Ten years ago, on this date and at this hour and minute, I wrote the very first post for "Ace Linguist." I was graduating college, planning to go to grad school, and thinking my resume really needed spiffing up. It was with this intention that I created 'Ace Linguist', with the name as an analogy to the game series 'Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney'. It would serve as a place to store my observations on linguistics and any articles I wanted to write. The early posts are rough, the formatting haphazard, the point not always clear.
I didn't expect to be updating this for ten years, or that I would write multiple articles that would end up cited on Reddit, news websites, and even academic articles. I've had the privilege of being able to talk to people more knowledgeable than I about linguistics here. I've learned many new things and expanded my skills. I'm very proud of many of the posts I've made here.
I want to thank everyone who has been with me through the Ace Linguist journey. When I started, I had much more spare time than I do now. This blog has survived multiple job and home changes. I plan to continue updating this blog for as long as I have something to say, so I hope you will all stay tuned. :)
Added a new left navigation bar to the layout! This has major articles from the blog over the years. I've organized them based on whether they're part of the Dialect Dissection series, a major article, or broken down by linguistics subcategory. Not every article is here, just ones I liked enough to want to put on the sidebar. (Some of the early articles, for example, are not quite good enough to want to put there without changing them up.)
My hope for this is that it will make it easier to find (dare I say binge?) linguistics articles that I've written without needing to mess around with tags or the blog archive. I have an 'all articles' link on the right, but it's out of date. I'm replacing 'all articles' with a copy of the left nav so phone users can also access the major articles there.
I may add or remove articles as I see fit. The blog archive will remain available for anyone who wants to find an article that hasn't been added to the left nav. Things like link hauls, blog updates, recommendations, etc. will probably not be added to the left nav since they tend to be 'of the moment', but I am thinking of just tagging them.
Things are, hopefully, looking a little better. Some lessons learned from the past year are to not take on very large projects, as cool as they would be.
I recently began reading "Language vs Reality" by Nick Enfield. The subtitle - "Why Language is Good for Lawyers and Bad for Scientists" - should give you a hint as to the topic matter. I've only just begun, so no review yet, but the thesis is that language is much better at managing social relations than describing reality. It is, in fact, not that great at describing reality.
I've mostly been reading non-linguistics books, so that's about all for now.
Hello, no post for February due to the usual reasons (too many obligations). I'll leave you with a random observation of mine.
I was recently playing Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door in anticipation for the remake that is coming out. I noticed that the phrase "this guy" appears very frequently - "this guy likes to do this", "what do you think of this guy?" I had never noticed before, but this time around it stuck out a lot. I suspect that this is a translation artifact from the Japanese word 'koitsu' (こいつ), which is highly casual and usually translated as "this guy". I'd have to check the Japanese version to be certain for sure, but I'm certain it must be some sort of translation artifact. People simply don't say the words "this guy" that often in English.
I often have little observations like these that aren't big enough to put into a post, and I never quite know what to do with them. I'd have put it on Twitter in another time, but I don't go on Twitter as much as I used to. I guess I may as well share them here. :)
It's been a slow year for the blog - between health problems, financial difficulties, and outside responsibilities, there simply hasn't been much time or energy to devote to it. But I want to keep readers informed of any progress I make monthly, since I am still working on a rather large project behind the scenes. The project involves a big linguistic analysis over a period of nearly 30 years! I'm about 62% of the way through the material. I've had to develop some new tools to work on this, which I also look forward to sharing with everyone. Once they're done, I hope they'll make it easier for future projects of this scale.
I always tell myself after I finish a huge project like this that I need to shift gears and focus on something smaller, but the truth is that putting out content monthly, even small articles, is kind of difficult for me at this point in my life. I intend to keep putting out monthly posts with updates on what I'm working on. But I want to be honest with readers too about what I can and can't do.
Moving to a new place this month, so no post for July. Alas, all my linguistics books are in the new place. Pray I can get settled in quickly so I can work on finishing this huge project in front of me!
No post this month; it's been overwhelmingly busy in my personal life. I'm working on a relatively large project documenting three decades of sound change, and I've had a lot less time to devote to it recently. Some of this work has been listening to a lot of audio, and some has been programming tools to minimize the amount of work I need to do by hand. I hope to be able to release both the research itself and the tools.
Have a nice May! I hope to see you all in June. - Karen
I'm not going to be able to get the article I wanted out before the end of the month (work, school, and volunteering will do that to you), buuut I wanted you all to know that there are articles in the pipeline. Classic rock has been on my mind for a while now, being the genre that sort of sparked my interest in the question "why and how can singers sing in an entirely different accent than their speaking one?" We more or less seem to have the answer, which is that singers copy linguistic features of other singers that they think are part of the genre. But I'd really like to elaborate on this:
How conscious are singers of these changes they're making?
Not everyone is good at copying accents, so how does natural talent play into which features get copied and which don't?
How do these features spread? i.e. which singers and records are 'vectors of transmission'?
When doing covers, most singers don't copy the accent of the original singer. What triggers the sense that "this song wouldn't be right without the accent"?
Once a singing-linguistic style becomes the norm in a genre, what has to happen for that norm to be challenged and change?
The sketch I have so far is something like this: at some point, a certain group of people with a consistent linguistic feature produces music. They use their own native variety because they're making music for themselves. This music is then carried across some kind of linguistic border and is introduced to an audience that is not familiar with the music.
The uniformity of the music and the language are noted by the new audience. Many of them find it so inspiring (bestowing status on the musicians) that they choose to make their own version. Some will try to make it speaking their own native variety, and some will try to imitate the accents. Depending on factors (how high status are the foreign musicians? is there a very strong sense of local pride?), the localized version or the foreign version may win out. If the foreign version wins out, it may then spread to across a different border, increasing the hegemonic sense that music produced in this genre must have that accent. Repeat.
I have some examples from non-music genres where something similar happens (the association between genre and variety is so strong that it even crosses the language boundary), but that will be for a different article, one probably much farther ahead in the future. There's a lot to potentially discuss (effects of recording media versus live performance, American hegemony, purposeful pushing back, variety spread as a type of cultural/soft power, questions of appropriation) and it's going to take a lot more work. But I wanted to get the question and my attempt at answering the question out.
Next semester I hope not to take any classes, which should give me a little more time to finish up the articles I do have. Pray no extra strange things happen.
I got the chance to be interviewed by Tom of BBC Oxford a week ago, and I wanted to share the conversation with you all! The topic at hand is mondegreens, or misheard lyrics. We share some of our favorite misheard lyrics and discuss why this happens.
It's been another busy spring for my personal life, which means barely any time for my obligations, let alone the blog. I've made some progress on the Jekyll migration, but it won't be ready any time soon. I'll keep you all posted on the status of that.
I also read "The Japanese Language" by Haruhiko Kindaichi. It was originally published in the 50s, so I take the linguistic analyses with a grain of salt. But the interesting aspect of the book is that it was written by a Japanese linguist in Japanese for a Japanese audience. I read the book in translation, of course, but the intended audience is Japanese, not foreign. It is therefore an informative read about how Japanese authors, speech-givers, and everyday people view the Japanese language. One funny example was his comment on Japanese's Subject-Object-Verb form. In very long and complex sentences, such as in the Japanese constitution, someone reading a Japanese sentence must wait until the very end to find out if the verb is affirmative or negative. Most descriptions of Japanese I've read are from people learning it as a second language, so it is interesting to read about native speakers' attitudes towards their own language.
One of my time-consuming obligations will let up soon, and I hope to get back to finishing the migration and writing more articles! Maybe we can have 'Hot Linguistics Summer.' :)
Yes, Ace Linguist has been around for 6 years! I've never properly celebrated the website's birthday before, mostly because I'd never settled on a proper date, but I figured the anniversary of the first ever post was a good place to focus.
6 years ago, I was on the verge of graduating university and entirely unsure of I was going to do with my life. I still vaguely dreamt of going to grad school to study dialectology, but that wasn't guaranteed. Feeling the need to shore up my resume a little, I embarked on a project that I was sure wouldn't amount to much - a personal blog to write about linguistics.
When I first got into linguistics, I was inspired by the wide variety of blogs out there - places like Language Log, Language Hat, John Wells's phonetic blog, and All Things Linguistic, to name a few. Running a website was a dream I'd had since I was a little kid (and I'd tried to make it come true multiple times before), and combining it with language felt natural. Even though I was certain that blogs were on their way out in 2016, I started one anyway.
The blog had a rough start, with some unfocused articles about morphology in Zootopia and the semantics of 'beating a game.' But I realized pretty soon that I wanted to do something relating to an interest of mine - collecting the phonetic details of pop music.
Dialect Dissections were born at least partially out of a sense of frustration at how people talked about accents. We have the tools to talk about phonetic changes and hear examples easily: audio samples and the International Phonetic Alphabet. When people say things like "I think Taylor Swift used to have a Southern accent," why not try to figure out which Southern features she had? I took on the task, not sure if anyone else would be interested. I was pleasantly surprised at the possitive reception!
And so here we are today. My pace has slowed down since 2018 as my life has gotten much busier. My ambitions may outscale my schedule, but luckily I have time on my side. Here's to more years of Ace Linguist, and to more linguistics on the web!
Due to some brouhaha with Google, I have decided to stop relying on Blogger as a platform. I've enjoyed using it so far, but using Google products will now become more complicated - not to mention that I'm much less interested in using Google products now, due to the aforementioned brouhaha.
I don't know how or when, but I will be migrating the blog to some different service. Whatever option I choose will continue to allow for anonymous comments. I will also attempt to migrate currently existing comments to the new site, preserving time, date, and author.
I still have the domain, so you'll still be able to visit at acelinguist.com. :)
I'll make sure to keep you all updated. New post coming next week!
Another month gone by for Ace Linguist! Here's a little blog update of what's been going on. I've been quite busy with school this semester, believe it or not. I'm taking a break from classes next semester, which should make it easier to do more research and post more!
A second edition of the classic The Linguistics Wars is out. I've only read the first edition, but I'm excited for this second edition which covers what happened after the first edition ended. This book is great in making linguistic controversies understandable to laymen without sacrificing relevant details for, well, linguists. I would call it a must-read in giving a history of the field. It also talks about important cultural shifts that happened in the field. An academic discipline isn't just disembodied thoughts, after all; it's made of real people vying for a limited amount of resources and attention.
Waiting on the arrival of Millenials Talking Media by Sylvia Sierra, a book on how millenials create identities through the use of media references. While millenials are far from the first generation to make use of pop culture references, millenials do have an even broader array of references to pull from, including the still-being-explored field of memes. Sierra does work on discourse studies, and I'm excited to dip my toes into the field through her book.
The year, overall, has been rather a difficult one again, what with starting a new degree during a pandemic, as well as additional personal complications. I am glad, overall, to keep updating this site monthly. I wish I could do more, but this is about what my personal circumstances will allow. I am, as always, grateful for all the people who read and comment on this little place I've made. Here's hoping 2022 will be a calmer, more fruitful year.
First off, an example of the COT-CAUGHT merger. "Spaw day":
Secondly, for those of you following the history of people saying things like 'happay' instead of 'happy' in pop music, I found an interesting early example. From Boney M, their 1976 cover of "Sunny."
"Sunnih, sunnay"
What does this mean for the theory? It's unclear - the lead singer, Liz Mitchell, was born in Jamaica and then moved to London at 11 years of age. Young enough for her to pick up influence from other Londoners, and that's where I posit the "-y" breaking originated. In any case, this is one of the clearest examples from the 70s I've heard, so enjoy, and have a sunny day.
Finally, a fun bit of etymology for you: 'cloud' and 'clod' share the same origin. I was alerted to this bit of trivia by the book "Clouds of Old Naples", and had it confirmed by Etymonline. What word did English speakers use for 'cloud' before comparing it to a rock? Welkin!
Hello, still here! And still quite occupied with stuff outside this blog. As a life tip, I strongly encourage you not to put more on your plate than you can handle. :) Frankly I doubt I shall be able to update again until April, but I will at least continue my monthly check-ins.
Hello! I have been quite busy this month, but I have always striven to update at least once a month, so here's a fun late night post for you all. Some details: I am currently working a full time job, have a side hustle, going back to college... and doing this blog! Alas, something had to give, so I could not serve you fun linguistics stuff this month. This doesn't mean I wasn't working, just that nothing was ready.
By the by, isn't the form 'striven' interesting? I recently read that in languages with complex derivational morphology, some forms simply don't show up. And yet, children know how to fill in the paradigms. I'm not sure a language even needs to be all that complex for it to happen. How often do you ever use 'strive' in a perfect sentence? How about 'stride,' what is its past participle? "I had strode" is okay, but what about "I had stridden"? There's even a word "had strid." When do you ever get the chance to say "having stridden around the room..."?
I hope you're all able to stay safe. If we are lucky, we are seeing the light at the end of this coronavirus tunnel. I have one (1) COVID-related post coming up that I hope to get out before we have all been vaccinated. :) Nothing too serious, just a fun little construction I've seen out and about.
I had originally hoped to make more videos of my articles, but this has really been slowing down some of my progress, so I will be putting that plan on hold. At the very least, they won't come out the same day my articles come out. I love video, but the written word is my first love.
One pandemic-related change I've made is deciding to significantly drop my social media usage. I simply felt I wasn't getting enough out of it for the time I put in, and nowadays my time is a relatively scarce resource. I will still post and do updates on the blog, but I'm less likely to make original tweets. You can still contact me through email or @ me on Twitter - it may take me some time, but I'll get back to you!
This pandemic-filled year has been challenging for everyone, including me. You can see that this year, I didn't get to write as many articles as I did previous years - but that doesn't mean there weren't good articles. If you've missed them up until now, here are some choice selections from this year:
The PIN-PEN merger: an article on the history of those who make 'pin' and 'pen' rhyme. If you're wondering why that's a big deal, you definitely need to read the post. I'm most proud of the example I was able to find of an actual Irish English speaker with the PIN-PEN merger, which lends credence to the idea that the merger may have spread from Ireland to the US!
It's Gonna Be May: A Historay: an article about why pop stars sing words ending in 'ee' as 'ay'. This is the first rewrite of an older article I've done, and I think it's much improved. It also marks my first foray into making an accompanying video, which you should watch. (You should also subscribe to the channel on YouTube, because I plan to make more companion videos and host them there.)
Hank Williams's Old Timey Southern Accent: a look at a country music star and his particular dialect. Hank has a more conservative accent than modern country stars, and studying him puts language change in the American South into context!
Black Linguist Recommendations: Familiarize yourself with the work of some awesome Black Linguists! This is a list of Black Linguists and some samples of their work. If you like using Twitter, I also listed their Twitter handles so you can see what they tweet - linguist twitter is a great way to familiarize yourself with cutting edge linguistic work and discussions, especially if you're not a grad student. Let's remember to read and engage with the works of Black Linguists!
I Dream(p)t of Euphonic Insertion - or Phonetic Intrusion: why is there a 'p' in 'empty' that nobody really says? Why does Shakespeare put a 'p' in 'dreampt'? A look at the history of these inserted p's, and other consonants like them. This one ended up getting a surprising amount of attention from Twitter - thanks, y'all!
Dialect Dissection: The Diverse Dialects of Xenoblade: Why do most video games only use American or English accents? And why did this one decide to branch beyond and include Scottish, Welsh, and Manchester accents? A lesson in recognizing different accents, the cascading effects from one business decision, and why seeing your accent on screen matters.
ABBA's Special Swedish Sibilants: I don't just look at accents in English - I can also look at them in Swedish. One of the singers from ABBA seems to have an unusual Swedish accent, which she later tried to change.
One of the advantages of not having the time to write bigger articles is that I got to practice writing smaller articles that I was still satisfied with. And it turns out there may be an audience for smaller linguistic bites - I was surprised by how well-received "I Dreampt of Euphonic Insertion" and "ABBA's Special Swedish Sibilants" were, with the bare minimum promotion on my part.
I finally improved my laptop situation, which means that using the laptop I used for audio recording is no longer a battle against entropy and the decay of all things mortal. On the contrary, I will be busier than ever in 2021, so... we'll see how it goes. :)
I have one article that I almost published in December but for the fact that anything you write in December will immediately appear as outdated by a year in a month. And the article deserves better than a single month of 2020, so I hope to get it out quickly in 2021. I've spent far too much time on this topic because people are just very interested in it.
Here's to the 5th year of Ace Linguist! I hope 2021 will be a better year for you all than 2020 was. I will, at the very least, do my part to bring you fun and interesting linguistics content to brighten your day. If you have ever read, commented on, or shared one of my articles, you have also brightened my day, and I thank you very much! See you all next year ;)
Hello everyone, here for an update just before September ends!
The laptop used for most of my audio-editing work is sadly giving up the ghost. Unfortunately it is having weird issues with the audio drivers, USB ports, and general slowness. This will affect how many audio files I can upload, so I may need to rely more on Youtube links for a while. (I'd prefer not to since record labels in Europe are more draconian when it comes to music and will block basically anything to Europeans. But it's better than no sound, I guess.)
I have a reeeeaally big article/video coming up. It's a significant rewrite of an older article. Remind me never to try anything this wide-ranging again, because this topic will be the death of me. All groaning aside, I am very excited to share it with you all.
Some upcoming articles will be about more weird minor sound changes, and also a new one - trying to explain muddled terms in linguistics. Stuff like 'why are these two terms used interchangeably when they seem to have different meanings, and why do writers often just pick one and never mention the other?' I've been confused by two terms for quite a while, so I hope this will elucidate the difference for others as well.
Finally, while I'm not yet ready to share anything, I am making significant progress on a Lexical Set analyzer I'd been working on. This will make it easier to do analyses of a whole artist's discography - and could be used on material beyond musical lyrics. Very pumped to share this tool with you all once it's ready.
