Living with Linguistics

Linguisiast

/ˈlɪŋˌguɪʔˈzɪɛstʰ/

(portmanteau) An enthusiastic interpreter of the fascinating world of linguistics

Living with Linguistics was set up with the conviction that the study of language – linguistics – is full of fascinating insights that deserve to be better known. More than any other behavioural trait, language use is definitive of the human condition. It is universal in and unique to the human experience: being present in all societies from pre-literate to globalized, while absent in all other biological species save our own. It is simultaneously a cognitive and communicative tool: bridging the interiorized world of consciousness, of which it is an integral facet, with the interactive world of community, where it exists as a collective social achievement.

This blog began life in February 2018, the brainchild of three avocational linguists (more about us here) seeking to explore issues surrounding language, not for a living, but in search of broader meanings, that we can relate to everyday living. Our passion project comprises four sections:

Features in Focus: Perspectives on trending topics, which accessibly introduce insights from various sub-fields in linguistics
Lately on Language: Musings on recent articles/posts concerning language, ranging from the whimsical to the technical
Research in Review: Distillations of scholarly articles and book chapters, so you can savour the key insights without/before reading the actual texts
World of Words: Spotlights on the linguistic fashionistas – buzzwords, slang, neologisms – storming our airwaves and cyberspace

As apparent from the sections we have crafted above, our readership is envisioned to span both curious generalists and fellow linguists. We promise to explain all technical terms, to the best of our abilities, in an engaging and non-circular way. In short, we hope that whatever your background and interest in language, you will find something meaningful to take away from this space!