Mathematical Linguistics w/ Donna Jo Napoli

We did it, Joe: Tomayto Tomahto has been in existence for over a year. That's one year, 12 episodes, and way too many instances of editing audio into the wee hours of the morning. But it's all been worth it. In this episode, I'm joined by Professor Donna Jo Napoli from Swarthmore College—an absolute legend in the field of linguistics. She's an author, a mathematician, a linguist, a teacher, a dancer, and she's so, so passionate about the power of language. We talk about the intersection between math and linguistics, how biomechanics effect the lexicon of sign languages, the physical and mental properties of articulatory ease, the various social meanings of prosody, automatic processing in relation to linguistic judgments, and the joys of studying language scientifically. We touch on the difference between quantitative and qualitative linguistic studies, Donna Jo's reverence for teaching, and most importantly, how studying linguistics "frees your brain." Because it does. It will. Donna Jo's wikipedia page, articles, TedTalk, teaching profile, personal website, and more are linked below. REACTIVE EFFORT AS A FACTOR THAT SHAPES SIGN LANGUAGE LEXICONSProduction, perception, and communicative goals of American newscaster speech Spotlight Interview with Linguistic Society of America Professor Napoli: Swarthmore profile TedTalk List of all Publications Personal website Wikipedia Page