Notebook paper with child’s handwriting indicating different spellings of the sound /k/

Notebook paper with child’s handwriting indicating different spellings of the sound /n/

Notebook paper with child’s handwriting indicating different spellings of the sound /s/

Obsessed with these little infographics(?) my 9 year old made about spelling frequency for different sounds in American English 🥹🥹 The linguist mama pride is off the charts!

Not the main point here, but I do not ever recall a federal agency making significant programmatic and personnel changes as a result of the PRESIDENT'S BUDGET PROPOSAL, which does not change any law or funding allocations. Congress hasn't acted yet.

What are we doing here?

Bonus quote because hell yeah:

AD: I’m curious about your take on [...] the weirdness of our time period right now, for all social sciences. […] What do you think we do?
PE: I think above all, we don’t allow ourselves to be afraid. We don’t hide. If you don’t like it, fuck you.

I notice here + in the write-ups about Bill Labov after his passing – both are drawn to the speakers themselves. Interacting w/ them, spending time w/ the data itself, & really noticing & listening. If that’s what drives you, you’ll always find fulfillment in the work. What a comforting notion (3/3)

AD: I’ve heard you talk about feeling this way through grad school and feeling like you were failing. Why keep going, if that’s how you felt, doing this whole enterprise?

PE: I just—I just love doing linguistics. I wasn’t sure whether anybody else would think what I was doing was worth doing. (2/3)

Sociolinguistics in Practice: Interview With Penelope Eckert In this interview, Penelope Eckert discusses her life experiences and career as a linguist. Eckert describes a lifelong fascination with language, from her earliest observations of stylistic variatio...

Lovely interview of Penny Eckert by Annette D'Onofrio - several quotes feel deeply healing to me, but this one in particular really resonated with me: (1/3)

doi.org/10.1111/josl...

Virginia’s New Governor Ends ICE Program. Local Contracts Remain, For Now. - Bolts Abigail Spanberger left the 287(g) program, which empowered state law enforcement to detain immigrants. Will Democrats also bar local police and sheriffs from the program?

NEW: Abigail Spanberger this afternoon ordered that all state agencies leave ICE's 287(g) program.

This means that the state police (and some other agencies) will no longer be empowered to detain and arrest people for ICE.

Big, big move by the governor within weeks of coming into office.

Chilling 😰

What a great headline

What happened, @nytimes.com? Why not stand by your original headline? Because it’s absolutely an accurate representation of this trash conversation.

To publish this at all should be a fireable offense - but to publish it as women’s rights are being decimated is deeply immoral, bordering on evil

In her #NWAV53 plenary, King discusses an example of a juror being dismissed from the pool due to forestressing in the word police (so PO-lice), because the prosecutor claimed that the pronunciation showed animus towards law enforcement. And this is exactly why I study prosody!

Attention #linguistics nerds, the #NWAV53 live feed has begun!

Uhhhh so apparently this is the AI summary of the Southern Vowel Shift when you google it? Submitted without comment 🤡

We hypothesize about both historical sources (e.g. French 'pass by' for 'by [residence]') and semantic extension as part of the development of these notable phrasal expressions within New Orleans English.

In a nutshell: all three phrasal constructions in NOE seem more stable across gens than phonological features, and only one ('on tomorrow') was stratified by ethnicity, with more Black and Creole participants self-reporting use. This feature also seems to have wider distribution across the US South.

New open access article! Collaborative work with the wonderful Dana Serditova examining patterning & potential sources of certain local phrasal constructions in New Orleans English - 'by [residence]', 'for [time]', & 'on [temporal deixis]' authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

Image of labubu doll labeled labubu next to image of spiky labubu doll labeled lakiki

::slowly stands while clapping::

Apparently 'Chronic Stress' is a journal name. But also: this e-mail subject represents an accurate statement 🤣

NOLA vs. New Orleans: Why it hits a nerve with residents Whatever you do, don't say N'awlins.

Why does the acronym ‘NOLA’ hit such a nerve in post-Katrina New Orleans? Answers touch on the relationship between language, place, identity, authenticity, gentrification, appropriation…all the things I spend most of my time thinking about!

www.axios.com/local/new-or...

My 8 year old while watching a cartoon today: "What is that noise?"
Me, tuning in to figure out what he's talking about: "oh. That's a phone ringing. Phones used to ring and sound like that..."

👵⚰️🪦☠️

The absolute jumpscare that occurs when listening to 'Hozier radio' on spotify and that one song he did with Noah Kahan comes on 😭

Hm it wasn’t yesterday and I know it’s meant to be open access, but you’re right when I click on it today the paywall is up. @jrkasstan.bsky.social @lhlew.bsky.social @betsysneller.bsky.social any idea what’s up with that?

I really recommend reading this one closely, as there are some incredible theoretical insights therein, & contentful clarifications of Labovian concepts and stances. It's a real testament to the intellectual tradition Labov inspired, very much embodying the refrain: "linguists are smart people."

Bill Labov: Looking Back, Looking Forward Bill Labov passed away peacefully at home on December 17, 2024, with his wife and fellow Penn linguist Gillian Sankoff by his side. He leaves behind a legacy so large that it is hard to put into word....

Another lovely Labov obit by @betsysneller.bsky.social @laurelmack.bsky.social and Meredith Tamminga. This one takes a birds eye view of how Labov has contributed to where the field is going, which is a nice forward-looking complement to Eckert's obit onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The Ridiculously Interesting World of American Accents Podcast Episode · Culture Study Podcast · 08/06/2025 · 1h 18m

Newest ep of Culture Study is a must-listen: it mobilizes the collective brilliance & pure rizz of 2 of the smartest, coolest women out there (@mixedlinguist.bsky.social + @annehelen.bsky.social) & is JAMPACKED w/ accessible info about sociolinguistic variation 😍🤗

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

"But I'm sure your little 25 page article it took you 4 years to get out the door is *just great*" 😌

RIGHT?? Like wow. Just confirm the rest of us are absolute losers whydon'tcha 🤣

Absolutely beautiful obituary for Bill Labov, describing a life rich in insights and in humanity www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

language change in the news! h/t all our @americandialect.org PADS contributors... apnews.com/article/migr... @joeystanley.com @drkatcarm.bsky.social @lhlew.bsky.social... 😊

My linguist brain always tingles when I pass this place 🙇🏽‍♀️