Why Some Languages Sound So Fast, or do they?

Sep 19, 2011 by

As a long-time reader of this blog would already know, I am typically skeptical of “linguistic” studies that calculate an average this and multiply it by an average that and supposedly produce results that are relevant...

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Should we make English the official language in the United States?

Sep 24, 2010 by

The San Mateo Examiner columnist Gregory Kane thinks so. His argument goes as follows: The top spots on the list of major economic powers and of major military powers are not occupied by Spanish-speaking countries like Spain or...

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Languages of France

Sep 2, 2010 by

In yesterday’s posting I mentioned that nation-states, which are typically conceived of as having “one nation, one language”, are rarely if ever so. And what better example of a nation-state than France! When I ask...

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Language and ethnicity: Spain

Sep 1, 2010 by

Undoubtedly, language constitutes an important ingredient in one’s ethnic or national identity. What is essentially the same language, may be perceived — by speakers themselves — as distinct languages, based on...

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On Null subjects and related phenomena

Aug 25, 2010 by

In the latest posting I stated that Universal Grammar is a catalog of significant differences between languages rather than being a “one-size-fits-all” grammar. These significant differences are formulated as parameters,...

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