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.

Bouônjour! Join me on a journey to Jersey, an island off the coast of France, where for centuries the local language of Jèrriais has kept up its role in the life of the Islanders, despite considerable pressure from linguistic heavyweights in the area (first French, later English). My guest for episode 36 of ALILI is Geraint Jennings, a language teacher, translator and lover of Jèrriais, who was the ideal person to present the history of Jersey and the status of Jèrriais today. We discuss where Jèrriais comes from, how it's faring in the modern world, and what makes it distinct from French on the mainland. Both my guest and this episode's beloved language are sure to leave you entchéthaûdé!

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

Start your own Jèrriais journey here at the page for the L’Office Du Jèrriais: https://www.jerriais.org.je/

Clip of Jèrriais by Geraint taken from the L’Office Du Jèrriais SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/jerriais

Host: Dr. Danny Bate

Guest: Geraint Jennings

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.

Episode 35 of ALILI is a new part of the world and a new language family: West Africa, and Niger-Congo! Our way into this corner of the linguistic world is Dza (also known as Jenjo or just Jen), an endangered language spoken in Nigeria. My guest is Peace Benson, who is actively working to spread awareness of her native language through academic research and infectious enthusiasm. We discuss all sorts of Dza-related topics, from its distinctive vowels to the sociolinguistic situation of Nigeria. Stay tuned to the end for some Swahili content from me.

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

Clip of Dza (Jenjo) supplied by Peace.

Host: Dr. Danny Bate

Guest: Peace Benson

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.

Episode 34 is a trip to Indonesia, specifically to the small island of Ternate. Don't let the island's size fool you though – it has a rich and complex history, which this episode explores through the Ternate language. This was the choice of my guest, PhD researcher Maria Zielenbach, who introduces Ternate's history, sounds, lexicon and complicated family situation. You may be surprised to hear how Ternate word formation works a little bit like Welsh and Irish...

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

Maria's academic blog: ⁠https://halmahera.hypotheses.org/⁠

Maria's recent book chapter about Dutch influence in Ternate: ⁠https://www.benjamins.com/catalog/impact.55.12sch⁠

Host: Dr. Danny Bate

Guest: Maria Zielenbach

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.

Now here's a first for the podcast: its first conlang! Na'vi, the language created for the Avatar films, was the choice of Stefan Mir-Mackiewicz, a language enthusiast who plays a role in shaping this constructed language. We discussed the origins of Na'vi, its sources of inspiration, its sounds and grammar, and the community that continues to develop it. Some language history and 'Proto-Na'vi' even get a mention!

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

Start your own journey into Na'vi here:

- ⁠https://learnnavi.org/⁠

- ⁠https://kelutral.org/⁠

- ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@HTML_Rrta⁠

Content note from Stefan: it's a common misunderstanding that Paul Frommer inspired directly by Polynesian languages; rather, the original words he was given by James Cameron had a "Polynesian flavour".

Host: Dr. Danny Bate

Guest: Stefan Mir-Mackiewicz (screen name: HTML_'Rrta)

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.

Series 3 continues with another prominent public-facing linguist, only this time we're travelling back in time, to Ancient Rome! My guest is Luke Ranieri, a linguist, a language teacher and the YouTuber behind the popular platforms ⁠polýMATHY⁠ and ⁠ScorpioMartianus⁠.

Luke took a break from activities as diverse as teaching for The Ancient Language Institute, speaking Latin on Vatican Radio, and flying helicopters, to talk to me about the Latin language – and what was so good about the era of Caesar and Cicero that their language deserved to be called 'classical'.

Join the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠

Check out Luke's personal website here: ⁠https://lukeranieri.com/⁠

Host: Dr. Danny Bate

Guest: Luke Ranieri

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.

We're back! The first episode of an all-new series of the language-loving podcast is here at last.

Since one of the co-stars of the hit podcast Lingthusiasm concluded the second series, it seemed only right that the other co-star should kick off the third. Gretchen McCulloch – linguist, podcaster and author of Because Internet – joins me to navigate the linguistic complexities of Canada, specifically in the city of Montreal.

This episode is part sociolinguistic survey, part survival guide for how to speak in Quebec, and Gretchen expertly and warmly takes us through Canadian bilingualism and her own experiences and perspectives of it.

Join the ALILI Patreon here: patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs

Gretchen's personal website: https://gretchenmcculloch.com/

Lingthusiasm's website: https://lingthusiasm.com/

Host: Dr. Danny Bate

Guest: Gretchen McCulloch

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.

Hello there, dear language lovers! After a couple of months, I'm pleased to say that I'm getting back into the swing of linguistic podcasting, and that means that A Language I Love Is... will soon be returning!

While I get the first few episodes ready for airing, here's a teaser for the third series of the show, featuring some expert voices that you can look forward to, as well as some additional annoucements from me.

For fans and subscribers of the show, I'd like to express sincere thanks for bearing with me during this inter-series hiatus. Speak to you soon!

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