Monthly Archives: July 2006

Spell checker, heal thyself

Posted on July 31, 2006 by Kevin

Note: The following fits into both “LANGUAGE” and “HUMOR,” so it’s the first category-shattering post. Please install the SafetyGoggles plugin before reading it. TextTrust, an Internet spell checking company, issued a press release with a typo. They wrote “we pages” … Continue reading →

Posted in Comedy / Humor Media, HUMOR, LANGUAGE, Language Error, Language Technology | Leave a comment

Of spam art and blog novels

Posted on July 31, 2006 by Kevin

Computer artist Alex Dragulescu uses information visualization to turn the text (and other information) of spam E-mails into growing-plant art and the text of blogs into graphical novels. For the latter, he’s also using computational linguistics to analyze the blog … Continue reading →

Posted in LANGUAGE, Language Technology, Linguistics | Leave a comment

Cleese, Gervais quit comedy; Williams returns

Posted on July 28, 2006 by Kevin

[CORRECTION (9/10/2006): Gervais is not quitting comedy. Gervais said: "We're not leaving comedy behind but we'd like to have a go at something more dramatic."] Two Brits Out, One American In John Cleese of Monty Python fame recently announced he … Continue reading →

Posted in Comedy / Humor Media, HUMOR | 1 Comment

Signal processing in baby and monkey brains

Posted on July 27, 2006 by Kevin

A recent study using positron emission tomography (PET) with macaques/rhesus monkeys shows evidence that they process their species’ oral signals differently from other sounds (as humans do with language) and in brain regions analogous to those used by humans for … Continue reading →

Posted in LANGUAGE, Linguistics | Leave a comment

Inuit Sign Language and ASL recognition?

Posted on July 26, 2006 by Kevin

I posted a few days ago about an Inuit Sign Language gathering in Nunavut, Canada. Now there’s talk about Nunavut giving legal recognition to both native Inuit Sign Language and the larger deaf community’s American Sign Language (used in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign Languages, LANGUAGE, Sign Languages | Leave a comment

French TV gets stand-up comedy

Posted on July 26, 2006 by Kevin

French cable TV channel Canal Plus is bringing French television its first stand-up comedy shows. Reportedly, France has had sketch comedy on TV but not stand-up and “no tradition of comedy clubs as in Britain and America.” I’ve seen some … Continue reading →

Posted in Comedy / Humor Media, HUMOR | Leave a comment

2006 International Linguistics Olympiad

Posted on July 25, 2006 by Kevin

Break out your vowel charts; the fourth annual International Linguistics Olympiad for high school/secondary students will be held in Tartu, Estonia, next week. The 2006 program runs from Tuesday, August 1st to Sunday, August 6th. The International Linguistics Olympiad is … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign Languages, LANGUAGE, Linguistics | 2 Comments

Inuit Sign Language gathering

Posted on July 22, 2006 by Kevin

Deaf Inuit of Nunavut, a territory in northern Canada, got together recently along with family, friends, and professionals for a focus group (http://www.nunatsiaq.com/news/nunavut/60721_10.html) [EDIT (3/26/2010): dead link]. It’s interesting that “one in 1,000 Inuit is deaf, and a high number … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign Languages, LANGUAGE, Linguistics, Sign Languages | 3 Comments

Maori Language Week

Posted on July 20, 2006 by Kevin

“Kia kaha ake! Give it a go” (“key message for Māori Language Week 2006”). Every winter in July (I love writing that), New Zealand celebrates Maori Language Week. For 2006 it’s Monday, July 24th to Sunday, July 30th. Official Web … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign Languages, LANGUAGE | 2 Comments

Standard Appalachian English

Posted on July 20, 2006 by Kevin

Here’s an article (http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&%09s=1045855935235&c=MGArticle&cid=1149189249849&path=%21health%21healthology) [EDIT (3/26/2010): dead link] about Appalachian English. It gives some history and dispels the frozen-in-time-English myth (note: Cajun isn’t frozen-in-time-French either). It includes a good general quote about dialects: [Dennis] Preston, the Michigan State University linguist, … Continue reading →

Posted in Dialects, LANGUAGE, Language-Sites, Linguistics, Words / Dictionaries | 1 Comment