- The LSA's 2009 Annual Meeting has been moved to San Francisco due to an ongoing labor dispute affecting the Portland Hilton. The host hotel will be the San Francisco Hilton. The LSA will enjoy the same excellent room rate--$99/night single or double, $129/night triple or quad--that we were to have had in Portland. More information
- Nominations for the Leonard Bloomfield Book Award are due 1 June, 2008.
- Nominations for the LSA's "Linguistics, Language and the Public" Award will be accepted until 1 June, 2008.
Linguistics in the News
| Use the links below to navigate within the archive. | ||
| 2008 | 2007 | 2006 |
| January · June | January · June | January · June |
| July · December | July · December | July · December |
| 2005 | 2004 | 2003 |
| January · June | January · June | January · June |
| July · December | July · December | July · December |
FEBRUARY 2008
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act, which would expand nearly fivefold the number of college students who participate in overseas education. The Chronicle of Higher Education News Blog, 13 February 2008.
JANUARY 2008
The Defense Department is assembling a corps of people fluent in critical foreign languages to serve the nation during times of emergency or international need. GovernmentExecutive.com, 15 January, 2008
NOVEMBER 2007
Supreme Court upholds most of Alaska's English-only law. JuneauEmpire.com, 4 November 2007.
SEPTEMBER 2007
A Way with Words: Language and Human Nature. NPR, 14 September 2007.
AUGUST 2007
Language Evolution's Slippery Tropes. The New York Times, 1 August 2007.
MAY 2007
The year 2008 has been proclaimed International Year of Languages by the United Nations General Assembly. portal.unesco.org, 11 May 2007.
MARCH 2007
Microsoft Speaks Romansch to Boost Dying Swiss Tongue. Bloomberg News, 28 March 2007.
Business Types Get a New Kick Out of the 'Bucket'. The Wall Street Journal, 27 March 2007.
A War of the Words, All of Them Hyphenated. The New York Times, 11 March 2007.
FEBRUARY 2007
Arkansans Quibble Over the Possessive 'S'. National Public Radio, 28 February 2007.
JANUARY 2007
DECEMBER 2006
NOVEMBER 2006
Link between language, cultural identity studied. The Chicago Tribune, 22 November 2006.
Cyber-Neologoliferation. The New York Times, 5 November 2006.
First Ears, Then Hearts and Minds. The Washington Post, 1 November 2006.
OCTOBER 2006
In Memoriam: William Bright, 78, Expert in Indigenous Languages, Is Dead. The New York Times, 23 October 2006.
SEPTEMBER 2006
To Fight Stuttering, Doctors Look at the Brain. The New York Times, 12 September 2006.
Out of America - Harboring a grudge: the birth of US English. The Independent, 10 September 2006.
AUGUST 2006
Schools Try Elementary Approach To Teaching Foreign Languages. The Washington Post, 8 August 2006.
So English Is Taking Over the Globe. So What.
The New York Times, 6 August 2006.
JULY 2006
A Language to Air News of America to the World.The New York Times, 7 July 2006.
Preserving Endangered Languages.An interview with Terry Langendoen on National Public Radio's "Science Friday" Program, 14 July 2006.
'Talking Right' by Geoff Nunberg: Why the Left Is Losing, Linguistically. National Public Radio, 6 July 2006.
JUNE 2006
What do linguists do? Hint: They're not language cops or polyglots.The Boston Globe, 18 June 2006.
Dean of arts and letters explores 'bad language'.Ashland Daily Tidings, 17 June 2006.
Student Linguists Converge on MSU for National Meeting.MSU Website, 15 June 2006.
MAY 2006
APRIL 2006
Polyglots 'have different brains'.BBC News, 6 April 2006.
MARCH 2006
It's Not the Sights, It's the Sounds.The New York Times, 17 March 2006.
Texans Don't Hear Difference Between 'Pen' or 'Pin,' Rice Says.Bloomberg News, 15 March 2006.
Linguists Find the Words, and Pocahontas Speaks Again. The New York Times, 7 March 2006.
FEBRUARY 2006
A Conversation With Deborah Tannen: Author Applies Tools of Linguistics to Mend Mother-Daughter Divide. The New York Times, 14 February 2006.
In Memoriam: Peter Ladefoged, 80, Expert In Pops and Trills of Speech, is Dead. The New York Times, 8 February 2006.
JANUARY 2006
Science Notebook. Geometry Called Inherent Skill. The Washington Post, 23 January 2006.
Tannen, Deborah. Oh, Mom. Oh, Honey. Why Do You Have to Say That? The Washington Post, 22 January 2006.
Bush Says Foreign-Language Study Key to Spreading Democracy. Bloomberg News, 5 January 2006.
National Security Language Initiative. Department of State Press Release, January 2006.
DECEMBER 2005
NOVEMBER 2005
The Academy: Talking the Tawk.The New Yorker, 7 November 2005.
Language Acquisition and Brain Development. Science, Vol. 310, 4 November 2005, p. 815-819.
OCTOBER 2005
A Linguist's Alternative History of 'Redskin'. The Washington Post, 3 October 2005.
SEPTEMBER 2005
Linking of Languages May Speak Volumes. The New York Times, 27 September 2005.
Almost Before We Spoke, We Swore. The New York Times, 20 September 2005.
War of the Tongues. The Washington Post, 14 September 2005.
Saying It With Feeling. The Washington Post, 6 September 2005.
AUGUST 2005
The New Language for Jurors in California: Plain English. The New York Times, 28 August 2005.
Language Born of Colonialism Thrives Again in Amazon. The New York Times, 28 August 2005.
To more Africans, English is hip - and can even save lives. The Christian Science Monitor, 20 August 2005.
Have You Heard? Gossip Turns Out to Serve a Purpose. The New York Times, 16 August 2005.
MAY 2005
Twang Enters the Discussion In Va. Race. The Washington Post, 9 May 2005.
Connecting With the American Dialect. The Washington Post, 9 May 2005.
Federal Agencies Partner to Document Endangered Languages, NSF Press Release, 5 May 2005.
APRIL 2005
Vital Signs: Testing: Consent Forms in Plain English. The New York Times, 26 April 2005.
Love of Learning Language Transcends All Ages. The Washington Post, 26 April 2005.
A Philanthropist of Science Seeks to Be Its Next Nobel. The New York Times, 19 April 2005.
The Child Who Would Not Speak a Word. The New York Times, 12 April 2005.
Pentagon to Stress Foreign Languages. The Washington Post, 8 April 2005.
MARCH 2005
Baffling Scouse Is Spoken Here, So Bring a Sensa Yuma. The New York Times, 15 March 2005.
FEBRUARY 2005
A genius explains. The Guardian, 12 February 2005.
A New Language Arises, and Scientists Watch It Evolve. The New York Times, 1 February 2005.
JANUARY 2005
Side Effects: Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Amygdala: Word as Earworm. 11 January 2005.
Rats Distinguish Languages. The Washington Post, 10 January 2005.
Chronicle: Poetry: The Language People Speak. The New York Times, 9 January 2005.
Essay: You Talkin' to Me? The New York Times, 9 January 2005.
'Speak American': For Real, Full On. The Washington Post, 2 January 2005.
DECEMBER 2004
2004: In a Word: The Year of (Your Catchphrase Here). The New York Times, 26 December 2004.
Dude -- professor studies 'dude'. CNN, 8 December 2004.
NOVEMBER 2004
Using a New Language in Africa to Save Dying Ones. The New York Times, 12 November 2004
Doctor Dolittle had it wrong, but animals do communicate. The Chicago Tribune, 3 November 2004.
OCTOBER 2004
Learning 2nd Language Early. The Washington Post, 18 October 2004.
Tannen, Deborah. Being President Means Never Having to Say He's Sorry. The New York Times, 12 October 2004.
A Lesson in Linguistics From the Mouths of Babes. The New York Times, 12 October 2004.
Visual Cortex Altered in Blind. The Washington Post, 4 October 2004.
SEPTEMBER 2004
Changing Places. The New York Times, 30 September 2004.
Toonology: Scientists Try to Find Out What's So Funny About Humor. The New York Times, 28 September 2004.
Deaf Children's Ad Hoc Language Evolves and Instructs. The New York Times, 21 September 2004.
Whither English?The Washington Times, 15 September 2004.
Did the Cat Really Say 'I Vant to Be Alone'? Sorry, It Said Meow. The New York Times, 7 September 2004.
AUGUST 2004
They don't have a word for it. The Washington Post, Science Notebook, 23 August 2004.
Life without Numbers in the Amazon. Science, Vol. 305, 20 August 2004.
JULY 2004
Babies Grasp Concepts. The Washington Post, 26 July 2004.
Nunberg, Geoffrey. How Much Wallop Can a Simple Word Pack? The New York Times, 11 July 2004.
Wordnerd Watch. The New York Times, 11 July 2004.
Interview with Dennis Preston(real audio). Stateside with Charity Nebbe [radio series episode], 9 July 2004.
JUNE 2004
Finally, an Old Dog That Can Learn New Tricks. The New York Times, 11 June 2004.
'Igen, da, oui' turns out to mean 'no'. Chicago Tribune, 8 June 2004.
MAY 2004
We Are our Words. Parade, 30 May 2004, p.8.
Lakoff, Robin Tolmach. From Ancient Greece to Iraq, the Power of Words in Wartime. The New York Times, 18 May 2004.
You May Now Kiss [Label Here]. The New York Times, 16 May 2004.
APRIL 2004
Letter from Syria: In Maaloula Experiencing the Grammar of Christ, The Washington Post, 11 April 2004, p. D1.
Lexical Lessons. What the Good Books Says: Anti-Semitism, Loosely Defined, The New York Times, 11 April 2004, p. WK 7.
MARCH 2004
A Biological Dig for the Roots of Language. The New York Times, 16 March 2004.
The Measure of America. The New Yorker, 8 March 2004, p. 48-63.
No Translation Needed: Door is Closed. Los Angeles Times, 14 March 2004, p. M5.
A Job for Solomon: Was Bono's Blurt A Verb or Moodifer? The Wall Street Journal, 11 March 2004, p. 1.
FEBRUARY 2004
Say No More. The New York Times, 29 February 2004.
Language System Changing. The Washington Post, 29 February 2004.
Words, Music Linked in Brain? The Washington Post, 29 February 2004.
A Language by Women, for Women. The Washington Post, 24 February 2004.
Nunberg, Geoffrey. Semantic Differences: Wed the People? (In Order to Form a More Perfect Gay Union). The New York Times, 22 February 2004.
Half of all languages face extinction this century. New Scientist, 16 February 2004.
Language Visible. New York Times, February 15, 2004.
Siberian Tongue Documented. Science, Vol. 303, 13 February 2004, p. 952.
JANUARY 2004
Meet George Lakoff. CBS News Online, 15 January, 2004.
Spanglish moves into mainstream: Debate continues: Is it creative argot or corrupt speech? The Boston Sunday Globe, 11 January 2003, p. A10.
“Prisons to Mosques: Hate Speech and the American Way.” The New York Times, 11 January 2004.
“Ethnic Friction Over Signs That Lack Translations.” The New York Times, 10 January 2004.
“Before Baby Talk, Signs and Signals.” The New York Times, 6 January 2004.
“Writes, Punctuation Book and Finds It;s a Best Seller.” The New York Times, 5 January 2004.
“Think Tank: Just Like, Er, Words, Not, Um, Throwaways.” The New York Times, 3 January 2004.
DECEMBER 2003
Santa Claus for Today’s Mall Packs a Bag of Languages. The New York Times, 21 December 2003.
The Power of Babble. Discovery. December 2003, p. 30.
NOVEMBER 2003
Scholars of Twang Track All the ’Y’Alls’ in Texas. The New York Times, 28 November 2003.
Speaking with Colonial Inflections. Colonial Williamsburg, Autumn 2003, p.80.
Talk is Cheap, a review of Doing our Own Thngs: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should Like, Care by John McWhorter. The New York Times Book Review, 16 November 2003, p. 49.
Gesturing as You Talk Can Help You Take a Load Off Your Mind. The Wall Street Journal, 14 November 2003, p. B1.
Questions for Noam Chomsky: The Professorial Provocateur. New York Times Magazine, 2 November 2003, p. 13.
School Districts Struggle with English Fluency Mandate. The New York Times, 5 November 2003.
US Agencies Surf for Translators: A Dearth of Linguists Sends CIA, FBI to Web. Washington Post, 6 November 2003, p. A31.
OCTOBER 2003
Judge Orders Neb. Father to Not Speak 'Hispanic.' The Washington Post, 17 October 2003.
A linguist decries the flight from the formal. A review of “Doing our own Thing: The Degraduation of Language and Music and Why We Should Like, Care,” by John McWhorter. The Washington Post, 19 October 2003, Book World, p.2.
SEPTEMBER 2003
Nunberg, Geoffrey. The Lost Vocabulary of Disinterested Politics. New York Times, 14 September 2003.
Journalist Lends an Ear To Endangered Languages. USA Today, 12 September 2003, p. 5D.
Dirty Words: The Unique Power of Russians Underground Language. The New Yorker, 15 September 2003, p. 42-48.
Rice/Wexler Test. American Psychological Society, V16, n9, September 2003, p. 16.
Road Reads: Books to peruse before, while or instead of traveling. The Washington Post, 5 September 2003.
AUGUST 2003
Nunberg, Geoffrey. Initiating Mission-Critical Jargon Reduction. The New York Times, 3 August 2003, Ideas & Trends p. 5.
Inventor Designs Sign Language Glove. 3 August 2003.
Musical Scale Is Linked to Speech. The Los Angeles Times, 9 August 2003, Science File p. A20.
Scholars Perform Autopsy on AncientWriting Systems. The Washington Post, 25 August 2003, Science p. A7.
JULY 2003
Early Voices: The Leap to Language. The New York Times, 15 July 2003, Science Times p. D1.
From Uzbek to Klingon, the Machine Cracks the Code. The New York Times, 31 July 2003.
JUNE 2003
Nunberg, Geoffrey. The Bloody Crossroads of Grammar and Politics. The New York Times, 1 June 2003.
MAY 2003
Area Bosses Try to Bridge Language Gaps. The Washington Post, 5 May 2003.
World's Farmers Sowed Languages as Well As Seeds. The New York Times, 6 May 2003.
Klingon Interpreter Sought for Patients. Salon, 12 May 2003.
Teaching Grammar Doesn't Lead to Better Writing. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 16 May 2003, p. B20.
Nunberg, Geoffrey. As Google Goes, So Goes the Nation. The New York Times, 18 May 2003.
A scholar explains why we don't want to teach the world to speak in perfect harmony. The Washington Post, 25 May 2003.
Fading Species and Dying Tongues: When the Two Part Ways New York Times, 27 May 2003, Science.
APRIL 2003
Nunberg, Geoffrey. War-Speak Worthy of a Milton and Chuck Norris. The New York Times, 6 April 2003, WK 4.
Still No Gay Linguists. The Washington Post, 16 April 2003, A26.
Noise May Retard Speech, Language Development. The Washington Post, 18 April 2003.
Farmers and Their Languages: The First Expansions. Science, Vol. 300, 25 April 2003, p. 587-603.
MARCH 2003
Heroes Heard not Seen. The Dallas News, 3 March 2003.
Nunberg, Geoffrey. Computers in Libraries Make Moral Judgments, Selectively. New York Times, 9 March 2003, p. WK 5.
In Click Languages, an Echo of the Tongues of the Ancients. New York Times, 18 March 2003.
Nunberg, Geoffrey. Freedoom--More Than Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose. New York Times, 23 March 2003, p. WK 6.
The Soothing Sounds of Fighting Words. The Washington Post, 26 March 2003, p. C9.
Northwest Tribe Struggles to Revive Its Language. The Washington Post, 31 March 2003, National News p. A3.
The Devil's Accountant. The New Yorker, 31 March 2003, p. 64-79.
FEBRUARY 2003
Nunberg, Geoffrey. A Lexicon of Francophobia, From Emerson to Fox TV. The New York Times, 9 February 2003, p. WK 5.
Scientists of Very Small Draw Disciplines Together. New York Times, 10 February 2003.
Peer Review. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 21 February 2003, p. A8.
JANUARY 2003
Tannen, Deborah. Did You Catch That? Why They're Talking as Fast as They Can. The Washington Post, 5 January 2003.
Nunberg, Geoffrey. A Surge in Saber-Rattling at the Precipice. The New York Times, 12 January 2003, p. WK 5.
