EducationLanguage LearningScienceSocial Sciences

A Language I Love Is...

Danny Bate

A show about language, linguistics and people who love both!

A Language I Love Is... (ALILI) broadcasts linguistic joy and shares expert insights into the languages of the world. It's a simple formula: one host, one guest, one language, and three key questions:

1) What is your story and connection to this language?

2) What do you love about this language?

3) What is something you want the audience to know about this language?

Through informative interviews and casual conversations, ALILI fulfills its mission: to share the linguistic love with all.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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20 episodes
Avg 44 min
English

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S3 · E45
March 17 · 47 min
Chitimacha and Daniel W. Hieber
The final episode of Series 3 is here, and we're ending with a good'un. Daniel W. Hieber, the linguist behind the popular ⁠Linguistic Discovery⁠ platform, joins me to discuss an indigenous language of North America: Chitimacha. In cooperation with the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana, Daniel is contributing to the revitalising of this dormant language – which is gifting him so much in return. We discuss the history and prehistory of Chitimacha and its speakers, as well as intriguing parts of its grammar and the leading role it has played in the development of modern linguistics. Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠⁠⁠⁠ Check out and sign up to Linguistic Discovery: ⁠https://linguisticdiscovery.com/⁠ (also on Substack, Instagram, YouTube) Sample of Chitimacha, by speaker Chief Benjamin Paul, provided by Daniel. Continue learning with the Chitimacha Wikipedia page: ⁠https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitimacha⁠ Daniel's personal website: ⁠https://www.danielhieber.info/⁠ Host: Dr. Danny Bate Guest: Dr. Daniel W. Hieber Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden Music: Acoustic Guitar by William King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S3 · E44
January 31 · 1 hr
Modern Irish and Liam Ó Duibhiolla
Dia daoibh, language lovers! Episode 44 is here and it sees a return to the Irish language (Gaeilge), but this time with a focus on its modern shape and story. In this regard, the episode forms a trio with episodes 39 (Scottish Gaelic and David Adger) and 15 (Old Irish and Danny Bate – that is, me, your host). Modern Irish was the choice of guest Liam Ó Duibhiolla, a speaker and teacher of Irish. Liam is the founder of the platform ⁠Learn Irish Online⁠. Our chat touches on his work and how it fits into a recent uptick for the language, after two very difficult centuries. Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠⁠⁠ Learn Irish online and find out more about Liam's work here: ⁠https://www.learnirishonline.com/⁠ Sample of Irish, by speaker Mairéad Uí Lionáird (reading the first paragraph of Mo Sgéal Féin) from here: ⁠https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MSF_chapter_1.ogg⁠ Host: Dr. Danny Bate Guest: Liam Ó Duibhiolla Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden Music: Acoustic Guitar by William King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S3 · E43
Dec 31, 2025 · 38 min
Italian and Sophia Smith Galer
As 2025 ticks out its final hours, here’s one last episode of ALILI for the year, and it’s buonissimo! Journalist, author, content creator and linguist Sophia Smith Galer joins me to share the love for Italian. Our conversation has a focus on the sociolinguistic dynamics of Italian, namely how this national language fits into the lives of speakers up and down the peninsula, and how it might be harming the other languages of Italy in the process. Sophia also shares her personal relationship with Italian, as a ‘heritage language’ of hers that she is now working to promote in London. Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠⁠ Sophia’s splendid website: ⁠https://www.sophiasmithgaler.com/⁠ Pre-order How to Kill a Language here: ⁠https://www.sophiasmithgaler.com/how-to-kill-a-language⁠ Sample of Italian (by speaker Sebastiano) from here: ⁠https://wikitongues.org/videos/sebastiano_20131103_ita/⁠ Host: Dr. Danny Bate Guest: Sophia Smith Galer Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden Music: Acoustic Guitar by William King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S3 · E42
Nov 22, 2025 · 34 min
Old Norse and Jackson Crawford
'Hi, I'm Old Norse specialist Dr. Jackson Crawford' – so begin the YouTube videos with the smooth-talking, stetson-wearing scholar, discussing ancient languages in the scenic Rocky Mountains. To pay Jackson back for having me on ⁠his channel⁠ three times (most recently ⁠here⁠), I gladly hosted him on ALILI. Hence, this forty-second episode is all about Old Norse – what it is, who spoke it, where it came from, and what it became. Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠⁠ Get your copy of the translated Poetic Edda here: ⁠https://hackettpublishing.com/the-poetic-edda-expanded-second-edition⁠ Jackson's YouTube channel: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@JacksonCrawford⁠ Host: Dr. Danny Bate Guest: Dr. Jackson Crawford Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden Music: Acoustic Guitar by William King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S3 · E41
Oct 28, 2025 · 34 min
SPECIAL: Exclusive clip from my new book 'Why Q Needs U'!
Hot on the heels of Episode 40 (American Sign Language with Aidan Elliott-McCrea), I can release a special episode of ALILI, showcasing the audio edition of my new book! 'Why Q Needs U: A history of our letters and how we use them' was published on October 2nd, before which I undertook both its writing and its narrating as an audiobook. For this special, I've been given the first chapter of that audiobook (Chapter A) to share with you. It kicks off the story of the alphabet in Egypt, then takes you as far as the islands of Greece. The full audiobook is widely available on popular platforms like Spotify and ⁠Audible⁠. If you give it a listen, do let me know! Official link to the book here: ⁠https://geni.us/WhyQNeedsU⁠ More info and reviews here: ⁠https://dannybate.com/book/⁠ Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠⁠⁠ Host: Dr. Danny Bate Music: Acoustic Guitar by William King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S3 · E40
Oct 20, 2025 · 45 min
American Sign Language and Aidan Elliott-McCrea
The ALILI podcast has reached forty episodes! As a fitting start to this fourth decade of language love, we have a first for the show: its first sign language. It was a privilege for me to talk to Aidan Elliott-McCrea, an expert linguist and online etymologist (through ⁠Word Family Friday⁠), about not just American Sign Language but sign languages in general. Our conversation begins with addressing misconceptions about sign languages (there isn't just one!), and moves on to the features of ASL that Aidan particularly likes. Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠⁠ Transcript (automatically generated) available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m5gw2ewkXN3uUEnYI-yszmLqiugG7v2w5fDEHXK_9-s/edit?usp=sharing Aidan's etymological website: ⁠https://www.aidanem.com/pages/word-families-overview.html⁠ Aidan's own Patreon: https://patreon.com/aidanem Aidan's recommendations for reading: Linguistics of American Sign Language: An Introduction by Clayton Valli Sign Language and Linguistic Universals by Wendy Sandler and Diane Lillo-Martin Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language by Nora Ellen Groce Host: Dr. Danny Bate Guest: Aidan Elliott-McCrea Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden Music: Acoustic Guitar by William King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S3 · E39
Sep 10, 2025 · 1 hr 1 min
Scottish Gaelic and David Adger
Episode 39 is a return to Scotland! After Scots, way back at the start of the whole podcast, this next journey into Scottish speech explores Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig), the Insular Celtic language that's for centuries played a big part in the country's history, ever since it first arrived from Ireland. It was the choice of my guest, the linguist David Adger, who knows the language well and refers to it often in his research into the nature of word order. David and I discuss the medieval and modern story of Scottish Gaelic, as well as a globally unusual aspect of its syntax. Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠ David's personal website: ⁠https://davidadger.org/⁠ Clip of Rosemary speaking Scottish Gaelic taken from here: ⁠https://wikitongues.org/videos/rosemary_20150113_gla/⁠ Website for the Sabhal Mòr Ostaig here: ⁠https://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/?lang=en⁠ Host: Dr. Danny Bate Guest: Prof. David Adger Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden Music: Acoustic Guitar by William King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S3 · E38
Aug 17, 2025 · 57 min
Old South Arabian and Imar Koutchoukali
At last, dear language lovers, Episode 38 is here. To make up for my podcasting tardiness, this episode stars not just one language, but rather a whole group of them! Following Akkadian in Series 1 and Biblical Hebrew in Series 2, I'm glad to offer you another audio trip into ancient Semitic languages. Old (or Ancient or Epigraphic) South Arabian languages were the choice of Dr. Imar Koutchoukali, a scholar who has long been fascinated by the ancient history of Arabia. In our chat, Imar introduces this now-lost linguistic group – at one time vibrant and influential in the region. Included among them is the language of the Queen of Sheba herself! Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Imar's academia.edu page: ⁠https://univie.academia.edu/ImarKoutchoukali⁠ Host: Dr. Danny Bate Guest: Dr. Imar Koutchoukali Music: Acoustic Guitar by William King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S3 · E37
Jul 7, 2025 · 42 min
Proto-Indo-European and Laura Spinney
Episode 37's star language is another 'proto'-tongue, arguably the most famous of all reconstructed prehistoric languages: Proto-Indo-European. This ancient language, whose linguistic descendants can now be found across the world, has long been the goal of an intellectual quest. The task of identifying the facts of PIE began in the realms of philology and linguistics, but archaeology and genetics have since contributed much to our understanding. Bringing together the insights of those three fields was the goal of my guest, the science journalist and writer Laura Spinney, and her book Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global is now available to buy, read and enjoy! Laura joins me to discuss the motivations and goals behind Proto and what exactly drew her to research and write about this strange language from along ago. Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Laura's website: ⁠https://www.lauraspinney.com/⁠ Clip of reconstructed Dragon Slaying Myth in Proto-Indo-European (reconstruction by Andrew M. Byrd and Riccardo Ginevra, voice by Phill Barnett) taken with permission from here: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1SXeSHY9p0⁠ Host: Dr. Danny Bate Guest: Laura Spinney Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden Music: Acoustic Guitar by William King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S3 · E36
Jun 9, 2025 · 45 min
Jèrriais and Geraint Jennings
Bouônjour! Join me on a journey to Jersey, an island off the coast of France, where for centuries the local language of Jèrriais has kept up its role in the life of the Islanders, despite considerable pressure from linguistic heavyweights in the area (first French, later English). My guest for episode 36 of ALILI is Geraint Jennings, a language teacher, translator and lover of Jèrriais, who was the ideal person to present the history of Jersey and the status of Jèrriais today. We discuss where Jèrriais comes from, how it's faring in the modern world, and what makes it distinct from French on the mainland. Both my guest and this episode's beloved language are sure to leave you entchéthaûdé! Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠⁠⁠⁠ Start your own Jèrriais journey here at the page for the L’Office Du Jèrriais: https://www.jerriais.org.je/ Clip of Jèrriais by Geraint taken from the L’Office Du Jèrriais SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/jerriais Host: Dr. Danny Bate Guest: Geraint Jennings Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden Music: Acoustic Guitar by William King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S3 · E35
May 20, 2025 · 41 min
Dza and Peace Benson
Episode 35 of ALILI is a new part of the world and a new language family: West Africa, and Niger-Congo! Our way into this corner of the linguistic world is Dza (also known as Jenjo or just Jen), an endangered language spoken in Nigeria. My guest is Peace Benson, who is actively working to spread awareness of her native language through academic research and infectious enthusiasm. We discuss all sorts of Dza-related topics, from its distinctive vowels to the sociolinguistic situation of Nigeria. Stay tuned to the end for some Swahili content from me. Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠⁠⁠⁠ Clip of Dza (Jenjo) supplied by Peace. Host: Dr. Danny Bate Guest: Peace Benson Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden Music: Acoustic Guitar by William King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S3 · E34
Apr 27, 2025 · 37 min
Ternate and Maria Zielenbach
Episode 34 is a trip to Indonesia, specifically to the small island of Ternate. Don't let the island's size fool you though – it has a rich and complex history, which this episode explores through the Ternate language. This was the choice of my guest, PhD researcher Maria Zielenbach, who introduces Ternate's history, sounds, lexicon and complicated family situation. You may be surprised to hear how Ternate word formation works a little bit like Welsh and Irish... Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠⁠⁠ Maria's academic blog: ⁠https://halmahera.hypotheses.org/⁠ Maria's recent book chapter about Dutch influence in Ternate: ⁠https://www.benjamins.com/catalog/impact.55.12sch⁠ Host: Dr. Danny Bate Guest: Maria Zielenbach Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden Music: Acoustic Guitar by William King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S3 · E33
Apr 13, 2025 · 32 min
Na'vi and Stefan Mir-Mackiewicz
Now here's a first for the podcast: its first conlang! Na'vi, the language created for the Avatar films, was the choice of Stefan Mir-Mackiewicz, a language enthusiast who plays a role in shaping this constructed language. We discussed the origins of Na'vi, its sources of inspiration, its sounds and grammar, and the community that continues to develop it. Some language history and 'Proto-Na'vi' even get a mention! Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠⁠ Start your own journey into Na'vi here: - ⁠https://learnnavi.org/⁠ - ⁠https://kelutral.org/⁠ - ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@HTML_Rrta⁠ Content note from Stefan: it's a common misunderstanding that Paul Frommer inspired directly by Polynesian languages; rather, the original words he was given by James Cameron had a "Polynesian flavour". Host: Dr. Danny Bate Guest: Stefan Mir-Mackiewicz (screen name: HTML_'Rrta) Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden Music: Acoustic Guitar by William King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S3 · E32
Mar 24, 2025 · 54 min
Classical Latin and Luke Ranieri
Series 3 continues with another prominent public-facing linguist, only this time we're travelling back in time, to Ancient Rome! My guest is Luke Ranieri, a linguist, a language teacher and the YouTuber behind the popular platforms ⁠polýMATHY⁠ and ⁠ScorpioMartianus⁠. Luke took a break from activities as diverse as teaching for The Ancient Language Institute, speaking Latin on Vatican Radio, and flying helicopters, to talk to me about the Latin language – and what was so good about the era of Caesar and Cicero that their language deserved to be called 'classical'. Join the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠ Check out Luke's personal website here: ⁠https://lukeranieri.com/⁠ Host: Dr. Danny Bate Guest: Luke Ranieri Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden Music: Acoustic Guitar by William King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S3 · E31
Mar 9, 2025 · 46 min
Montreal French and Gretchen McCulloch
We're back! The first episode of an all-new series of the language-loving podcast is here at last. Since one of the co-stars of the hit podcast Lingthusiasm concluded the second series, it seemed only right that the other co-star should kick off the third. Gretchen McCulloch – linguist, podcaster and author of Because Internet – joins me to navigate the linguistic complexities of Canada, specifically in the city of Montreal. This episode is part sociolinguistic survey, part survival guide for how to speak in Quebec, and Gretchen expertly and warmly takes us through Canadian bilingualism and her own experiences and perspectives of it. Join the ALILI Patreon here: patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs Gretchen's personal website: https://gretchenmcculloch.com/ Lingthusiasm's website: https://lingthusiasm.com/ Host: Dr. Danny Bate Guest: Gretchen McCulloch Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden Music: Acoustic Guitar by William King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 27, 2025 · 4 min
Series 3 Teaser!
Hello there, dear language lovers! After a couple of months, I'm pleased to say that I'm getting back into the swing of linguistic podcasting, and that means that A Language I Love Is... will soon be returning! While I get the first few episodes ready for airing, here's a teaser for the third series of the show, featuring some expert voices that you can look forward to, as well as some additional annoucements from me. For fans and subscribers of the show, I'd like to express sincere thanks for bearing with me during this inter-series hiatus. Speak to you soon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S2 · E30
Dec 1, 2024 · 42 min
Yolmo and Lauren Gawne
ALILI has reached episode 30 and the end of two whole series! To mark the occasion, the show has the privilege to host a star of public linguistics, Dr. Lauren Gawne, one of the two fabulous co-hosts of the hit podcast Lingthusiasm. Lauren is here to lead the show into a new part of the world and a new language family, namely Yolmo, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Nepal. Lauren takes us through the modern state of the language, her profound connection to it, and the grammatical phenomenon of evidentiality. Enter the word of Lingthusiasm here: ⁠⁠https://lingthusiasm.com/⁠⁠ Lauren's personal website: ⁠⁠https://laurengawne.com/⁠⁠ Host: Dr. Danny Bate Guest: Dr. Lauren Gawne Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden Music: Bossa Nova by William_King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S2 · E29
Oct 20, 2024 · 53 min
Old English and Colin Gorrie
Episode 29 is here at last, and a certain language is making a repeat appearance, but introduced by a new linguistic lover – what does Colin Gorrie have to say about Old English? We chat the basics of Old English and what makes it so 'old', before getting into how Colin teaches the language, and why he recommends it as a springboard for further linguistic adventures. Find the details about the brilliant new Osweald Bera book here: https://ancientlanguage.com/osweald-bera/ Check out and subscribe to Colin's substack: https://colingorrie.substack.com/ And don't forget to subscribe to A Language I Love Is...! Host: Dr Danny Bate Guest: Dr Colin Gorrie Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden Music: Bossa Nova by William_King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S2 · E28
Sep 1, 2024 · 58 min
Cornish and Daniel Prohaska
Dydh da! Episode 28 of ALILI is here, and Daniel Prohaska joins me to discuss Cornish! This Celtic language has a long and fascinating history, stretching back to Roman Britain. It's a story not only of slow decline, but also of resurrection. Daniel was the ideal expert to introduce it, being involved in modern efforts to revitalise and popularise Cornish for the twenty-first century. Daniel's professional website: ⁠⁠https://www.ryan-prohaska.com/⁠⁠ Daniel's Cornish website: https://kernowekbew.com/ Daniel's audio Cornish course: ⁠⁠https://www.kernewegva.com/deskikernowek.html⁠⁠ Host: Dr Danny Bate Guest: Daniel Prohaska Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden Music: Bossa Nova by William_King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S2 · E27
Aug 4, 2024 · 55 min
Burgenland Croatian and Katharina Tyran
Time for Episode 27 and a return to the Slavic languages! Unsurprisingly, Croatian is a Slavic language widely spoken in the modern-day country of Croatia, but did you know that it has many speakers in eastern Austria too? Burgenland Croatian is the starring language of this episode, beloved and chosen by Dr Katharina Tyran. As one of its native speakers and researchers, Katharina is the ideal person to introduce the past, present and future of this minority language. Katharina's University of Vienna page: https://slawistik.univie.ac.at/personen/person/user/tyrank65/inum/1079/backpid/12319/ Listen to Katharina podcasting in Burgenland Croatian here: https://www.hrvatskicentar.at/de/centar-podcast Sample of spoken Burgenland Croatian from here: https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/Croate%20du%20Burgenland?lang=en&mode=pro Host: Dr Danny Bate Guest: Dr Katharina Tyran Audio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPadden Music: Bossa Nova by William_King Artwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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