Dr. Taylor Jones

I remember linguists being up in arms about “donkey sentences” a few years back, where a farmer beat his donkey, but man, this is a lot. It’s not like it’s a grammar of Akkadian, either, where you expect examples like “Sargon subdued the city and departed” or whatever

“The father beat the son and he left” (this example from Yidiny is notable because it’s ambiguous between whether the father or the son left).

“The man came here and hit the woman” (this does not allow a reading in which someone else hit the woman)

Etc.

Rereading Comrie on typology, and in the chapter on nominative/accusative vs ergative/absolutive languages, I’m wondering if it was strictly necessary for *every* example to be about domestic abuse. It’s literally “the man hit the woman and came here” “the woman was hit by the man and came here.”

What scientific inquiry can be done w/out the words “equality,” “inequality,” “discriminate,” “minority,” or “majority”? Certainly nothing in STEM, you’ve ruled out algebra, linear or otherwise.

Can you you build an electric car without talking about “polarization”?

Asking for a granting agency

YouTube video by languagejones Sex, Death, and Moral Outrage: remembering Bill Labov

I took a moment to compile some thoughts and memories of Bill Labov. He’ll be missed.

Sex, Death, and Moral Outrage: remembering Bill Labov
youtu.be/1hPpCD0orCU

Bill Labov giving a lecture to a completely full house, at NWAV in Vancouver.

May his memory be for a blessing

His memory will live on in his works, yes, but more importantly in all of the scholars and all of the people he took the time to listen to, to treat with respect and dignity, and to cultivate. Even when they disagreed with him and especially when they proved him wrong.

I am so deeply honored that he saw something in me and chose to cultivate me as his last grad student, when he could have just retired and walked away from everything.

A photograph of the book “the language of life and death: the transformation of experience in oral narrative” by William Labov, on a wooden table, next to a macchiato.

Reading Bill Labov z”l discuss the respect afforded to the dead, and the ways we (sometimes) feel like we can still communicate with them, is an emotional rollercoaster.

Anyway, they were delicious.

I’m curious how many people thought all gingerbread men were biologically male, or thought that there are gingerbread women. It’s the bread equivalent of a stick figure.

And of course, “girl” used to mean a child of any age. These category shifts are super interesting

“Man” historically meant “person” and “were” (as in “werewolf”) meant “man.” Now, it’s become so semantically restricted, that older fossilized forms are being replaced because they’re perceived as unnecessarily gendered. Language change is fascinating

Prince was just doing philology

I stopped using ChatGPT not just because it wastes two gallons of water per prompt (!) but also because I still have to just write whatever I asked for by myself.

I’m not an expert but I was under the impression christmas happens AFTER thanksgiving

New paper on the language of fake news with Bashayer Baissa and Matteo Fuoli

doi.org/10.1177/1750...

This is great company to be in!

The entire book is like this. When the next generation says that singular they for a specific, named referent doesn’t feel unnatural, they grew up on this. And notice that it’s not a gender thing. If anything, it’s an animacy thing

The entire book is like this. When the next generation says that singular they for a specific, named referent doesn’t feel unnatural, they grew up on this. And notice that it’s not a gender thing. If anything, it’s an animacy thing

Hello, world!