Erica Mannis discusses new research indicating humans may be predisposed to speech from birth
language
Digital Neologisms
Amy Butterworth explores the world of emojis and their potential engulfing of the literary world as we know it The ever-iconic Gina Linetti from ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ made an attempt at incorporating emoji-speak into her verbal lexicon: “the English language cannot capture the depth and complexity of my thoughts”, she says. Thus, a ‘winky-face’ 😉 here […]
Neo-neologisms
Senior Online Editor, Harry Caton, discusses the emergence of neologisms.
A Case For: Political Correctness
In the past few weeks, the debate around political correctness has once again been brought into the spotlight. This follows the news of Kevin Hart stepping down from hosting the Oscars after the backlash against past homophobic tweets, and of radio stations banning the Christmas song, ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’, citing its problematic lyrics in […]
Talking heads
In 2017, it may seem as if work towards reducing mental health stigma has come a long way. Just take World Mental Health Day as an example: the huge amount of people sharing their support may give the allusion that, as a society, we have overcome the stigma surrounding people who suffer with mental illness. […]
Exeter’s first Translation! Festival serves up a feast of linguistic delights
A year in the planning, the inaugural Translation! Festival hit Exeter on Friday 29th September across a variety of city centre venues and-appropriately enough-on the International Day of Translation. With events ranging from professional workshops through talks, film showings, language games, talks and poetry translation duels as well as musical performances and specially created artworks, there truly was something […]
If it’s a Scottish play, why is it in German? Dimitra Mina reviews the Residenztheater’s Production of Macbeth.
I ought to preface this review with the statement “I do not speak any German”. Although one of my personal goals for my year abroad is to learn German, at this current junction of the year I can order a cup of tea and thank people, and that would be the end of it. However, whilst […]
Tolerence, Trudeau, and Multiculturalism in Canada
In the weeks leading up to my four month exchange programme in Montreal, I was made aware of Canadian liberalism; Canada’s global reputation as a leading liberal country has grown hugely in the last few years. ‘Trudeaumania’ was a common talking point amongst my friends, who are thrilled with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decidedly egalitarian approach […]
Feminist Friday: the gendered language barrier
In the globalised, 21st century world, traditional language barriers have all but lost their significance and digital advancements have made communication easier than ever. So now we can have a dialogue, it’s time to break down the repressive lexical and semantic walls erected by our ancestors that form the gendered language barrier and to make […]
One Third Stories: an interview with Alex Somervell
With the term beginning to come an end, there’s a growing sense of panic among final year students, at least judging by recent top Yaks on Yik Yak and from talking to friends and coursemates. With summer term likely to pass in a flurry of exam stress, which for most is over by late May, their time […]