Book rec: The Language of Liars
Hello! Amplitudes is on the longlist for Best Collection in the BSFA awards, which I forgot to mention last time, so if you’re a BSFA member, do consider...
Popular linguistics
Hi everyone. I’ve been watching the news with horror but also hope for the last few weeks, like probably everyone else on the internet. The stories of people...
Favorite words: gemütlich
Hello, and happy holidays! I’m finally getting into the holiday spirit. I don’t have space for a tree or decorations (and I have a cat), so I don’t get into...
Creator Day on itch; linguistic landscapes
Hello! Itch.io Creator Day Today (November 28), itch is not taking their cut from sales, so if you want to pick up a(nother) copy of Filling Your Worlds or a...
All language is political.
Hello and happy Halloween! Not a whole lot on the news or updates front this month. The thing I mentioned last time is still without a contract, though it’s...
Word building
Hello! I’ve got something exciting in the works, but the contract isn’t signed yet, and I hope I can share in next month’s newsletter. I was at Flights of...
Fiction about language, part 1
Hello, all! In Filling Your Worlds news, I have proofs from KDP and mostly just need to hit “go” on their site, so hopefully in the next week or two (they...
Multilingual problems: false friends
Hello and welcome to the July newsletter! Things have been extremely chaotic here recently. I started looking for my own apartment in December, and just when...
Book rec: The Long Journey of English
Hello! As always, I had a great time at 4th Street Fantasy, where I saw friends from my Viable Paradise class (and other VP alums/instructors) and from Codex...
Predicting language change + book on itch!
Greetings! Amplitudes is out today! Less exciting is that Amazon still hasn’t approved my tax forms, and the site I want to sell the ebook through doesn’t...
Friends, acquaintances, associates
Hello! A whole lot of Life happened this month, which means we’re here on the last day of the month once again. Amazon is still reviewing my tax information,...
Grammatical gender: it's just a noun class
Hi, and welcome back! Here we are, once again at the end of the month and I haven’t written my newsletter yet. Fortunately I have an idea. News Amplitudes...
Srs bzns linguistics 2: Snowclone boogaloo
Hello from snowy Berlin! It snowed here last week, and, surprisingly, it’s stayed cold enough that it didn’t all disappear in a few days. The snowy view from...
Names for people from a place
Hello, everyone! It sure has been a January, hasn’t it? You can pre-order Amplitudes: Tales of Queer and Trans Futurity, edited by Lee Mandelo, where my...
Some yuletide etymologies
Hello, and happy holidays, all! I’ve been frantically trying to finish my work and get the Kickstarter book laid out (I should be able to order proofs soon,...
Srs bzns linguistics: "your ass" as a special pronoun
Welcome to this month’s newsletter! I’ve got the print layout for Filling Your Worlds about 80% done; I’m just waiting on the illustrations to be finalized,...
How can nonsense words sound like English?
Hi, everyone! It’s fall, the leaves are turning, and the long dark is approaching all too quickly. News The big news is that you can now preorder Amplitudes,...
Writing exercise: Communities of practice
Hello again! It’s almost fall, and the weather is suddenly acting like it. Book progress I think I’ve written all the words that need to be in the book. I’m...
What language variation can tell us
Welcome back! Reader survey I want to start this month by asking you to fill out an anonymous reader survey about which parts of the newsletter you like and...
Language as an identity practice
Hello! I’m back in Berlin and have settled back into my routine of work, gym, roller derby, and sleep. Last week, I went to see an exhibition of paintings by...
