Maik Gibson

Sociolinguist, Christian, lecturer, interested in Africa and lots of other stuff.

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

@theiaincameron It's what everyone else said when I was a kid in Swalwell, Tyneside, 50 years ago. I remember thinking it was odd. (I moved in when I was 8)

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

@avzaagzonunaada Yes, instability and changes of all sorts aren't the best supporters of language maintenance.

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

@susie_dent An adjective describing someone who has integrity. Feels like it should be 'integral', but isn't. If French has the word 'intègre', why don't we??

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

@DrFrancisYoung Likewise, Cardiff -> Taffchester. Has a certain ring to it.

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

X wouldn't allow me to post this with the comment 'Interesting to see something of the motivations for learning the "mother tongue"'

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

https://t.co/P0qjysYl72

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

@drowbory Giveaway of what? Group?

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

@avzaagzonunaada https://t.co/U2v9xZ1o3i

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

@iwsfutcmd Apparently Libyans and Tunisians understand Maltese better than vice versa - https://t.co/wvOuEProHY

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

An informed account of work with an endangered language. The language around this (e.g. 'revival') is always complex and a little unsatisfactory. https://t.co/ydev3IoEYw

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

@avzaagzonunaada Yes, it was very popular. I seem to remember even Thatcher enjoyed it. Make of that what you will

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

@TongaYoga @LegoRacers2 Chorizo pronounced as choritso, as if the ending were from Italian, is very common in the UK.

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

@cobbaltt Personally, As a Brit “He will likely come” is not well formed. Not an adverb for me…

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

I think there's a broader point here - the community needs to be at the centre of new uses of a language. Otherwise we have window dressing ('symbolic capital'), which might or might not reflect the actual language. https://t.co/IyOKRXmOyn

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

Texting is the most common form of writing in the USA, ahead of emails and other more formal writing. I imagine this is true for the rest of the world too? https://t.co/qFAHX8E0QY

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

I think for the first time, a phone call I made was answered by an AI. It did fine, but the info I gave it wasn't passed on to the automated system afterwards - I did get through to a very helpful human in the end. What are your experiences of AI agents?

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

King Charles speaking Tok Pisin on the 50th anniversary of Papua New Guinea's independence https://t.co/ki92kPeHXW

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

@glenscrivener It's open to interpretation, but I've seen many of my politically liberal evangelical US friends say that they didn't agree with his views, but did appreciate his willingness to engage with people on the other side of the fence.

[Maik Gibson @soclingo]

@glenscrivener I don't see how they're presented as bigotries - they're just presented.