Gerald Roche
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geraldroche.bsky.social
Gerald Roche
@geraldroche.bsky.social
4.2K followers 3.2K following 670 posts
AuDHD & PhD. anthropology, language, power. he/him
New book: The Politics of Language Oppression in Tibet https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501777783/the-politics-of-language-oppression-in-tibet/

ORCiD: 0000-0002-2410-351X
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geraldroche.bsky.social
The good folks at @e-l-p.bsky.social are taking applications for their "Ready to Revitalize" training program until Dec 1. It's a great chance to learn more about language revitalization and meet other revitalizers from all around the world.

www.surveyhero.com/c/rtr2026
text and logo on a white background - logo is some green and brown blobs. like, maybe people hugging
November 11, 2025 at 5:36 AM
geraldroche.bsky.social
"War is the health of the state."
Black and white text and image, showing the frontspiece of "The State" by Randolph Bourne. Image is an etching of a skeleton sitting on a throne.
November 7, 2025 at 10:28 PM
geraldroche.bsky.social
no notes
an Ai-generated image attempting to show the relevant anatomy involved with speech production. The image is bright and colorful and although the picture sort of looks like a cross section of a head, most of the labels are wrong and some non-existent anatomical features are introduced
October 28, 2025 at 6:12 AM
geraldroche.bsky.social
TEETH
October 28, 2025 at 5:19 AM
geraldroche.bsky.social
LIPS
a four panel black and white diagram showing how a bilabial plosive is produced except it's wrong
October 28, 2025 at 5:09 AM
geraldroche.bsky.social
tongue
a cutesy, pastel diagram showing a midsagittal view of the head. Various parts of the vocal tract are labelled incorrectly.
October 28, 2025 at 5:01 AM
geraldroche.bsky.social
ɸ
October 28, 2025 at 4:47 AM
geraldroche.bsky.social
lips
A cartoon-style midsagittal diagram of the oral cavity and its features drawn by CoPilot. The label lips is pointing to the nose.
October 28, 2025 at 4:37 AM
geraldroche.bsky.social
i found this really helpful video which says that if a kid has trouble reading social situations and people hate them for it, they should just read social situations more appropriately. problem solved
scene from a cartoon. an elephant in a green t-shit speaks to camera and there is a hippo standing outdoors in the background. closed caption text reads 'appropriately read the situation he saw that young hippo was busy and he decided'
October 26, 2025 at 2:05 AM
geraldroche.bsky.social
if this bear doesn't make eye contact in job interviews he obviously deserves to never get a job and maybe also to starve to death. since it is frustrating when bears just decide to die like this i'm really glad this instructional video exists. problem solved.
screen-cap from an animated film, showing a bear in a suit - closed captions on the image read "good idea to have good eye contact during meetings like a job interview"
October 26, 2025 at 1:50 AM
geraldroche.bsky.social
ah yes, K?fi?td"t
book cover with what looks like an AI-generated illustration in the style of Soviet propaganda art. Parts of the title are written in faux Cyclic
October 25, 2025 at 9:48 PM
geraldroche.bsky.social
anyway i have lots of thoughts about this glue now
photograph of a bottle of glue in front of a white background. The bottle is white and has a red cap and a label that is mostly red, with while text on it that reads "Super 'Phatic! Glue"
October 23, 2025 at 7:14 PM
geraldroche.bsky.social
if anyone at the Louvre would like to get in touch, I can help you prevent further losses
a page from the book Flat Stanley. Black and white image with text above it. In the image, Flat Stanley hides in a painting and two robbers flee in terror.
October 19, 2025 at 8:38 PM
geraldroche.bsky.social
Love this interjection from 'unknown' in Pete Hegseth's speech to US generals, which absolutely had to be transcribed and made part of the official record.
black text on white background. Text reads: "And since waging war is so costly in blood and treasure, we owe our republic a military that will win any war we choose or any war that is thrust upon us. Should our enemies choose foolishly to challenge us, they will be crushed by the violence, precision and ferocity of the War Department. In other words, to our enemies, FAFO. UNKNOWN: Fantastic."
October 16, 2025 at 6:37 PM
geraldroche.bsky.social
have a great weekend
a line graph showing the historical frequency of the words pleasure and pain from 1600 until 2022. Pleasure dominates up until about 1970, and then the frequency of pain skyrockets.
October 3, 2025 at 7:15 AM
geraldroche.bsky.social
My article exploring the connections between language revitalization backlash and genocide is now out. Complimentary copies are available using the link below, or feel free to message me for a copy if the link doesn't work for you.

utppublishing.com/stoken/autho...
Black text on a white background, showing the title and abstract of an academic article. The title is ‘Conquered Primitives Have No Written Language’: Language Revitalization, Reactionary Settler Colonialism, and Perpetual Genocide. For the abstract, please visit https://doi.org/10.3138/GSI-2024-0011.
October 1, 2025 at 8:32 PM
geraldroche.bsky.social
just watched the autism announcement by Trump et al.
Meme based on the 'get in losers' template. Photo shows three women sitting in a silver convertible car, turning their faces towards the camera. Text of the meme has two lines, at the top, and bottom. The top line says "Get in neurokin". The bottom line says "We're starting the clock again". The face of the middle of the three women is covered with the screencap of an book chapter title that reads "The Autistic Genocide Clock".
September 23, 2025 at 2:25 AM
geraldroche.bsky.social
Not only is this a real book, but the two editors, and a third collaborator (Weixiao Wei), have published 9 Routledge handbooks since 2017. Very confused about what is going on here. 1/x
A book cover. There is a photo of tree branches against the sky, and below that is a black background with white text. The white text reads The Routledge Handbook of Language and Mind Engineering.
September 15, 2025 at 6:38 AM
geraldroche.bsky.social
Excellent.
Screencap of text - title of an academic article. Black text on white background. Text reads: Fenian Cunts: Kneecap's Hip-Hop Reclamation and Revitalization of the Irish Language. By Verena Commins.
August 7, 2025 at 9:09 PM
geraldroche.bsky.social
Backlash against the reclamation of Indigenous languages in Australia and other settler colonies imposes a state of "perpetual genocide," in which the victim group is forcefully prevented from reconstituting itself once genocide by direct, physical violence as ceased.
doi.org/10.3138/GSI-...
screencap from the website of an academic journal. The article title is "Conquered Primitives Have No Written Language": Language Revitalization, Reactionary Settler Colonialism, and Perpetual Genocide. For the article abstract, please visit: https://utppublishing.com/doi/10.3138/GSI-2024-0011
July 5, 2025 at 11:25 PM
geraldroche.bsky.social
For anyone who wants to read this information in context, the section on language loss is on page 111 - 117 in volume 2 of the final report, which can be found here: www.parliament.vic.gov.au/parliamentar...
Screencap of a report cover. The upper two thirds of the cover show a large grey gum tree (a scar tree). The bottom third is light grey and dark grey. Text in maroon on the left hand side reads: Yoorrook for Transformation. Third Interim Report. Volume 2. The URL and page numbers for this thread are in the body of the skeet.
July 5, 2025 at 5:50 AM
geraldroche.bsky.social
The report's section on language concludes by showing that the state of Victoria currently offers insufficient support for First Nations languages, and argues that this is "out of step with international standards."
July 5, 2025 at 5:47 AM
geraldroche.bsky.social
Drawing towards the section's end, Dr Aunty Vicki Couzens says, "Language revitalisation, it’s our birthright … language is culture, language is family, language is land, and they are inseparable." The report then looks at the urgent need for state support of First Nations languages.
Screencap of text. Brown and blue text on beige background. URL and relevant page numbers for the text can be found at the end of this thread.
July 5, 2025 at 5:45 AM
geraldroche.bsky.social
After concluding the section focused on the Church, the report then moves on to look at the significance of language for First Nations people.

A key quote here: "Aboriginal people have been denied the opportunity to learn, study, live and work in their own language."
Screencap of text. Brown and blue text on beige background. URL and relevant page numbers for the text can be found at the end of this thread. The bottom quarter of the page has white text on a yellow ochre background.
July 5, 2025 at 5:43 AM
geraldroche.bsky.social
The report contains admissions from representatives of the Church that they harmed First Nations people and their languages.
Screencap of text. Brown and blue text on beige background. URL and relevant page numbers for the text can be found at the end of this thread.
July 5, 2025 at 5:40 AM