives of victims families and the aftermath as well as the detective's
Victim's Game
Copycat Killer
Is it considered one verb or two distinct verbs like Chinese?
December 7, 2024 at 12:44 PM
Is it considered one verb or two distinct verbs like Chinese?
My daughter used a Chinese resultative complement in English, a second verb indicating a result.
She said, "I read finish the book." (看完）
I was giddy because the acquisition of NOT using such serial verb constructions was the topic of my masters thesis
#lingsky #langsky #acquisition #linguistics
She said, "I read finish the book." (看完）
I was giddy because the acquisition of NOT using such serial verb constructions was the topic of my masters thesis
#lingsky #langsky #acquisition #linguistics
December 7, 2024 at 10:53 AM
My daughter used a Chinese resultative complement in English, a second verb indicating a result.
She said, "I read finish the book." (看完）
I was giddy because the acquisition of NOT using such serial verb constructions was the topic of my masters thesis
#lingsky #langsky #acquisition #linguistics
She said, "I read finish the book." (看完）
I was giddy because the acquisition of NOT using such serial verb constructions was the topic of my masters thesis
#lingsky #langsky #acquisition #linguistics
Me, too! Glad I'm not the only one
December 5, 2024 at 6:44 AM
Me, too! Glad I'm not the only one
That's awesome
December 3, 2024 at 11:04 AM
That's awesome
I find these street food menus interesting. They function as both an advertisement and a menu.
And one if the few times writing is still shown top to bottom where most things are left to right, such as the blue text above
#lingsky #langsky #menu #Taiwan #nightmarket
And one if the few times writing is still shown top to bottom where most things are left to right, such as the blue text above
#lingsky #langsky #menu #Taiwan #nightmarket
December 3, 2024 at 9:50 AM
I find these street food menus interesting. They function as both an advertisement and a menu.
And one if the few times writing is still shown top to bottom where most things are left to right, such as the blue text above
#lingsky #langsky #menu #Taiwan #nightmarket
And one if the few times writing is still shown top to bottom where most things are left to right, such as the blue text above
#lingsky #langsky #menu #Taiwan #nightmarket
My favorite is Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall about Geopolitics. It completely opened my mind. The follow ups Power of Geography and Future of Geography are in the mail
December 2, 2024 at 12:26 AM
My favorite is Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall about Geopolitics. It completely opened my mind. The follow ups Power of Geography and Future of Geography are in the mail
Thanks for these. Always on the look out for more trans books!
November 30, 2024 at 11:09 PM
Thanks for these. Always on the look out for more trans books!
Congrats. I'm curious about tour study or prescriptivism as I had that that's more language teachers area than linguists. I'll have a look.
November 27, 2024 at 11:19 AM
Congrats. I'm curious about tour study or prescriptivism as I had that that's more language teachers area than linguists. I'll have a look.
Sometimes one will sound and another instance it won't. Haven't figured that out yet
November 27, 2024 at 11:18 AM
Sometimes one will sound and another instance it won't. Haven't figured that out yet
I was trying to communicate with a nurse at work, but she failed to understand anything I said.
Despite being an intermediate Chinese speaker, many see a foreigner, get nervous and don't understand. They aldo do this to my daughter who is a native speaker.
My boss suggested doing a case study.
Despite being an intermediate Chinese speaker, many see a foreigner, get nervous and don't understand. They aldo do this to my daughter who is a native speaker.
My boss suggested doing a case study.
November 27, 2024 at 4:38 AM
I was trying to communicate with a nurse at work, but she failed to understand anything I said.
Despite being an intermediate Chinese speaker, many see a foreigner, get nervous and don't understand. They aldo do this to my daughter who is a native speaker.
My boss suggested doing a case study.
Despite being an intermediate Chinese speaker, many see a foreigner, get nervous and don't understand. They aldo do this to my daughter who is a native speaker.
My boss suggested doing a case study.
I love your takes on these. Yes, a truly terrible article, but I read so much about language from people who think they use lamguage are experts in it.
November 27, 2024 at 2:00 AM
I love your takes on these. Yes, a truly terrible article, but I read so much about language from people who think they use lamguage are experts in it.
Or people who are gaslit?
November 27, 2024 at 1:59 AM
Or people who are gaslit?
Reposted by Taylor Melton
Here's the unlikely century-long story of how a non-gendered pronoun became gendered, and then got itself re-de-gendered.
This one's got everything! Poetry! Grammar! Love songs! Queer communities! Unicode! and ... Y.R. Chao!
What more could you want?
#langsky 🀄️📚
1/
This one's got everything! Poetry! Grammar! Love songs! Queer communities! Unicode! and ... Y.R. Chao!
What more could you want?
#langsky 🀄️📚
1/
November 25, 2024 at 6:06 AM
Here's the unlikely century-long story of how a non-gendered pronoun became gendered, and then got itself re-de-gendered.
This one's got everything! Poetry! Grammar! Love songs! Queer communities! Unicode! and ... Y.R. Chao!
What more could you want?
#langsky 🀄️📚
1/
This one's got everything! Poetry! Grammar! Love songs! Queer communities! Unicode! and ... Y.R. Chao!
What more could you want?
#langsky 🀄️📚
1/
An English teacher told me he wished he had the skill to learn grammar like I did with learning Finnish and Icelandic.
I informed him that learning a new language isn't down to skill; we all acquire language the same way.
He was shocked.
1 down, 6000 more English teachers in Taiwan to go!
I informed him that learning a new language isn't down to skill; we all acquire language the same way.
He was shocked.
1 down, 6000 more English teachers in Taiwan to go!
November 26, 2024 at 11:58 AM
An English teacher told me he wished he had the skill to learn grammar like I did with learning Finnish and Icelandic.
I informed him that learning a new language isn't down to skill; we all acquire language the same way.
He was shocked.
1 down, 6000 more English teachers in Taiwan to go!
I informed him that learning a new language isn't down to skill; we all acquire language the same way.
He was shocked.
1 down, 6000 more English teachers in Taiwan to go!
Related, it's also the word for "bowl" as in "pack another bowl" 😉
November 26, 2024 at 11:34 AM
Related, it's also the word for "bowl" as in "pack another bowl" 😉