Episode 39 is a return to Scotland! After Scots, way back at the start of the whole podcast, this next journey into Scottish speech explores Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig), the Insular Celtic language that's for centuries played a big part in the country's history, ever since it first arrived from Ireland. It was the choice of my guest, the linguist David Adger, who knows the language well and refers to it often in his research into the nature of word order. David and I discuss the medieval and modern story of Scottish Gaelic, as well as a globally unusual aspect of its syntax.

Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠

David's personal website: ⁠https://davidadger.org/⁠

Clip of Rosemary speaking Scottish Gaelic taken from here: ⁠https://wikitongues.org/videos/rosemary_20150113_gla/⁠

Website for the Sabhal Mòr Ostaig here: ⁠https://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/?lang=en⁠

Host: Dr. Danny Bate

Guest: Prof. David Adger

Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden

Music: Acoustic Guitar by William King

Artwork: William Marler

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At last, dear language lovers, Episode 38 is here. To make up for my podcasting tardiness, this episode stars not just one language, but rather a whole group of them! Following Akkadian in Series 1 and Biblical Hebrew in Series 2, I'm glad to offer you another audio trip into ancient Semitic languages. Old (or Ancient or Epigraphic) South Arabian languages were the choice of Dr. Imar Koutchoukali, a scholar who has long been fascinated by the ancient history of Arabia. In our chat, Imar introduces this now-lost linguistic group – at one time vibrant and influential in the region. Included among them is the language of the Queen of Sheba herself!

Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Imar's academia.edu page: ⁠https://univie.academia.edu/ImarKoutchoukali⁠

Host: Dr. Danny Bate

Guest: Dr. Imar Koutchoukali

Music: Acoustic Guitar by William King

Artwork: William Marler

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 37's star language is another 'proto'-tongue, arguably the most famous of all reconstructed prehistoric languages: Proto-Indo-European. This ancient language, whose linguistic descendants can now be found across the world, has long been the goal of an intellectual quest.

The task of identifying the facts of PIE began in the realms of philology and linguistics, but archaeology and genetics have since contributed much to our understanding. Bringing together the insights of those three fields was the goal of my guest, the science journalist and writer Laura Spinney, and her book Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global is now available to buy, read and enjoy! Laura joins me to discuss the motivations and goals behind Proto and what exactly drew her to research and write about this strange language from along ago.

Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Laura's website: ⁠https://www.lauraspinney.com/⁠

Clip of reconstructed Dragon Slaying Myth in Proto-Indo-European (reconstruction by Andrew M. Byrd and Riccardo Ginevra, voice by Phill Barnett) taken with permission from here: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1SXeSHY9p0⁠

Host: Dr. Danny Bate

Guest: Laura Spinney

Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden

Music: Acoustic Guitar by William King

Artwork: William Marler

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.