A show about language, linguistics and people who love both! A Language I Love Is... (ALILI) broadcasts linguistic joy and shares expert insights into the languages of the world. It's a simple formula: one host, one guest, one language, and three key questions: 1) What is your story and connection to this language? 2) What do you love about this language? 3) What is something you want the audience to know about this language? Through informative interviews and casual conversations, ALILI fulfills its mission: to share the linguistic love with all. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 34 is a trip to Indonesia, specifically to the small island of Ternate. Don't let the island's size fool you though – it has a rich and complex history, which this episode explores through the Ternate language. This was the choice of my guest, PhD researcher Maria Zielenbach, who introduces Ternate's history, sounds, lexicon and complicated family situation. You may be surprised to hear how Ternate word formation works a little bit like Welsh and Irish... Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs Maria's academic blog: https://halmahera.hypotheses.org/ Maria's recent book chapter about Dutch influence in Ternate: https://www.benjamins.com/catalog/impact.55.12sch Host: Dr. Danny BateGuest: Maria ZielenbachAudio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPaddenMusic: Acoustic Guitar by William KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Now here's a first for the podcast: its first conlang! Na'vi, the language created for the Avatar films, was the choice of Stefan Mir-Mackiewicz, a language enthusiast who plays a role in shaping this constructed language. We discussed the origins of Na'vi, its sources of inspiration, its sounds and grammar, and the community that continues to develop it. Some language history and 'Proto-Na'vi' even get a mention!Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIsStart your own journey into Na'vi here:- https://learnnavi.org/ - https://kelutral.org/ - https://www.youtube.com/@HTML_RrtaContent note from Stefan: it's a common misunderstanding that Paul Frommer inspired directly by Polynesian languages; rather, the original words he was given by James Cameron had a "Polynesian flavour".Host: Dr. Danny BateGuest: Stefan Mir-Mackiewicz (screen name: HTML_'Rrta)Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPaddenMusic: Acoustic Guitar by William KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Series 3 continues with another prominent public-facing linguist, only this time we're travelling back in time, to Ancient Rome! My guest is Luke Ranieri, a linguist, a language teacher and the YouTuber behind the popular platforms polýMATHY and ScorpioMartianus.Luke took a break from activities as diverse as teaching for The Ancient Language Institute, speaking Latin on Vatican Radio, and flying helicopters, to talk to me about the Latin language – and what was so good about the era of Caesar and Cicero that their language deserved to be called 'classical'.Join the ALILI Patreon here: patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIsCheck out Luke's personal website here: https://lukeranieri.com/Host: Dr. Danny BateGuest: Luke RanieriAudio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPaddenMusic: Acoustic Guitar by William KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We're back! The first episode of an all-new series of the language-loving podcast is here at last.Since one of the co-stars of the hit podcast Lingthusiasm concluded the second series, it seemed only right that the other co-star should kick off the third. Gretchen McCulloch – linguist, podcaster and author of Because Internet – joins me to navigate the linguistic complexities of Canada, specifically in the city of Montreal.This episode is part sociolinguistic survey, part survival guide for how to speak in Quebec, and Gretchen expertly and warmly takes us through Canadian bilingualism and her own experiences and perspectives of it.Join the ALILI Patreon here: patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs Gretchen's personal website: https://gretchenmcculloch.com/Lingthusiasm's website: https://lingthusiasm.com/Host: Dr. Danny BateGuest: Gretchen McCullochAudio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPaddenMusic: Acoustic Guitar by William KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hello there, dear language lovers! After a couple of months, I'm pleased to say that I'm getting back into the swing of linguistic podcasting, and that means that A Language I Love Is... will soon be returning!While I get the first few episodes ready for airing, here's a teaser for the third series of the show, featuring some expert voices that you can look forward to, as well as some additional annoucements from me.For fans and subscribers of the show, I'd like to express sincere thanks for bearing with me during this inter-series hiatus. Speak to you soon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
ALILI has reached episode 30 and the end of two whole series! To mark the occasion, the show has the privilege to host a star of public linguistics, Dr. Lauren Gawne, one of the two fabulous co-hosts of the hit podcast Lingthusiasm. Lauren is here to lead the show into a new part of the world and a new language family, namely Yolmo, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Nepal. Lauren takes us through the modern state of the language, her profound connection to it, and the grammatical phenomenon of evidentiality. Enter the word of Lingthusiasm here: https://lingthusiasm.com/ Lauren's personal website: https://laurengawne.com/ Host: Dr. Danny BateGuest: Dr. Lauren GawneAudio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPaddenMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 29 is here at last, and a certain language is making a repeat appearance, but introduced by a new linguistic lover – what does Colin Gorrie have to say about Old English? We chat the basics of Old English and what makes it so 'old', before getting into how Colin teaches the language, and why he recommends it as a springboard for further linguistic adventures.Find the details about the brilliant new Osweald Bera book here: https://ancientlanguage.com/osweald-bera/Check out and subscribe to Colin's substack: https://colingorrie.substack.com/And don't forget to subscribe to A Language I Love Is...!Host: Dr Danny BateGuest: Dr Colin GorrieAudio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPaddenMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dydh da! Episode 28 of ALILI is here, and Daniel Prohaska joins me to discuss Cornish! This Celtic language has a long and fascinating history, stretching back to Roman Britain. It's a story not only of slow decline, but also of resurrection. Daniel was the ideal expert to introduce it, being involved in modern efforts to revitalise and popularise Cornish for the twenty-first century. Daniel's professional website: https://www.ryan-prohaska.com/ Daniel's audio Cornish course: https://www.kernewegva.com/deskikernowek.html Host: Dr Danny BateGuest: Daniel ProhaskaAudio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPaddenMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Time for Episode 27 and a return to the Slavic languages! Unsurprisingly, Croatian is a Slavic language widely spoken in the modern-day country of Croatia, but did you know that it has many speakers in eastern Austria too? Burgenland Croatian is the starring language of this episode, beloved and chosen by Dr Katharina Tyran. As one of its native speakers and researchers, Kathrina is the ideal person to introduce the past, present and future of this minority language.Katharina's University of Vienna page: https://slawistik.univie.ac.at/personen/person/user/tyrank65/inum/1079/backpid/12319/Listen to Katharina podcasting in Burgenland Croatian here: https://www.hrvatskicentar.at/de/centar-podcastSample of spoken Burgenland Croatian from here:https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/Croate%20du%20Burgenland?lang=en&mode=proHost: Dr Danny BateGuest: Dr Katharina TyranAudio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPaddenMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 26 is a first for the show: a language so old that it's theoretical! This time, ALILI is discussing the whole Germanic language family, from English to Icelandic, since this episode's starring language is the family's common ancestor: Proto-Germanic. This prehistoric point of origin is the choice of my guest, Yoïn van Spijk, expert etymologist and Dutch dialectologist. Thanks to him, I get to chat linguistic reconstruction, language change and some underappreciated Finnish connections.Go check out more from Yoïn!Yoïn's website: https://taalaandewandel.com/Yoïn's Twitter: https://x.com/yvanspijkYoïn's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/yvanspijkHost: Danny BateGuest: Yoïn van SpijkAudio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPaddenMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 25 is here and it's a return to the Finno-Ugric languages with expert linguist Daria Zhornik. The particular member of Finno-Ugric is Mansi (specifically Northern Mansi), spoken in two regions of Russia. Daria both documents and researches this language, and so is full of good information about its history, genealogy, current status, future, and its speakers' very particular and periphrastic ways of talking about animals...Check out Daria's website here: https://dariazhornik.github.ioHost: Danny BateGuest: Daria ZhornikMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 24 of ALILI is a return to India, this time to dive into Marathi, the official langauge of the state of Maharashtra and India's third-largest language. My guest is Manish Goregaokar, a software engineer and a real expert on language and writing. We discussed history, geography, society, phonology and vocabulary, as well as Manish's personal experience of speaking Marathi alongside other languages. Manish's Twitter: https://x.com/ManishEarth Sample of spoken Marathi from here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ChitpavaniMarathi.wav Host: Danny BateGuest: Manish GoregaokarMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This is an episode of ALILI with a twist, as Dr Jackson Crawford, YouTube's charming Old Norse expert, had me back on his channel to chat syntax, old languages and public linguistics. Chatting to him and his Patreon supporters was a real treat for me, both to share the ideas of my recent PhD work, and to get his perspective on the state and future of linguistics online. I hope you enjoy these excerpts from our chat! Jackson's stellar YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@JacksonCrawford Jackson's Patreon site: https://www.patreon.com/norsebysw Host: Dr Jackson CrawfordGuest: Danny BateMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For episode 22, we're travelling high into the Alps, to join linguist and translator Emma Gledhill in the Graubünden/Grisons canton of Switzerland. Emma's chosen language is Romansh, the distinct Romance language of the region that, despite its endangered and disunited state, nonetheless holds the status of one of Switzerland's four official languages. Emma leads us through the origins, history and social standing of Romansh, as well as some delightful bits of vocabulary.Emma's Twitter: https://twitter.com/linguistforsail?lang=enEmma's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-gledhill-0608425/ For more about the Chartered Institute of Linguists: https://www.ciol.org.uk/Sample of spoken Romansh by native speaker Daniel from here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Romansh_(Wikitongues).oggHost: Danny BateGuest: Emma GledhillMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For episode 21, ALILI becomes A Language We Love Is, as two guests, Alba Clopés and Joey Barber, join me to chat Catalan. Our conversation ranges from its Latin origins to ongoing efforts to build up popular usage of the language. Through the phonology, orthography, morphology, history and sociolinguistics of Catalan, you can see why Alba and Joey share a passion for this Romance language.Sample of spoken Catalan by Ona, from here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WIKITONGUES-_Ona_speaking_Catalan.webmHost: Danny BateGuest: Alba Clopés, Joey BarberMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
ALILI has reached 20 episodes! The twentieth beloved language is P'urhepecha, a language of Mexico introduced Dr. Kate Bellamy. Kate enthusiastically takes us through the geography, history, morphology and lonely genealogy of P'urhepecha, as well as the reasons why it deserves to be better known outside Mexico. Kate's Leiden page: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/kate-bellamy#tab-1 Kate's Academia.edu page: https://leidenuni.academia.edu/KateBellamy Spoken example of P'urhepecha taken from the textbook Ju je uantani: https://lanmo.unam.mx/jujeuantani/ Host: Danny BateGuest: Dr. Kate BellamyMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 19 sees the show's first returning guest, as the maestro of Indo-Iranian languages, Dr. Sāmapriẏa Basu, joins me again, this time to introduce Kashmiri. Beginning with its geographical and political situation, our conversation explores the many distinct features of Kashmiri that, for Sāmapriẏa, make it a 'linguist's language'.Sample of spoken Kashmiri by Aakriti Khaibri, available here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WIKITONGUES-_Aakriti_speaking_Kashmiri.webmSāmapriẏa's wonderful Twitter site: https://twitter.com/avzaagzonunaadaHost: Danny BateGuest: Dr. Sāmapriẏa BasuMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The third episode of this second series is a Biblical bonanza, as Dr Benjamin Suchard comes on the show to introduce the linguistic world of Biblical Hebrew. We discuss the language's history, its family tree, its layer of loanwords and external influences, and how human this holy language can be. Benjamin's website: https://bnuyaminim.wordpress.com/Benjamin's Academia page: https://kuleuven.academia.edu/BenjaminSuchard Host: Danny BateGuest: Dr Benjamin SuchardMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 17 of ALILI is a linguistic and historical voyage into the Bulgarian language, as Vienna's Leonid Motz guides us through the language's many ingredients, far-reaching connections, and membership of the Balkan Sprachbund.To hear more from Leonid:His Twitter: https://twitter.com/ulaantengerHis podcasting performance with Jeremy Bradley: https://www.recet.at/podcast/detail/episode-37-minority-languages-in-russiaHost: Danny BateGuest: Leonid MotzMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
ALILI is back for a second series! Here's episode 16 with Jeremy Bradley, who takes us on a journey into the Mari language. This is a linguistic tour de force, surely the episode that mentions and discusses the most languages, from Estonian to Indonesian. Jeremy's Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chi_con_carnageThe Mari website: https://mari-language.univie.ac.at/ Host: Dr Jeremy BradleyGuest: Danny BateMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
It's episode 15 and the finale of the first series of ALILI! To mark the occasion, the tables have been turned and your usual host now finds himself on the receiving end of the format he created, as Krishnan Ram-Prasad rejoins the show to interview me about the amazing Old Irish language. We dive into what this language is, who spoke it, who wrote in it, and why it's terrifying at first but actually rather wonderful. Books to get you started!- Sengoidelc by David Stifter: https://press.syr.edu/supressbooks/1022/sengoidelc/- A Student's Companion to Old Irish grammar by Ranke de Vries: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Se7VzQEACAAJ&source=gbs_book_other_versions Host: Dr Krishnan Ram-PrasadGuest: Danny BateMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
It's time for the fourteenth and penultimate episode of the first series of ALILI, in which Gioia Cacchioli joins me to talk about Tigrinya, a Semitic and syntactically striking language of eastern Africa. Gioia introduces the language, its family tree, its word-building, its use of the Ge'ez script, and how she came to love Tigrinya. Here's Gioia's website: https://gioiacacchioli.com/ The word of the episode: abugida (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abugida) Host: Danny BateGuest: Gioia CacchioliMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Here's episode 13 and it's all about Welsh! Victoria Noble, a PhD researcher in the semantics of Welsh and Arabic, joins me to share her enthusiasm and admiration for the Welsh language, discussing both its cool linguistic features and the difficult details of its history.Note from Victoria: the annual population survey mentioned at 8:02 is from 2023, not 2003.You can find Victoria on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/LinguisVicHost: Danny BateGuest: Victoria NobleMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For episode 12, I popped along to Charles University in Prague, to interview Dr Radek Šimík, a linguist, lecturer and researcher there, and to talk all about the local language: Czech. The topics ranged from the history of Czech and its dialects, to the influences of German and a special bit of syntax, which made for a great discussion.You can find Radek's personal website here.Host: Danny BateGuest: Dr Radek ŠimíkMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 11 of ALILI sees us back beside the Baltic Sea, where Dr Francis Young guides us into the story of Lithuania and the Lithuanian language. Francis discusses both history and prehistory in detail, and joyously shares some rather wrong ideas that people have held about the origin of this Indo-European language.To learn more from Francis, here's his website and Twitter.Host: Danny BateGuest: Dr Francis YoungMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
ALILI has made it to ten episodes, and this tenth instalment is a suitably sensational journey into the linguistic and cultural cosmos of Persian. Alexander Jabbari joins me to talk about this influential language, and demonstrate why Persian is a hugely important yet surprisingly accessible global tongue. Alexander's website and Twitter. Host: Danny BateGuest: Dr Alexander JabbariMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 9 is here and it's all about Mexico! The wonderful Gilly Marchini, a PhD researcher at Edinburgh, guide us into the linguistic landscape of Mexico and its particular variety of Spanish, and into the practice of linguistic fieldwork and documentation. Gilly's passion and principles combine to make for a fun and fascinating look at Mexican Spanish.Gilly's website can be found here: https://gillymarchini.wordpress.com/Host: Danny BateGuest: Gilly MarchiniMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For the eighth episode of A Language I Love Is..., Charles Roe joins me to introduce into the linguistic world of Latin in the Middle Ages. Charles offers a great example of how a particular language is often not defined linguistically, and demonstrates how Latin after Rome was anything but a dead language.Host: Danny BateGuest: Dr. Charles RoeMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 7 of ALILI... is a journey into the Uralic language family, specifically via one of its famous European members: Estonian! Prof. Johanna Laakso joins me to share her long-held love for a language very similar to her native Finnish, yet interestingly different in lots of ways, thanks to the specific ingredients that have gone into the Estonian of today. Host: Danny BateGuest: Prof. Johanna LaaksoMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Time for the 6th episode of ALILI... and for Dr Stephen Hopkins to wind back the clock on the language you are currently reading – we're heading back to Old English! Stephen is a real pro, and this interview with him is both an engaging and entertaining introduction to the earliest days of English.Stephen's brilliant Twitter site: https://twitter.com/phil_lol_ogistHost: Danny BateGuest: Dr. Stephen HopkinsMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Here's Episode 5 of A Language I Love Is... and for this episode, Dr Sāmapriẏa Basu guides us into the Caucasus, the "mountain of tongues", a region rich in languages and language families. Our way in is via the modern language of Ossetian, an Indo-European relative marooned by history from the rest of its family.Sāmapriẏa's wonderful Twitter site: https://twitter.com/avzaagzonunaadaHost: Danny BateGuest: Dr. Sāmapriẏa BasuMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 4 of ALILI is here and its task is to introduce the linguistic cosmos that is the Sanskrit language. Dr Krishnan Ram-Prasad joins me to run through the basics of Sanskrit, from its prehistoric origins to its prestigious status in India today. Krishnan expertly offers a wealth of information, all presented with the palpable enthusiasm of a true fan.Find Krishnan's website and work here: https://krishnanjramprasad.co.ukHost: Danny BateGuest: Dr. Krishnan Ram-PrasadMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 3 of ALILI is a deep dive into the Germanic languages, expertly navigated by George Walkden, who shares a wealth of information about this language family through his love for one particular member: Old Saxon. Having introduced the language, its few (but fun) sources and himself, George uses the example of Old Saxon to make some great points about the connections between language, politics and the accidents of history.Host: Danny BateGuest: Prof. George WalkdenMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 2 of ALILI and it's time to head back to ancient Mesopotamia and hear all about Akkadian, an influential lingua franca of the ancient world. Old it may be, but Akkadian still has much to tell us about its many cousin languages still spoken to this day. Akkadian expert Iris Kamil both introduces and shares a little of her boundless enthusiasm for the language and its surprisingly relatable sources.Host: Danny BateGuest: Iris KamilMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Here's Episode 1, in which my friend Sarah van Eyndhoven kindly offers both her time and expertise to join me to talk about the Scots language. This language of the Lowlands of Scotland has a long history, reaching back into early medieval times, and also a complicated history with its southern cousin, English. Sarah is on hand to untangle all this history, as well as offering her thoughts on the future of the language. The episode ends with a fun fact from me about a superb Scots sound.Host: Danny BateGuests: (Dr) Sarah van EyndhovenMusic: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hello there! This is my introduction to a new podcast all about language, linguistics and loving both. In this initial episode, I set out the premise and format of the whole idea, which I've been thinking over for a couple of years now. Watch this space for the episodes proper, very soon!Music: Bossa Nova by William_KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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