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...
A brief look at sound change
Hello! I didn't have time to write a proper newsletter before I went on vacation, and it turns out that, even with a keyboard, writing on a tablet kinda...
Busting some myths about German
Hi, and welcome back! News Once again, there’s not much to report on the news front. I’m working on the writing guide when I can (mostly on Fridays). Spring...
Why grammar isn't grammar and writing isn't language
Hello again! It’s April, and the trees in the park are green, not just sad sticks pointing at the sky. I don’t have any news, once again; I’m chugging away...
Accents and dialects
It’s still March for a few days, so I can still call this the March newsletter. Here in Berlin, the weather is becoming nicer, the days are getting longer,...
Bonus issue 1: Dresden
I was in Dresden the other weekend for roller derby, and this time I scheduled my train so I could spend a little time in the city. That's the worst part...
What is language, anyway?
Hello! This month brings the first entry in a (hopefully) short series about what language is. (I don’t have an answer, sorry.) I will also talk a little bit...
Untranslatable words and speculative fiction
Happy New Year from Berlin! Really sneaking in the January newsletter under the wire… I started one on a different topic but then I decided it was too much...
Why is English like that?
I’m still working on the format of this newsletter, and I’m going to try starting with the news part of the letter this month. News The thing I alluded to...
Shakespeare with a Southern Accent
For this month’s newsletter, I want to talk a little bit about Southern US accents in relation to a delightful video where a man reads Shakespeare with a...
Uncleftish Beholding and language purity
Hello, and welcome to the first installment of my newsletter! I originally had a different topic planned, but the amount of going places and tracking down...
Testing
This is a test of my new newsletter system. In the event of an actual newsletter, this would be followed by instructions on subscribing. This has been a test...