Crash Course Linguistics - Season 1

Crash Course Linguistics - Season 1

Season 1

Network
DatesSep 11, 2020 - Jan 22, 2021

Episodes

What is Linguistics?
Season 1Episode 111 min

What is Linguistics?

Language is everywhere. Linguistics is the study of language, but what does that even mean? In this episode of Crash Course Linguistics, we'll begin talking about some of the features and levels of structure of language, and introduce some of the other topics we'll be covering throughout this series.

Sep 11, 2020
Morphology
Season 1Episode 211 min

Morphology

What even is a word? Well… linguists don’t really know! But that’s ok! When linguists want to get super specific, we don’t even talk about words, we talk about morphemes instead. In this episode of Crash Course Linguistics, we’re diving into the topic of morphology and what makes up these things we call words.
Sep 18, 2020
Syntax 1 - Morphosyntax
Season 1Episode 311 min

Syntax 1 - Morphosyntax

Grammar sometimes gets a bad reputation, but we're actually doing grammar all the time! And we're pretty good at it! In this episode of Crash Course Linguistics, we'll begin our discussion of syntax by learning how we can take words and morphemes and turn them into sentences, questions, stories, and even videos like this!
Sep 25, 2020
Syntax 2 - Trees
Season 1Episode 410 min

Syntax 2 - Trees

There are many theories of syntax and different ways to represent grammatical structures, but one of the simplest is tree structure diagrams! In this episode of Crash Course Linguistics, we’ll use tree structure diagrams to keep track of words and groups of words within sentences, and we’ll break down what roles different types of words and phrases play within a sentence.
Oct 2, 2020
Semantics
Season 1Episode 511 min

Semantics

If you want to know what a word means, all you have to do is look it up in the dictionary, right? Actually, it’s a little more complicated than that. This episode of Crash Course Linguistics is all about semantics, or the area of linguistics concerned with meaning. We’ll learn about different types of semantic relationships, and how different languages define these relationships, as well as different approaches to semantics. And we’ll discover that the humble definition may be more complicated than we think.
Oct 9, 2020
Pragmatics
Season 1Episode 610 min

Pragmatics

We don’t always say exactly what we mean, and yet we’re still pretty good at understanding each other. That’s because we don’t just use meaning to figure out what’s going on, we also use context. This episode of Crash Course Linguistics is all about pragmatics, the area of linguistics that deals with context. We’ll cover the four main assumptions we make about context in language, also known as Grice’s Maxims, as well as the ways that languages can use grammar to convey politeness, and the different types of conversational styles within and between languages.
Oct 16, 2020
Sociolinguistics
Season 1Episode 712 min

Sociolinguistics

Language is an important part of our identities, and the ways we feel about how others use language is influenced by society. The study of the social element of language, and how it forms part of our identity is sociolinguistics. In this episode of Crash Course Linguistics, we’ll learn about linguistic differences between and within languages based on factors such as location, education, class, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, and how our perceptions of these differences affect our society.
Oct 23, 2020
Phonetics 1 - Consonants
Season 1Episode 812 min

Phonetics 1 - Consonants

The letters in a word don’t always match the sounds they represent, and people can pronounce words in different ways. Lucky for us, linguists have tools to help understand and communicate speech sounds. In this episode of Crash Course Linguistics, we’ll begin our discussion of phonetics, the study of speech sounds, by talking about consonants, and we’ll also get an introduction to the International Phonetic Alphabet, or IPA.
Oct 30, 2020
Phonetics 2 - Vowels
Season 1Episode 911 min

Phonetics 2 - Vowels

In English, we have 5 (well, sometimes 6) vowel letters, but way more vowel sounds. That’s where the IPA can help us! In this episode of Crash Course Linguistics, we’ll learn about vowels, those sounds you can sing with your mouth open, and how we can represent them clearly using the IPA
Nov 13, 2020
Phonology
Season 1Episode 1013 min

Phonology

All of the sounds or handshapes in a language can be pronounced differently depending on the context, but in different languages, these differences may be significant, or not. The study of these patterns and variations is known as phonology. In this episode of Crash Course Linguistics, we’ll learn all about phonology and the different phonological systems we see in different languages, and we’ll begin to retrain our brains in order to gain a better understanding and appreciation for phonological patterns.
Nov 20, 2020
Psycholinguistics
Season 1Episode 1112 min

Psycholinguistics

We couldn't have language without the brain, but our brains are a bit harder to study than other parts of the body that we use to make languages like our mouths and hands. In this episode of Crash Course Linguistics, we'll learn about the field that studies where and how language happens in the brain, called psycholinguistics. We'll cover old and new research in the field, classic studies, and the methods psycholinguistics use to uncover the connections between language and the brain.
Dec 4, 2020
Language Acquisition
Season 1Episode 1211 min

Language Acquisition

Babies have to learn a lot of language stuff before they can even say their first word. Exposure to language as infants doesn’t just help us say those first words but gives us the tools we need to acquire advanced language skills and learn more languages later on in life. In this episode of Crash Course Linguistics, we’ll learn about language acquisition and how the process differs for babies and adults.
Dec 11, 2020
Language Change and Historical Linguistics
Season 1Episode 1313 min

Language Change and Historical Linguistics

Language is constantly changing. Today’s small changes could lead to entirely new dialects or languages in the future. We can’t predict how these changes will occur, but we can better understand the path a language has taken through historical linguistics. In this episode of Crash Course Linguistics, we’ll learn about how and why languages change, what happens when languages come into contact with each other, how linguists piece together the history of a language, and more!
Dec 18, 2020
World Languages
Season 1Episode 1412 min

World Languages

If you ask a linguist “How many languages are there in the world?” the answer most will give you is “around 7000”. We say “around” because there are several factors that make it difficult to determine what exactly counts as a language, including the difficulty of distinguishing between languages and dialects, various political factors, and the fact that not all languages have the same degree of resources and records. In this episode of Crash Course Linguistics, we’ll explore these 3 factors to learn about world languages and linguistic diversity, as well as the inequities that these factors can create.
Jan 8, 2021
Computational Linguistics
Season 1Episode 1511 min

Computational Linguistics

Computers are pretty great, and we use them for different language tasks every day. But teaching computers to understand language is surprisingly difficult! In this episode of Crash Course Linguistics, we’ll learn about programming computers to process human language, which is called computational linguistics, or natural language processing. We’ll look at the types of language tasks computers can and can’t do, how natural language processing works, as well as the different types of biases that exist in machine learning.
Jan 15, 2021
Writing Systems
Season 1Episode 1612 min

Writing Systems

All societies have spoken or signed language, but not all languages have a written form. Since writing developed in different ways in different places, writing systems differ greatly around the world. In this final episode of Crash Course Linguistics, we’ll learn about writing systems, also called orthographies, the different components that make up a writing system, the development of different writing systems over time, and more!
Jan 22, 2021

Recently Updated Shows

Recently updated shows that might be of your interest.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Running

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert brings his signature satire and comedy to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the #1 show in late-night. Featuring bandleader Jon Batiste with his band Stay Human, the Emmy Award-nominated show broadcasts from the historic Ed Sullivan Theater. He talks with an eclectic mix of guests about what is new and relevant in the worlds of politics, entertainment, business, music, technology, and more. Stephen Colbert took over as host, executive producer, and writer of The Late Show on Sept. 8, 2015. 

Colbert is best known for his work as a television host, writer, actor, and producer, and lest known for his charity work teaching English as a second language on Tunisian date farms. Before joining the CBS family -- and being officially adopted by network president Les Moonves -- Colbert helmed The Colbert Report, which aired nearly 1,500 episodes and required Stephen to wear nearly 1,500 different neckties. The program received two Peabody Awards, two Grammy Awards, and several unwelcome shoulder massages. It won two Emmys for Outstanding Variety Series in 2013 and 2014, both of which appear to have been lost in the move. Colbert is pronounced koʊlˈbɛər, according to Wikipedia. His understudy is William Cavanaugh, who will be hosting The Late Show approximately one-third of the time. Good luck, Bill!

GenreComedy
Ancient Aliens
Running

Ancient Aliens

Ancient Aliens explores the controversial theory that extraterrestrials have visited Earth for millions of years. From the age of the dinosaurs to ancient Egypt, from early cave drawings to continued mass sightings in the US, each episode in this hit History series gives historic depth to the questions, speculations, provocative controversies, first-hand accounts and grounded theories surrounding this age old debate. Did intelligent beings from outer space visit Earth thousands of years ago?

Dateline: Secrets Uncovered
Running

Dateline: Secrets Uncovered

Real-life mysteries. Investigative reporting. Justice. Dateline is the long-running, award winning newsmagazine bringing viewers stories ranging from compelling mysteries to powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Hosted by NBC News' Craig Melvin, each episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered incorporates the classic elements of drama and great storytelling: good guys, bad guys, conflict with the highest stakes, suspense and resolution. Hear the chilling tales directly from those most affected and involved, including investigators tasked with cracking the case and the families confronting tragedy. In every story we tell, we help the real people who lived the events share their journeys with you.

GenreDrama, Crime, Mystery
Outlander: Blood of My Blood
Upcoming

Outlander: Blood of My Blood

Outlander: Blood of My Blood explores the lives and relationship of Claire's parents, Julia Moriston and Henry Beauchamp, and Jamie's parents, Ellen MacKenzie and Brian Fraser. The series centers on these two parallel love stories set in two different time periods, with Jamie's parents in the early 18th-century Scottish Highlands and Claire's parents in WWI England.

GenreAdventure, Romance
Sausage Party: Foodtopia
Running

Sausage Party: Foodtopia

After killing off all of humanity, Food attempts to create their own utopia.

GenreComedy