Lingthusiasm Episode 119: Irregularity is all over the place

lingthusiasm:Talk, talked. Walk, walked. Go…went?In this episode, your hosts Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne get enthusiastic about the many ways that languages are irregular in their patterns! We talk about sound and spelling irregularity, word irregularity and euphemisms, grammatical irregularity and fossils of older systems, and how irregularity is perhaps the most regular thing about languages. We also talk about those parts of systems that seem to be magnets for attracting irregularity, like negation in signed languages and common words generally, how kids learn irregular patterns in a U-shaped curve, and perhaps the most fun kind: jocular irregularity like octopodes and more. Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice or read the transcript here.Announcements:We have new merch! We’ve used the metaphor of a musical instrument several times when talking about how the human vocal tract is organized, and how you can change the shape of your mouth as…