A ghost word.

Here’s an interesting tidbit: anyone ever used the word “dord?”

According to Snopes, this word is a “ghost word.” It never existed in the English lexicon, but did appear in Webster’s dictionary. How could something like that happen?

LINGUISTIquips launched.

It’s finally here: the first ever Crispy Quips spinoff.

LINGUISTIquips will cover topics in linguistics (my field of study) that wouldn’t really fit well on Crispy Quips, next to political rants and Apple fanboyism. Thus, I’ve launched LINGUISTIquips in order to say my share about human language.

If you’re interested in the topic, or even if you don’t think that you are, give the new site a look!.

linguistiquips.wordpress.com

Human Language Ability: Intrinsic or Acquired?

By Chris, Crispy Quips Administrator http://crispyquips.wordpress.com

Note: this is a paper I wrote for a Linguistics course at UC Davis. It is presented here in its entirety.

Human Language Ability:

Intrinsic or Acquired?

Christopher Graham

University of California, Davis

INTRODUCTION

There exists an amazing amount of debate concerning how humans acquire language. Indeed, all humans seem to have the ability to use language. It has been said that “the faculty mediating human communication appears remarkably different from that of other living creatures” (Hauser, Chomsky, & Fitch, 2002, p. 2), and yet, at some level, we are ourselves examples of what we see around us: naturally-occurring creatures. It is true that other animals may indeed communicate, but animal languages “lack the rich expressive and open-minded power of human language” (Hauser et al., 2002, 
p. 3).

This begs the question: how is it that humans have developed such a unique system of language? Or, perhaps more importantly, how is it that humans acquire that language? Is language learned, or is there some innate evolutionary structure that dictates its development?

In Plain English, Please: A Guide to Language Change.

By Katie, Cosmic Irony http://lunawolf.wordpress.com

English is taught as a concrete language with definite rules for spelling, pronunciation, and grammar. Deviations in the rules are punished in grade school with thick, dark, red lines to grab the attention of the student and say, “Wrong!” But what if it is the teachers that are wrong? What if the spelling that a child gives a word makes more sense than the standardized spelling? Who made the standard anyway? Why do we have rules, and why do they always seem to break themselves in English?

Better underground music through linguistics.

Ah, China.

They make a lot of stuff. In fact (in America, at least), it is very difficult to find anything that doesn’t bear the omnipresent “Made in China” embossing on its underside.

There is perhaps one thing that the world’s favorite capita-ommunist state is not famous for at all: Indie Rock. Especially Indie Rock of the underground, anti-establishment type.

Surprisingly, such Chinese exports do exist. But just how do Chinese Indie bands like “Rebuilding the Rights of Statues” (or their acronym “RE-TROS”) get rebellious music past government censors?