Anti-Proverbs
(wikipedia.org)
An anti-proverb or a perverb is the transformation of a standard proverb for humorous effect.
An anti-proverb or a perverb is the transformation of a standard proverb for humorous effect.
Study finds a 50% decline in the use of semicolons over the last two decades
(theconversation.com)
A recent study has found a 50% decline in the use of semicolons over the last two decades.
A recent study has found a 50% decline in the use of semicolons over the last two decades.
Can LLMs Aid in Deciphering the Voynich Manuscript?
(viao.co.uk)
The Voynich Manuscript, a mysterious and undeciphered text, has been a subject of fascination for centuries.
The Voynich Manuscript, a mysterious and undeciphered text, has been a subject of fascination for centuries.
Chomsky on what ChatGPT is good for (2023)
(chomsky.info)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is sweeping the world. It is transforming every walk of life and raising in the process major ethical concerns for society and the future of humanity.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is sweeping the world. It is transforming every walk of life and raising in the process major ethical concerns for society and the future of humanity.
Marked decline in semicolons in English books
(theguardian.com)
A study suggests UK authors are taking Vonnegut’s advice to heart; the semicolon seems to be in terminal decline, with its usage in English books plummeting by almost half in two decades – from one appearing in every 205 words in 2000 to one use in every 390 words today.
A study suggests UK authors are taking Vonnegut’s advice to heart; the semicolon seems to be in terminal decline, with its usage in English books plummeting by almost half in two decades – from one appearing in every 205 words in 2000 to one use in every 390 words today.
Marked decline in semicolons in English books, study suggests
(theguardian.com)
Usage of punctuation down almost half in two decades as further research finds 67% of British students rarely use it
Usage of punctuation down almost half in two decades as further research finds 67% of British students rarely use it
Linguists find proof of sweeping language pattern once deemed a 'hoax'
(scientificamerican.com)
In 1884 the anthropologist Franz Boas returned from Baffin Island with a discovery that would kick off decades of linguistic wrangling: by his count, the local Inuit language had four words for snow, suggesting a link between language and physical environment.
In 1884 the anthropologist Franz Boas returned from Baffin Island with a discovery that would kick off decades of linguistic wrangling: by his count, the local Inuit language had four words for snow, suggesting a link between language and physical environment.
Why Arabic Is Terrific (2011)
(idlewords.com)
So I would like to stand up for the language nerds and give some reasons for studying Arabic that have nothing to do with politics.
So I would like to stand up for the language nerds and give some reasons for studying Arabic that have nothing to do with politics.
Do language trees with sampled ancestors support a hybrid Indo-European origin?
(nature.com)
In this paper, we present a brief critical analysis of the data, methodology, and results of the most recent publication on the computational phylogeny of the Indo-European family (Heggarty et al. 2023), comparing them to previous efforts in this area carried out by (roughly) the same team of scholars (informally designated as the “New Zealand school”), as well as concurrent research by scholars belonging to the “Moscow school” of historical linguistics.
In this paper, we present a brief critical analysis of the data, methodology, and results of the most recent publication on the computational phylogeny of the Indo-European family (Heggarty et al. 2023), comparing them to previous efforts in this area carried out by (roughly) the same team of scholars (informally designated as the “New Zealand school”), as well as concurrent research by scholars belonging to the “Moscow school” of historical linguistics.
Linguists Find Proof of Sweeping Language Pattern Once Deemed a 'Hoax'
(scientificamerican.com)
In 1884 the anthropologist Franz Boas returned from Baffin Island with a discovery that would kick off decades of linguistic wrangling: by his count, the local Inuit language had four words for snow, suggesting a link between language and physical environment.
In 1884 the anthropologist Franz Boas returned from Baffin Island with a discovery that would kick off decades of linguistic wrangling: by his count, the local Inuit language had four words for snow, suggesting a link between language and physical environment.
Why alien languages could be far stranger than we imagine Essays
(aeon.co)
Imagining how aliens might communicate prepares us for first contact and illuminates the nature of our own languages
Imagining how aliens might communicate prepares us for first contact and illuminates the nature of our own languages
Origins of language: Wild chimps mirror linguistic structures in human language
(phys.org)
Humans are the only species on Earth known to use language.
Humans are the only species on Earth known to use language.
Linguists Find Proof of Sweeping Language Pattern Once Deemed a 'Hoax'
(scientificamerican.com)
In 1884 the anthropologist Franz Boas returned from Baffin Island with a discovery that would kick off decades of linguistic wrangling: by his count, the local Inuit language had four words for snow, suggesting a link between language and physical environment.
In 1884 the anthropologist Franz Boas returned from Baffin Island with a discovery that would kick off decades of linguistic wrangling: by his count, the local Inuit language had four words for snow, suggesting a link between language and physical environment.
Accents in latent spaces: How AI hears accent strength in English
(boldvoice.com)
We work with accents a lot at BoldVoice, the AI-powered accent coaching app for non-native English speakers. Accents are subtle patterns in speech—vowel shape, timing, pitch, and more. Usually, you need a linguist to make sense of these qualities. However, our goal at BoldVoice is to get machines to understand accents, and machines don’t think like linguists. So, we ask: how does a machine learning model understand an accent, and specifically, how strong it is?
We work with accents a lot at BoldVoice, the AI-powered accent coaching app for non-native English speakers. Accents are subtle patterns in speech—vowel shape, timing, pitch, and more. Usually, you need a linguist to make sense of these qualities. However, our goal at BoldVoice is to get machines to understand accents, and machines don’t think like linguists. So, we ask: how does a machine learning model understand an accent, and specifically, how strong it is?
Umarell
(wikipedia.org)
Umarell (Italian spelling of the Bolognese Emilian word umarèl, Emilian pronunciation: [umaˈrɛːl]; plural umarî) are men of retirement age who spend their time watching construction sites, especially roadworks – stereotypically with hands clasped behind their back and offering unwanted advice to the workers.[1] Its literal meaning is "little man" (also umaréin).[2] The term is employed as lighthearted mockery or self-deprecation.
Umarell (Italian spelling of the Bolognese Emilian word umarèl, Emilian pronunciation: [umaˈrɛːl]; plural umarî) are men of retirement age who spend their time watching construction sites, especially roadworks – stereotypically with hands clasped behind their back and offering unwanted advice to the workers.[1] Its literal meaning is "little man" (also umaréin).[2] The term is employed as lighthearted mockery or self-deprecation.
Unparalleled Misalignments
(rickiheicklen.com)
This is where I maintain a list of Unparalleled Misalignments (formerly quadruple entendres), pairs of non-synonymous phrases where the words in one phrase are each synonyms of the words in the other.
This is where I maintain a list of Unparalleled Misalignments (formerly quadruple entendres), pairs of non-synonymous phrases where the words in one phrase are each synonyms of the words in the other.
Zipf's Law
(wikipedia.org)
Zipf's law (/zɪf/; German pronunciation: [tsɪpf]) is an empirical law stating that when a list of measured values is sorted in decreasing order, the value of the n-th entry is often approximately inversely proportional to n.
Zipf's law (/zɪf/; German pronunciation: [tsɪpf]) is an empirical law stating that when a list of measured values is sorted in decreasing order, the value of the n-th entry is often approximately inversely proportional to n.
Why is English so weirdly different from other languages?
(aeon.co)
English speakers know that their language is odd. So do people saddled with learning it non-natively. The oddity that we all perceive most readily is its spelling, which is indeed a nightmare. In countries where English isn’t spoken, there is no such thing as a ‘spelling bee’ competition. For a normal language, spelling at least pretends a basic correspondence to the way people pronounce the words. But English is not normal.
English speakers know that their language is odd. So do people saddled with learning it non-natively. The oddity that we all perceive most readily is its spelling, which is indeed a nightmare. In countries where English isn’t spoken, there is no such thing as a ‘spelling bee’ competition. For a normal language, spelling at least pretends a basic correspondence to the way people pronounce the words. But English is not normal.
Greek Particles (1990)
(specgram.com)
Two facts well-known to linguists for many years are that Ancient Greek orthography represented speech much more closely than does modern English orthography, or practically any other modern European orthography, and that speech, unlike writing, is full of hesitations, false starts, and meaningless expletive utterances which are not recorded in writing.
Two facts well-known to linguists for many years are that Ancient Greek orthography represented speech much more closely than does modern English orthography, or practically any other modern European orthography, and that speech, unlike writing, is full of hesitations, false starts, and meaningless expletive utterances which are not recorded in writing.
The American Style of Quotation Mark Punctuation Makes No Sense (2021)
(erichgrunewald.com)
There are different ways of combining quotation and punctuation marks. In the American style, you almost always put periods and commas inside the quotation marks:
There are different ways of combining quotation and punctuation marks. In the American style, you almost always put periods and commas inside the quotation marks:
Do Large Language Models know who did what to whom?
(arxiv.org)
Large Language Models (LLMs) are commonly criticized for not understanding language. However, many critiques focus on cognitive abilities that, in humans, are distinct from language processing. Here, we instead study a kind of understanding tightly linked to language: inferring who did what to whom (thematic roles) in a sentence.
Large Language Models (LLMs) are commonly criticized for not understanding language. However, many critiques focus on cognitive abilities that, in humans, are distinct from language processing. Here, we instead study a kind of understanding tightly linked to language: inferring who did what to whom (thematic roles) in a sentence.
A Map of British Dialects (2023)
(starkeycomics.com)
This map took me a long time to make, and is very detailed, but will always be incomplete and inaccurate due to the nature of language.
This map took me a long time to make, and is very detailed, but will always be incomplete and inaccurate due to the nature of language.
Nominal Aphasia: Problems in Name Retrieval
(serendipstudio.org)
Serendip is an independent site partnering with faculty at multiple colleges and universities around the world. Happy exploring!
Serendip is an independent site partnering with faculty at multiple colleges and universities around the world. Happy exploring!
Ask HN: Why is uptalk intonation so prevalent in ChatGPT voices?
(ycombinator.com)
I’ve tried asking it to set voice with an even tone and less of the annoying uptalk but lately it just continues in this way. It hurts to listen to.
I’ve tried asking it to set voice with an even tone and less of the annoying uptalk but lately it just continues in this way. It hurts to listen to.
Tariff: The well-travelled Arabic term that became a byword for isolationism
(middleeasteye.net)
“To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is 'tariff'. And it’s my favourite word.”
“To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is 'tariff'. And it’s my favourite word.”
Bonobos use a kind of syntax once thought to be unique to humans
(newscientist.com)
Bonobos combine their calls in a complex way that forms distinct phrases, a sign that this type of syntax is more evolutionarily ancient than previously thought.
Bonobos combine their calls in a complex way that forms distinct phrases, a sign that this type of syntax is more evolutionarily ancient than previously thought.