Linguistics

When American Lynne Murphy says “sure” to her British husband, he thinks she means “not really.”

Some people believe technology will render Braille obsolete and that blind people will choose talking apps and audiobooks over embossed dots. But Braille has been written off many times before and each time, it has come back stronger.

This week on the podcast we talk about Basque. How did this language survive the military dictatorship of Francisco Franco when speaking and writing and reading were illegal? With more than six dialects, how did Basque develop a language standard? And how has this minority language thrived and even grown in the years since Francisco Franco’s dictatorship ended?

From X-rated to Gen X to Latinx, the meaning of “X” has shifted while retaining an edgy, transgressive quality.

What if Hamlet didn’t sound like a proper English bloke, but more like someone from the American South?