Martin Haspelmath

Is Social Media Destroying Democracy—Or Giving It To Us Good And Hard? It’s easier to blame the algorithm than the bewildered herd.

“It is precisely because social media has democratised the public sphere that it has contributed to trends liberals (including myself) are so worried about.” 👏
www.conspicuouscognition.com/p/is-social-...

🚨Call for Papers | Morphology in Context!
We are organising a workshop at IMM 2026 (Budapest).
⏰Deadline for submissions: 1 december 2025. Details/call below. We are looking forward to your submissions!
#CfP #Morphology

Abstract painting of two people gesturing

"A compelling and thought-provoking analysis of human sociality and the origins of language."

The Interaction Engine by Stephen C. Levinson (@mpi-nl.bsky.social), Out Now & #OpenAccess

https://cup.org/4nusznG

#OA #Linguistics #LangSky 🐦🐦

Deine und meine Optionen sind ziemlich gut, oder? Ja, Lateinamerika ist weit weg vom europäischen Kriegsschauplatz, deshalb wäre es die erste Wahl.

Ich habe auch genug geopfert. Meine Optionen sind nicht so gut, aber in Lateinamerika würde ich mich wohl deutlich sicherer fühlen (vor dem drohenden Krieg in Europa).

We're seeking the next Director of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics! Lead cutting-edge research in language & cognition. Nominations (incl. self) due 19 Dec 2025.
mpi.nl/career-education/vacancies/vacancy/nominations-and-self-nominations-sought-position-director-max

Heute 13 h in Berlin und Stuttgart: Gemeinsam setzen wir vielfältige und deutliche Zeichen. Gegen alle Kriege. Gegen die Aufrüstung. Für diplomatische Initiativen, Verhandlungen und gemeinsame Sicherheit.
friedensdemo0310.org

My paper on two types of comparative concepts (construction-functions and construction-strategies) is now published: langsci-press.org/catalog/book...

Congratulations!

two figurines on a white background. one side is labeled Labubu, with your typically furry Labubu figure. the other side is Lakiki, and it's fur has been photoshopped to be spiky.

Ab sofort können sich Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler mit ihren Forschungsvorhaben für das Akademienprogramm 2028 bewerben.

📢 Jetzt bewerben: Wissenschaftler:innen können bis zum 31. Januar 2026 ihre Forschungsvorhaben für das #Akademienprogramm 2028 einreichen! Fokus auf Geistes-, Rechts-, Wirtschafts- & Gesellschaftswissenschaften. Interdisziplinäre Projekte willkommen! Zur Ausschreibung 🔗 shorturl.at/GXQC3 #Forschung

Endorsement of the book Speaking in Pictures: “A visually stunning tour de force that redefines what we mean by language itself — essential reading for linguists, cognitive scientists, and anyone fascinated by language and comics.” – Bodo Winter, University of Birmingham, UK, author of Sensory Linguistics

Thanks to @bodowinter.bsky.social for the wonderful endorsement of my upcoming graphic novel about language, cognition, and visual communication! visuallanguagelab.com/sip

RIP Peter Eisenberg (1940-2025), syntactician of German, phonologist, orthography specialist, and very public linguist (who was not afraid of controversies). He was my second PhD advisor in 1990-93, and an important person in my life during those years at FU Berlin. de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_E...

www.bmftr.bund.de/EN/Research/...

I thought science hinged on prestige. Moving abroad made me reassess my priorities In Denmark, this Ph.D. student fell in love with an egalitarian society that values work-life balance

"In the U.S., long hours are worn like badges of honor. But after my time in Denmark, that way of life no longer appeals to me."

nice short piece on science-expathood from a grad student at Aarhus

Results from Bybee et al. 1990 concerning the asymmetry between preposed and postposed grammatical markers in the verb complex. It shows, among other things, a clear preference for prefixes over suffixes, but this tendency is particularly strong in SOV languages and much less pronounced in SVO languages

Bybee et al. 1990. So cool I had to make a graph about it 🤩

ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/009...

Minimalist graphic with beige background. At the top, the text reads “READ IN CADERNOS DE LINGUÍSTICA.” In the center-left, a simple line drawing of a tree branch with leaves holds a bright yellow apple. Below, bold text says “APPLE ON A BRANCH: WHAT CHANGES?” followed by the caption: “The same scene—an apple on a branch—can be described in different ways across languages. Some highlight contact; others stress support against gravity and the branch’s control of the apple’s position. The scene is the same; the linguistic framing changes.” A small black decorative icon appears in the lower left corner.

How do languages capture the same scene in different ways? 🍏🌍 Subtle differences in spatial terms show how we frame the world through words. Curious? Read the full article in Cadernos de Linguística: doi.org/10.25189/267...

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

LIBYCA-PROJECT Libyca-Project is an innovative initiative spearheaded and developed by the members of the North African History Society (SHNA).

I knew about this website with Libyco-Berber texts but never looked at it in detail. It is wonderful!

libyca-project.com/map.html

i love the idea implicit here, that decent peer review is worth paying for

Calls: 23. Sprachwissenschaftliche Tagung für Promotionsstudierende Die 23. Sprachwissenschaftliche Tagung für Promotionsstudierende findet am 13.-14. März 2026 an der Universität Osnabrück statt. Die STaPs ist eine Tagung von Promotionsstudierenden für Promotionsstudierende. Im Gegensatz zu fachwissenschaftlichen Konferenzen liegt der Fokus der STaPs nicht primär auf inhaltlichen Themen und (Teil-)Ergebnissen der Dissertation, sondern auf dem Davor und Dazwischen der methodischen Problemfelder. Call for Papers: Wir laden zur Einreichung von Abstracts

Calls: 23. Sprachwissenschaftliche Tagung für Promotionsstudierende

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The Phoneme as a Cognitive Tool Phonemes—the basic sound units of language—function as cognitive tools that shape and extend human thinking. This article explores how phonemes are biologically grounded yet culturally variable, play...

Check out this excellent new article by Ekstrom et al., "The Phoneme as a Cognitive Tool", in the special issue of Topics in Cognitive Science, "Cognitive Technologies and their Histories", which I'm co-editing with @helenamiton.bsky.social.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Congratulations!

Der diesjährige Alexander-von-Humboldt-Tag rückt eines der komplexesten Manuskripte des Humboldt-Nachlasses ins Zentrum: die "Fragmente des Sibirischen Reise-Journals" von 1829. Jetzt anmelden! buff.ly/LzptX5Z

Patterns of genetic admixture reveal similar rates of borrowing across diverse scenarios of language contact Human population contact leads to consistently similar rates of linguistic borrowing, but effects vary across linguistic features.

Great new paper: Patterns of genetic admixture reveal similar rates of borrowing across diverse scenarios of language contact

#linguistics #language
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Whales Mourn, Birds Show Self-Awareness, Plants Remember—Are Humans Really So Special? Other species exhibit capabilities that were once thought to be exclusive to Homo sapiens

It's Scientific American's 180th birthday! To celebrate we have stories on 180-degree turns in science--times when scientists did an about-face in light of new evidence. My essay looks at how the notion of human uniqueness has evolved. Turns out a lot of other species share our "special" abilities 🧪

Should PhD students drink more? - Theory and Society This essay examines the declining alcohol consumption among PhD students and its implications for academic social life. Drawing on Slingerland’s (2021) evolutionary framework, I suggest that moderate ...

Should PhD students drink more?🤔

This essay examines the declining alcohol consumption among PhD students and its implications for academic social life. 🍻

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

RTG - Universität Bielefeld Der SFB setzt sich für eine qualitativ hochwertige Ausbildung von Doktoranden und Postdoktoranden ein und bietet Nachwuchswissenschaftlern ein Umfeld, das es ihnen ermöglicht, ihr Potenzial voll zu en...

📆 Reminder! Application deadline for incoming researchers (PhD students & postdocs) is August 31st!

If you want to come work with us in Bielefeld, apply for one of our scholarships. We would love to have you! More infos here 👉 www.uni-bielefeld.de/sfb/sfb1646/...

#BLinguistik #linguistics