35: Putting sounds into syllables is like putting toppings on a burger

Lingthusiasm - A podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics

Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne

Science

4.8 • 791 Ratings

🗓️ 16 August 2019

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sometimes a syllable is jam-packed with sounds, like the single-syllable word “strengths”. Other times, a syllable is as simple as a single vowel or consonant+vowel, like the two syllables in “a-ha!” It’s kind of like a burger: you might pack your burger with tons of toppings, or go as simple as a patty by itself on a plate, but certain combinations are more likely than others. For example, an open-face burger, with only the bottom half of the bun, is less weird than a burger with only the top half. In this episode of Lingthusiasm, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get enthusiastic about syllables. Why aren’t there any English words that begin with “ng”, even though Vietnamese is perfectly happy to have them? Why do Spanish speakers pronounce the English word “Sprite” more like “Esprite”? Why did English speakers re-analyze Greek helico-pter into heli-copter? Plus more about how different languages prefer different things in their syllable-burgers and what happens when these preferences collide. This month’s bonus episode is about metaphors! Support Lingthusiasm on Patreon to gain access to the metaphors episode and 29 previous bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/lingthusiasm Today is the final day for two things related to Because Internet, Gretchen’s book about internet linguistics (which is out now and you can get it!). 1. Send us your questions about Because Internet, internet language, or the process of writing a book for a special bonus behind the scenes Q&A episode about the book! 2. Join our new “ling-phabet” tier on Patreon by August 15th in any timezone (you may get a few hours into August 16th if you’re lucky!) and get a signed Because Internet bookplate sticker with your name on it in the mail! https://www.patreon.com/lingthusiasm For links and things mentioned in this episode: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/187039068846/lingthusiasm-episode-35-putting-sounds-into

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Lingthusiasm, a podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics. I'm Gretchen
0:22.1	McCulloch. And I'm Lauren Gorn, and today we're getting enthusiastic about syllables. But first,
0:28.2	Gretchen's book is out now, and if you haven't bought it yet, you should buy a copy.
0:32.8	Yes, it's very exciting to finally have other people being able to read the book and talk to me about
0:37.9	memes and emoji and punctuation and all of the internet linguistic things that I've been thinking
0:42.7	about for three years. We are doing a very special Q&A episode for the book. This episode goes up on
0:49.2	August 15th you have until August 15th. So you have some number of hours until it is no longer
0:53.9	August 15th in any time zone. So you have some number of hours until it is no longer August 15th
0:54.6	in any time zone. So you can check ahead to Hawaii and maybe gain a few hours that way,
0:59.2	to send in your questions about things to do with internet linguistics, the book writing process,
1:04.2	and then we'll do a very special behind the scenes bonus episode about that.
1:07.3	I'm looking forward to everyone else's questions. I have a bunch of questions about how
1:11.2	the book writing process went. I'm looking forward to that Patreon bonus episode. Also on the Patreon,
1:17.3	we have a new $15 plus tier. Several people have been asking for a way to support us even more
1:24.9	than the $5 a month for bonus episodes. And at our $15
1:29.2	L'infabet tier, you will receive your very own symbol of the International Phonetic
1:34.8	alphabet, which you can get through either a super scientific quiz or just merely saying that you have
1:40.9	a favourite. And then we will add your name and symbol of choice to our
1:44.6	Lengthysm supporter Wall of Fame on our website. And we're happy to put your name or any other
1:49.9	name within reason. So if you want to give this as a gift to somebody, that's also a thing you can do.
1:54.2	And if you join this new level before August 15th, this is the same time zone thing that you're
2:00.3	running into right now, you can also get a signed bookplate, this is the same time zone thing that you're running into right now. You can also
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