Jane in Denver, Colorado, notes some people using the term an in front of a word beginning with a consonant, as if to emphasize that word by modifying it with the incorrect definite article. That may be what’s happening in this scene from the...
Do people who work together sound alike? Yes! Over time, they may begin to develop similar patterns of speech, or what might be called an “occupational accent” that helps them communicate efficiently. Also, lots of familiar words in...
An ambitious effort to install poetry in national parks around the United States features the work of beloved poets in beautiful spots. It’s a reminder that “Nature is not a place to visit. Nature is who we are.” Also, Google...
A Kentuckian named Sheila moved out of state for several years, but now that she’s returned to work at Western Kentucky University, she finds that many students no longer seem to have a stereotypically “Southern” accent...
Loretta in Shreveport, Louisiana, wants to know what lexical and dialectal clues linguists look for when guessing where someone is from. She also wonders: Do people with long careers in the military or who grew up in a military family have a...
When an international team of scientists traveled to a research station in Antarctica for six months, the language they all shared was English. After six months together, their accents changed ever so slightly — a miniature version of how language...