London Language

the wonder of whiffling

 

The Wonder of Whiffling is the new book by Adam Jacot de Boinod. I enjoyed his previous book, The Meaning of Tingo, when it arrived in my christmas stocking. I guessed, and have just had it confirmed, that he must be related to the man with the pet owl who used to live downstairs from us. Not the most Holmesian of deductions, given how many 'Jacot de Boinod's there are around. I love the book design and illustrations as well as the bits about words.

Billy

 

tamarins and 'grammar'

BBC - monkeys and 'grammar'

This article has a misleading headline. It's really about some interesting work showing that tamarins can identify patterns of syllable ordering and notice when utterances don't follow the pattern. It's a nice example, also, to raise questions about the meaning of 'grammar' and what might be meant by 'bad grammar'.

Billy