#paradigms

Lingthusiasm Episode 119: Irregularity is all over the place

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 the air is on the way out, which changes what the air sounds like. We've used a couple of different musical instruments as metaphors, the meat clarinet, the meat bassoon, the meat bagpipe… but Gretchen just couldn't get that original imagery of the meat clarinet out of her head (maybe it's because she played clarinet in high school band). So Lauren was eventually persuaded that what we really need in our lives is some art of the human vocal tract and a clarinet merged together, in… meat colours (Lauren would like it noted that she thinks this art is deeply cursed and will not be buying any).

(No, it’s not anatomically accurate because the mouth of the clarinet would have to be your mouth and we decided that was even more disturbing.)

If you want to see how our artist Lucy Maddox even went above and beyond and offered us several horrifying meat textures in the concept phase, join us on Patreon. Patrons get to hear about new merch and other exciting announcements early, so sign up so you don't miss anything! In any case, it was truly one of the most terrifying (and let's be real here, entertaining) design briefs we've ever had to write, so check out the full merch range here and tell us if you love it or hate it! We even made a zine to go along with your new cursed merch - 'Guide to your meat clarinet'. In this Lingthusiasm zine, Gretchen gets a little bit too enthusiastic about this horrifying metaphor to encourage you to explore the workings of your own meat clarinet. 

In this month’s bonus episode we get enthusiastic about how the structure of a language influences what forms of poetry are possible in the language! We talk about why so much English poetry depends on not putting the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLABle, how languages that don't have word-level stress like French write poetry based on syllable counts instead, how English speakers write haiku in a way that's actually subtly shifted for the constraints of the language, and how signed languages like ASL use handshape repetition for poetry.

Join us on Patreon now to get access to this and 110+ other bonus episodes. You’ll also get access to the Lingthusiasm Discord server where you can chat with other language nerds.

Here are the links mentioned in the episode:

Etymonline entries for: Person People Sneeze

Lingthusiasm episodes: 'Why spelling is hard — but also hard to change' 'Knowledge is power, copulas are fun'

'Terms for Low Intelligence' by Sharon Henderson Taylor

'Nouns that Change Gender' by Alesha Allen for Italy Magazine

Auslan Signbank entry for 'not'

Auslan Signbank entry for 'can't'

WALS entry for 'Chapter Irregular Negatives in Sign Languages'

Wikipedia entry for 'Suppletion'

Wikipedia entry for 'U-shaped development'

'U-shaped Learning' post on Learning and Teaching Foreign Languages

'How to pluralize loanwords' post by All Things Linguistic

You can listen to this episode via Lingthusiasm.com, Soundcloud, RSS, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also download an mp3 via the Soundcloud page for offline listening.

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Lingthusiasm is on Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, Mastodon, and Tumblr. Email us at contact [at] lingthusiasm [dot] com

Gretchen is on Bluesky as @gretchenmcculloch.com, on instagram @gretchen.mcculloch and blogs at All Things Linguistic.

Lauren is on Bluesky as @superlinguo and blogs at Superlinguo.

Lingthusiasm is created by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. Our senior producer is Claire Gawne, our production editor is Sarah Dopierala, our production assistant is Martha Tsutsui Billins, our editorial assistant is Jon Kruk, and our technical editor is Leah Velleman. Our music is ‘Ancient City’ by The Triangles.

Day 8: Personality

I think there are two ways to interpret this statement. The first is: the magic is done, it's out in the world; now, put your feet to the pavement and make it happen. This is true in my practice -- simply wishing for something or casting a spell about it won't make something happen for nothing.

Magic and casting spells alters the chances of something else happening. A banishment reduces the chances of whoever (or whatever) you've banished from showing up. A cleansing spell improves the chances of something (or someone) leaving your space. A shield spell improves the chances of you reflecting or avoiding negativity in your daily life. A success spell improves the chances of getting a new job.

But if you're not putting job applications in, you won't get the job. If you aren't asking the thing to leave your space during the cleansing, it won't work. If you don't block that asshole, they're going to keep messaging you.

Magical actions bolster mundane actions. You cannot create something from nothing, and you cannot force the future into shape. That isn't how it works. You can influence it, and you can make changes. Magic + Mundane = Improved Results.

The second interpretation is perhaps not what was originally intended. After your spell working is done, it's time to work on the spell. You can't just set it free into the wild and let that be that. Well, alright, you can. But you won't improve at all doing that.

I'm a firm believer in the power of taking notes and writing shit down. By far the best way to improve your magical practice, cast better and more powerful spells, and learn what you really believe is to write it down.

Eventually, I'll talk about my note-taking methods in more detail because it really was a game changer. But the essence of it is to write down all the details of the working. That includes when you originally decide to do it (and when you're writing the notes), when you plan to cast it, ingredients/materials, the type of working it is, who or what you plan to invoke, and WHY you are planning on doing the working. And that's all before you even do the spell!

During the spell, you keep notes. Write it all down. Something weird happens? Write it down. Candle flickering? Write it down. Felt a shiver down your spine? Write it down! Nothing strange happened at all, and it all went smoothly? Write. It. Down.

And then you take more notes afterwards! How do you know a spell is working? How are you tracking it? I have a formalized system for this sort of thing that adapts to different types of spells. Write down how you feel afterwards, physically, emotionally, spiritually, energetically, whatever. Write down any thoughts you have. And then come back to it later and see if it all worked.

Spellwork doesn't end just because the spell's done. Keeping notes like this is, in my opinion, essential. Especially for beginners, but experienced practitioners benefit, too. It's the best way to examine your practice as it evolves.

Plus, it's practical -- if you want to go back and do a spell again but have it more efficient/effective, you have all your notes right there. You know what you did because you wrote it down. And now, you can tweak the process. Do it differently. Try different ingredients. Do another method. Work with another paradigm.

Chīrōn / Χείρων

Chiron