Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
My preferred approach is simply to ignore Ethnologue and use Glottolog instead. It's not ideal for the field to be treating an American missionary organisation as a load-bearing part of the basic infrastructure, and I don't think it's necessary.
November 22, 2025 at 11:24 AM
My preferred approach is simply to ignore Ethnologue and use Glottolog instead. It's not ideal for the field to be treating an American missionary organisation as a load-bearing part of the basic infrastructure, and I don't think it's necessary.
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
Support: Linguistic Theories, Morphology, Syntax, Typology: PhD Position in the Project "The Clash of Negation and Imperatives", Leipzig University
Support: Linguistic Theories, Morphology, Syntax, Typology: PhD Position in the Project "The Clash of Negation and Imperatives", Leipzig University
The DFG Research Unit ‘Cyclic Optimization’, starting its second phase on March 1 2026 with 13 new research positions, explores the interaction of cyclicity and optimization in all areas of grammar: phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. The two PhD positions announced here are part of the subproject ‘The Clash of Negation and Imperatives through the Lense of Cyclic Optimization’ (PI: Paula Fenger). The subproject investigates the morphosyntactic variation across imperatives and prohibit
dlvr.it
November 18, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Support: Linguistic Theories, Morphology, Syntax, Typology: PhD Position in the Project "The Clash of Negation and Imperatives", Leipzig University
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
A brilliant thread by my brilliant friend @bnuyaminim.bsky.social. But let's think about this circumstantial evidence a bit more. Are names really indicative of one's language or ethnicity (hard to pin that down actually)? This Nabataean from NW Arabia belongs to the clan of Banī Baʿlnatan...
So I'm adding Baalnathan (also a nice baby name) to my list of probably- or possibly-Aramaic Nabataean names, like Rabbel. Another minor piece of circumstantial evidence that the Nabataeans weren't just "Arabs that wrote Aramaic". (Discussion in this article 👇)
5/6
5/6
What can Nabataean Aramaic tell us about Pre‐Islamic Arabic?
Nabataean Aramaic contains a large number of loanwords from Arabic. Together with other evidence, this has been taken as an indication that the Nabataeans used Aramaic as a written language only, whi...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:07 PM
A brilliant thread by my brilliant friend @bnuyaminim.bsky.social. But let's think about this circumstantial evidence a bit more. Are names really indicative of one's language or ethnicity (hard to pin that down actually)? This Nabataean from NW Arabia belongs to the clan of Banī Baʿlnatan...
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
#Testing #Testing - want to visual a linguistic feature like 'N-assimilation'? Compare the distribution of the word 'daughter' spelled 𝒃𝒏𝒕 (left) and 𝒃𝒕 (right). Overall, we can see that N-assimilation is less common and that it did not reach East Arabia. But there are still bugs...
October 22, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Is there a reason to think that a dative marker + adverbial 'inside' hasn't fully grammaticalised into an inessive, if the adverbial cannot be separated from the dative at all (even discourse particles)? Sure the etymology is obvious but I don't see why I can't just gloss the whole thing as INESS.
October 22, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Is there a reason to think that a dative marker + adverbial 'inside' hasn't fully grammaticalised into an inessive, if the adverbial cannot be separated from the dative at all (even discourse particles)? Sure the etymology is obvious but I don't see why I can't just gloss the whole thing as INESS.
Tfw when you think you've found a cool new construction to work on, only to be told that someone else has already been there done that. Simultaneously nice and disappointing.
October 19, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Tfw when you think you've found a cool new construction to work on, only to be told that someone else has already been there done that. Simultaneously nice and disappointing.
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
Workshop ‘The morphosyntax of who knows what and how in interaction’. Let’s think about speaker and addresse knowledge in language and how to model it. Come join us at the SLE 2026 in Osnabrück! Deadline pre-cfp 5 November ✨
epistemicity.net/workshop/
epistemicity.net/workshop/
SLE workshop
The morphosyntax of who knows what and how in interaction Proposal for a workshop at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europaea (SLE 2026), to be held in Osnabrück, 26-29 August 2…
epistemicity.net
October 1, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Workshop ‘The morphosyntax of who knows what and how in interaction’. Let’s think about speaker and addresse knowledge in language and how to model it. Come join us at the SLE 2026 in Osnabrück! Deadline pre-cfp 5 November ✨
epistemicity.net/workshop/
epistemicity.net/workshop/
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
Just published "Biased questions: Experimental results and theoretical modelling" edited by Tue Trinh, Anton Benz, Daniel Goodhue, Kazuko Yatsushiro & Manfred Krifka #openaccess #tgdi langsci-press.org/catalog/book...
October 17, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Just published "Biased questions: Experimental results and theoretical modelling" edited by Tue Trinh, Anton Benz, Daniel Goodhue, Kazuko Yatsushiro & Manfred Krifka #openaccess #tgdi langsci-press.org/catalog/book...
I thought some of you here might enjoy this meme.
The top is Hindi bʱɛ̃(ː)s 'buffalo' and the bottom is Marathi mʱəɳ-ɳe 'to say'.
The top is Hindi bʱɛ̃(ː)s 'buffalo' and the bottom is Marathi mʱəɳ-ɳe 'to say'.
October 15, 2025 at 4:27 PM
I thought some of you here might enjoy this meme.
The top is Hindi bʱɛ̃(ː)s 'buffalo' and the bottom is Marathi mʱəɳ-ɳe 'to say'.
The top is Hindi bʱɛ̃(ː)s 'buffalo' and the bottom is Marathi mʱəɳ-ɳe 'to say'.
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
Just published "Notes on the grammar of Andakí" by Jelien Moens and Matthias Pache #openaccess #ela langsci-press.org/catalog/book...
October 15, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Just published "Notes on the grammar of Andakí" by Jelien Moens and Matthias Pache #openaccess #ela langsci-press.org/catalog/book...
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
I enjoy re-reading this non-phonology blog post once a year: “The logic of GG inquiry” by Norbert Hornstein (2017) facultyoflanguage.blogspot.com/2017/07/in-l...
The logic of GG inquiry
In the last post I was quite critical of a piece that I thought mischaracterized the nature of linguistic inquiry of the Chomsky GG variety...
facultyoflanguage.blogspot.com
October 15, 2025 at 2:09 AM
I enjoy re-reading this non-phonology blog post once a year: “The logic of GG inquiry” by Norbert Hornstein (2017) facultyoflanguage.blogspot.com/2017/07/in-l...
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
Labiodental borrowed as interdental:
Taino > Spanish guayaba > English guava > Arabic juwāfa > Anywa (South Sudan/Ethiopia):
Taino > Spanish guayaba > English guava > Arabic juwāfa > Anywa (South Sudan/Ethiopia):
October 13, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Labiodental borrowed as interdental:
Taino > Spanish guayaba > English guava > Arabic juwāfa > Anywa (South Sudan/Ethiopia):
Taino > Spanish guayaba > English guava > Arabic juwāfa > Anywa (South Sudan/Ethiopia):
youtu.be/cK6g53lLgnw?...
Very interesting video about Labov's 4th floor study. I don't know much (anything) about sociolinguistics, but his arguments sound convincing to me.
Very interesting video about Labov's 4th floor study. I don't know much (anything) about sociolinguistics, but his arguments sound convincing to me.
Are we WRONG about most FAMOUS LINGUISTICS experiment??
YouTube video by languagejones
youtu.be
October 13, 2025 at 3:59 PM
youtu.be/cK6g53lLgnw?...
Very interesting video about Labov's 4th floor study. I don't know much (anything) about sociolinguistics, but his arguments sound convincing to me.
Very interesting video about Labov's 4th floor study. I don't know much (anything) about sociolinguistics, but his arguments sound convincing to me.
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
Old Uyghur word of the day
/ičgäk/
"vampire" (/ič-/ drink)
as in Zieme, "Ein uigur. Sündenbekenntnis," in FUB, 253, lines 15-16
/ät yedäči,
kan ičdäči,
kadır kašlıg,
tumlıg yüzlüg,
yavlak yäk ičgäklär(-dä)/
"flesh-eating & blood-drinking, feral-browed & frozen-faced, evil vampire-demons"
/ičgäk/
"vampire" (/ič-/ drink)
as in Zieme, "Ein uigur. Sündenbekenntnis," in FUB, 253, lines 15-16
/ät yedäči,
kan ičdäči,
kadır kašlıg,
tumlıg yüzlüg,
yavlak yäk ičgäklär(-dä)/
"flesh-eating & blood-drinking, feral-browed & frozen-faced, evil vampire-demons"
October 13, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Old Uyghur word of the day
/ičgäk/
"vampire" (/ič-/ drink)
as in Zieme, "Ein uigur. Sündenbekenntnis," in FUB, 253, lines 15-16
/ät yedäči,
kan ičdäči,
kadır kašlıg,
tumlıg yüzlüg,
yavlak yäk ičgäklär(-dä)/
"flesh-eating & blood-drinking, feral-browed & frozen-faced, evil vampire-demons"
/ičgäk/
"vampire" (/ič-/ drink)
as in Zieme, "Ein uigur. Sündenbekenntnis," in FUB, 253, lines 15-16
/ät yedäči,
kan ičdäči,
kadır kašlıg,
tumlıg yüzlüg,
yavlak yäk ičgäklär(-dä)/
"flesh-eating & blood-drinking, feral-browed & frozen-faced, evil vampire-demons"
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
I have a historical linguistics question:
Are parallel independent developments ever accounted for by *inherited* shared tendencies, apart from typology?
e.g. I've seen it alleged (popularly) that *Semitic* languages specifically tend to have sonorant alternations: m~n~l~r
Are parallel independent developments ever accounted for by *inherited* shared tendencies, apart from typology?
e.g. I've seen it alleged (popularly) that *Semitic* languages specifically tend to have sonorant alternations: m~n~l~r
October 6, 2025 at 7:20 AM
I have a historical linguistics question:
Are parallel independent developments ever accounted for by *inherited* shared tendencies, apart from typology?
e.g. I've seen it alleged (popularly) that *Semitic* languages specifically tend to have sonorant alternations: m~n~l~r
Are parallel independent developments ever accounted for by *inherited* shared tendencies, apart from typology?
e.g. I've seen it alleged (popularly) that *Semitic* languages specifically tend to have sonorant alternations: m~n~l~r
"offers a new perspective on the evolution of pragmatic markers in language contact and grammaticalization, drawing on data-driven and diachronic studies of Chinese compounds"
This is really fucking cool. I'll be waiting for when it gets uploaded on the usual suspects.
This is really fucking cool. I'll be waiting for when it gets uploaded on the usual suspects.
Books: The Emergence of Pragmatic Markers from Chinese Compounds in Chinese, Japanese and Korean: Higashiizumi and Shibasaki (eds.) (2025)
Books: The Emergence of Pragmatic Markers from Chinese Compounds in Chinese, Japanese and Korean: Higashiizumi and Shibasaki (eds.) (2025)
"The Emergence of Pragmatic Markers from Chinese Compounds in Chinese, Japanese and Korean" offers a new perspective on the evolution of pragmatic markers in language contact and grammaticalization, drawing on data-driven and diachronic studies of Chinese compounds. All the contributors to this volume address the issue of whether compounds of Chinese origin have grammaticalized into discourse markers or pragmatic markers from their earlier lexical forms, either similarly across these languages o
dlvr.it
October 6, 2025 at 9:22 AM
"offers a new perspective on the evolution of pragmatic markers in language contact and grammaticalization, drawing on data-driven and diachronic studies of Chinese compounds"
This is really fucking cool. I'll be waiting for when it gets uploaded on the usual suspects.
This is really fucking cool. I'll be waiting for when it gets uploaded on the usual suspects.
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
"bUt ThE GrEaT EsKiMo VoCaBuLaRy HoAx!"
October 3, 2025 at 6:39 AM
"bUt ThE GrEaT EsKiMo VoCaBuLaRy HoAx!"
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
Just published "Locative and existential predication: On forms, functions and neighboring domains" edited by Chris Lasse Däbritz, Josefina Budzisch & Rodolfo Basile #openaccess #rcg langsci-press.org/catalog/book...
October 1, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Just published "Locative and existential predication: On forms, functions and neighboring domains" edited by Chris Lasse Däbritz, Josefina Budzisch & Rodolfo Basile #openaccess #rcg langsci-press.org/catalog/book...
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
we got grammar of japhug 2 announcement before gta 6
September 28, 2025 at 7:27 PM
we got grammar of japhug 2 announcement before gta 6
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
Which would make us write “the analogy of the singular form on basis of the plural mirrors the well-established collectivist nature of western Pennsylvanian culture, where you:SG is much less important that you:PL”
Alas…
Alas…
September 25, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Which would make us write “the analogy of the singular form on basis of the plural mirrors the well-established collectivist nature of western Pennsylvanian culture, where you:SG is much less important that you:PL”
Alas…
Alas…
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
Sign up for this pre-conference workshop - Fundamentals in Informed Elicitation and Language Documentation to be held before the 47th International Conference of the Linguistic Society of India. Date: 11th November. Last date for registration: 30th September 2025. Details: icolsi47.github.io/field/
Fundamentals in Informed Elicitation and Language Documentation (FIELD)
47th International Conference of the Linguistic Society of India
icolsi47.github.io
September 26, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Sign up for this pre-conference workshop - Fundamentals in Informed Elicitation and Language Documentation to be held before the 47th International Conference of the Linguistic Society of India. Date: 11th November. Last date for registration: 30th September 2025. Details: icolsi47.github.io/field/
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
Cool post I stumbled upon explaining why 豬腸 became 豬番 in Teochew... but it just irks me a bit when people say things "rhyme" when they are *homophones*... They're technically not wrong but what about the maxim of quantity 🤓
September 26, 2025 at 4:25 AM
Cool post I stumbled upon explaining why 豬腸 became 豬番 in Teochew... but it just irks me a bit when people say things "rhyme" when they are *homophones*... They're technically not wrong but what about the maxim of quantity 🤓
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
Reposted by Gopalakrishnan R
This conversation with my son was like something in a semantics textbook.
me: Do you like the Mexican rice I made?
A: It's not very good.
me: Oh, why not?
A: It's not *very* good, but it is *good*.
me: ... Okay. If I serve you some, will you eat a bit?
A: No! I will eat *all* of it.
me: Do you like the Mexican rice I made?
A: It's not very good.
me: Oh, why not?
A: It's not *very* good, but it is *good*.
me: ... Okay. If I serve you some, will you eat a bit?
A: No! I will eat *all* of it.
September 25, 2025 at 1:54 PM
This conversation with my son was like something in a semantics textbook.
me: Do you like the Mexican rice I made?
A: It's not very good.
me: Oh, why not?
A: It's not *very* good, but it is *good*.
me: ... Okay. If I serve you some, will you eat a bit?
A: No! I will eat *all* of it.
me: Do you like the Mexican rice I made?
A: It's not very good.
me: Oh, why not?
A: It's not *very* good, but it is *good*.
me: ... Okay. If I serve you some, will you eat a bit?
A: No! I will eat *all* of it.