Bonus 77: LingthusiASMR - The Harvard Sentences (Patreon)

Sometimes linguistics example sentences are so charmingly bland that they could lull you to sleep, listed one after each other without any larger story for context. We thought, what if we took this effect literally?

We present: LingthusiASMR, a very special bonus episode, in which your hosts Gretchen and Lauren get enthusiastic about linguistics in a very relaxed manner by reading a classic set of linguistics example sentences. Known informally as the Harvard Sentences, the 1965 Revised List of Phonetically Balanced Sentences were designed to use English speech sounds at the same frequency as they appear in English generally, for use in audio and speech transmission systems testing, which we hope will make them extra relaxing. We'll have more context about these and other classic linguistics example sentences in an upcoming main episode, but for now, please relax and enjoy this delightfully mundane list of around 700 soothing sentences, read in our slowest and calmest voices.

ASMR, or Autonomous sensory meridian response is a tingling sensation that usually begins on the scalp and moves down the back of the neck and upper spine, often produced as a response to particular types of acoustic stimuli. We haven't yet tested to what extent this episode will cause ASMR specifically or if it'll just lead to a nonspecific feeling of relaxation, but the wordplay was too good to resist, so please comment below with whether you got the effect! And feel free to let us know your favourite Harvard Sentence if you haven't nodded off already. Also, if anyone wants to do acoustic analysis of ASMR generally or this as compared to a regular episode, seriously, get in touch!

Read the transcript here. 

Here are the links mentioned in this episode:

• The Harvard Sentences
• Superlinguo post on the Harvard sentences
• Gizmodo post 'The "Harvard Sentences" Secretly Shaped the Development of Audio Tech'

You can listen to this episode on this page, via the Patreon RSS or download the mp3. A transcript of this episode is available as a Google Doc. Lingthusiasm is also on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Mastodon. Email us at contact [at] lingthusiasm [dot] com or chat to us on the Patreon page. Gretchen is on Twitter as @GretchenAMcC and blogs at All Things Linguistic. Lauren is on Twitter as @superlinguo and blogs at Superlinguo.

To chat about this episode and other lingthusiastic topics with your fellow linguistics fans, join us on the Lingthusiasm Discord server.

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.