Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language.

Video for this episode: https://youtu.be/Mqf05kN-TaI It's Word of the Year season, and we're counting down our Words of the Week of the Year! In the time-honoured tradition, we gathered them all up from our 2025 shows, and let everyone vote. And we're going to give a mention to everyone else's words as well. We're joined by our friends and patrons, so come see them in chat! Timestamps Start: 0:00 Intros: 1:31 Everyone else's words: 5:57 Related or Not: 34:34 Our Words of the Week of the Year: 51:35 Comments: 1:22:04 The Reads: 1:26:36 Outtakes: 1:30:50

You know the story. The language you speak doesn't determine your savings. If your language has a future tense, there's no impact on the way you see or describe the future. Language and perception are separate. Well, maybe it's time to revisit this. Séan Roberts and Cole Robertson are finding a cognitive connection, not with how our language makes us talk about the future, but with how our language lets us express uncertainty. Also, Annemarie Verkerk and Hedvig Skirgård team up to test out language universals. Which ones are getting knocked over? Timestamps Start: 0:00 Intros: 0:36 News: 6:08 Chat with Annemarie Verkerk and Hedvig Skirgård: 23:06 Related or Not: 49:22 Interview with Séan Roberts and Cole Robertson: 1:10:38 Words of the Week: 2:18:09 Comments: 2:37:20 The Reads: 2:42:37 Outtakes: 2:50:05

We've asked linguists about how language began, but what would an evolutionary biologist tell you? Prof Madeleine Beekman says it's part of a complex web of body, brain, and community, and at the heart of it is (perhaps surprisingly) childcare. Madeleine is the author of The Origin of Language: How We Learned to Speak and Why. Timestamps Cold open: 0:00 Intros: 0:42 News: 9:07 Related or Not: 30:02 Interview with Madeleine Beekman: 49:43 Words of the Week: 1:40:49 Comments: 2:01:30 The Reads: 2:08:07 Outtakes: 2:17:38

Among so many great word games, crosswords still reign supreme. How have they survived — and even expanded — in our digital age? What goes into a good puzzle, and will computer techniques take over? Daniel chats with author Natan Last about his book Across the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of the Crossword Puzzle. Timestamps Intros: 0:35 News: 4:42 Related or Not: 22:13 Interview with Natan Last: 37:56 Words of the Week: 1:24:52 Comment: 1:53:37 The Reads: 1:55:31 Outtakes: 2:02:50

The "Oh" show was an experimental linguistics performance lecture. It happened in June 2025 at Creative Time HQ in New York City. Actors, musicians, and audience came together (with at least one linguist!) to act out dialogues from conversational analysis, and have fun with language. Are there more ways we can perform linguistics? We're talking with artist and linguistics fan Maia Chao. Timestamps Cold open: 0:00 Intros: 0:38 News: 7:16 Related or Not: 40:03 Interview with Maia Chao: 55:08 Words of the Week: 1:30:31 Bonus chat with Caitlin Green: groyper: 1:54:40 The Reads: 2:07:48 Outtakes: 2:14:59