Episode 76: Where language names come from and why they change (Patreon)

Language names come from many sources. Sometimes they’re related to a  geographical feature or name of a group of people. Sometimes they’re  related to the word for “talk” or “language” in the language itself;  other times the name that outsiders call the language is completely  different from the insider name. Sometimes they come from mistakes: a  name that got mis-applied or even a pejorative description from a  neighbouring group.

In this episode, your hosts Gretchen  McCulloch and Lauren Gawne get enthusiastic about how languages are  named! We talk about how naming a language makes it more legible  to broader organizations like governments and academics, similar to how  birth certificates and passports make humans legible to institutions.  And like how individual people can change their names, sometimes groups  of people decide to change the name that their language is known by, a  process that in both cases can take a lot of paperwork.

Read the transcript here. [coming soon]

Announcements:

We’re doing another Lingthusiasm liveshow! February 18th (Canada) slash 19th (Australia)! (What time is that for me?) We'll be returning to one of our fan-favourite topics and answering your questions about language and gender with returning special guest Dr. Kirby Conrod! (See Kirby’s previous interview with us about the grammar of singular they.)

This liveshow is for Lingthusiam patrons and will take place on the Lingthusiasm Discord server. Become a patron before the event to ask us questions in advance or live-react in the  text chat. This episode will also be available as an  edited-for-legibility recording in your usual Patreon live feed if you  prefer to listen at a later date. In the meantime: tell us about your  favourite examples of gender in various languages and we might include  them in the show!

In this month’s bonus episode we get enthusiastic about some of our favourite deleted bits from  previous interviews that we didn't quite have space to share with you.  Think of it as a special bonus edition DVD from the past two years of  Lingthusiasm with director's commentary and deleted scenes from  interviews with Kat Gupta, Lucy Maddox, and Randall Munroe.

Join us on Patreon now to get access to this and 70+ other bonus episodes,  as well as access to the Lingthusiasm Discord server where you can chat  with other language nerds, and get access to our upcoming liveshow!

Links mentioned in the episode: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/706926160206086144/episode-76-where-language-names-come-from-and-why