#Episode 88

[lingthusiasm]

Lingthusiasm Episode 88: No such thing as the oldest language

It's easy to find claims that certain languages are old or even the oldest, but which one is actually true? Fortunately, there's an easy (though unsatisfying) answer: none of them! Like how humans are all descended from other humans, even though some of us may have longer or shorter family trees found in written records, all human languages are shaped by contact with other languages. We don't even know whether the oldest language(s) was/were spoken or signed, or even whether there was a singular common ancestor language or several.

In this episode, your hosts Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne get enthusiastic about what people mean when we talk about a language as being old. We talk about how classifying languages as old or classical is often a political or cultural decision, how the materials that are used to write a language influence whether it gets preserved (from clay to bark), and how people talk about creoles and signed languages in terms of oldness and newness. And finally, how a language doesn't need to be justified in terms of its age for whether it's interesting or worthy of respect.

Read the transcript here.

Here are the links mentioned in the episode:

Lingthusiasm episode 'Tracing languages back before recorded history'

'My Big Fat Greek Wedding- Give me any word and I show you the Greek root' on YouTube

Glottolog entry for 'classical'

Wikipedia entry for 'Complaint tablet to Ea-nāṣir'

Wikipedia entry for 'Bath curse tablets'

Wikipedia entry for 'Cuneiform'

Wikipedia entry for 'Mesopotamian writing systems'

Wikipedia entry for 'Home Sign'

Lingthusiasm episode 'Villages, gifs, and children: Researching signed languages in real-world contexts with Lynn Hou'

Wikipedia entry for 'Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language'

Wikipedia entry for 'Kata Kolok' (also known as Benkala Sign Language)

True Biz by Sara Nović on Goodreads

Gretchen's thread about reading True Biz

You can listen to this episode via Lingthusiasm.com, Soundcloud, RSS, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also download an mp3 via the Soundcloud page for offline listening.

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Lingthusiasm is on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Mastodon, and Tumblr. Email us at contact [at] lingthusiasm [dot] com

Gretchen is on Bluesky as @GretchenMcC and blogs at All Things Linguistic.

Lauren is on Bluesky as @superlinguo and blogs at Superlinguo.

Lingthusiasm is created by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. Our senior producer is Claire Gawne, our production editor is Sarah Dopierala, our production assistant is Martha Tsutsui Billins, and our editorial assistant is Jon Kruk. Our music is ‘Ancient City’ by The Triangles.

This episode of Lingthusiasm is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license (CC 4.0 BY-NC-SA).

#linguistics #language #lingthusiasm #episodes #podcast #podcasts #episode 88 #language history #oldest language #classical languages #ancient languages #sign language #home sign #cuneiform #writing technology #writing systems #SoundCloud

[moss-sprout]

Cecil is more poetic than any poet ive ever read cause jesus christ

#wtnv #welcome to nightvale #episode 88 #cecil x carlos

[uyallstars]

#episode 88 #inspector zenigata #koichi zenigata #lupin iii #lupin iii part 2 #penguins #edits* #lupiniiiedit #animeedit #retro anime #70s anime #lupin the third

[ifwebefriends]

#mrw #what an episode #wtnv #episode 88 #things fall apart #welcome to nightvale #welcome to night vale spoilers #welcome to night vale #bubbles listens to night vale #cecilos #cecil gershwin palmer #carlos the scientist #300 notes

[cursed-princess-club]

you just had to be there this shit was crazy

#cursed princess club #episode 88 #cpc panels

[hange-zoe]

Hanji in the newest episode (Part 3) Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

#attack on titan season 4 #attack on titan #AoT #shingeki no kyojin #snk #hanji zoe #hange zoe #icon #icons #PfP #pfps #screencap #screencaps #season 4 #episode 29 #episode 88

[everyshoot]

#I completely forgot to post this... 😭 #me and my awful scatterbrain #shoot looks...so good in this #and it makes me swoon #shoot mcmahon #hunter x hunter #hxh #anime #episode 88 #knuckle bine #morel mackernasey #palm siberia #knov #gon freecss #killua zoldyck

[wbg-quotes]

I’m looking for the uh, the worst hidden and most deadly plan meeting. I think I’ve got the right place.

#episode 88 #season 8 #woe.begone #w.bg

[girlwholovesturtles]

Martin is a bit testy, can't say I blame him. Though I am a bit worried, sounds like Daisy is allowed to just kill Jon without consequences.

Ah yes, another Leitner.

I get the feeling Martin is so surprised by Melanie because the woman actually knows how to knock, unlike literally everyone else in this place.

Wait, ew, why did she pronounce calliope like that. Stop it.

The story for this episode was pretty simple. I get the feeling that it was more of a conduit to tell the viewer the Daisy is now hostile and may have intent to kill, and that the calliope is currently missing.

#the magnus archives #tma #live blogging #episode 88

[ambrose-d]

man i got fucking DESTROYED by edyns letter why did grizzly have to do all of us like this

#jrwi #episode 88 #ambrose reacts #also thinking abt how edyn wants gill to come home while gill Very Much Doesnt #man.

[evaludate]

Evaludate Episode 88: Autism Salad (Mozu Nile Shepherd of Bustafellows, Part 3)

Summary:

Today on Evaludate: Air and Madelyn spend way too much of this Mozu episode complaining about Helvetica, Bustafellows keeps hammering in that Weird Sibling Shit between Mozu and Teuta, and Air doesn't cry this time.

Content Warnings:

The plot of this route revolves around murders at a high school, and so our discussion of the route will involve a lot of talk about the death of children. The antagonist of this route is a murderer who preys on teenagers and there is a lot of discussion about how his tactics resemble grooming.

Mention/Discussion of Incest: (11:05 - 15:38) Animal Death: (18:16 - 26:02)

#Episode 88 #Series: Bustafellows #Character: Mozu Nile Shepherd

[forjongseong]

self-esteem?

I know exactly the perfect person who should watch this video.

#nana talks unhhhh #episode 88 #even linked it for those of you interested #Youtube

[ruler-of-turtle-kind]

Butter trucking Jurgen Leitner. Even after death, your books are still causing trouble.

#tma reactions #episode 88 #dig tma #season 3

[guiltknight-gaming]

Starfield Episode 88: Access Is Key

#youtube #Starfield #Episode 88 #Access is Key #Gameplay #Walkthrough #Let's Play

[pessimistpress]

Manic Minion's Crazy Craig! Episode 88 - Dog!

#pessimist press #manic minion #comic #manic minion's crazy craig #crazy craig #slice of life #episode 88 #dog

[hange-zoe]

Hanji in the newest episode (Part 2) Part 1 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

#attack on titan #aot #shingeki no kyojin #snk #attack on titan season 4 #season 4 #episode 29 #episode 88 #screencaps #my screencaps #screencap #icon #icons #pfp #pfps #hanji zoe #hange zoe