# Languages Decks

Imported and community decks waiting for editorial categorization.

Canonical URL: https://shipslides.com/c/languages
Deck count: 10

## Decks

### Computational Linguistics
URL: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-computational-linguistics
LLM text: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-computational-linguistics/llms.txt
Slides: 31
Tags: languages, computational, linguistics

Computational linguistics is the discipline of making language tractable for machines — and, almost accidentally, of making machines that have changed what language is. Key sections include: Comp · Ling.; Opening What language is, to a computer.; Chapter I Shannon, 1948.; Chapter II The Chomsky hierarchy.; Chapter III The Georgetown experiment, ALPAC, the winter.; Chapter IV The Penn Treebank and the data turn.; Chapter V Hidden Markov models and the speech bridge.; Chapter VI Distributional semantics — the word as company.; Chapter VII Recurrent networks and the long-distance problem.; Chapter VIII "Attention is all you need.".

Outline:
1. Comp · Ling.
2. Opening What language is, to a computer.
3. Chapter I Shannon, 1948.
4. Chapter II The Chomsky hierarchy.
5. Chapter III The Georgetown experiment, ALPAC, the winter.
6. Chapter IV The Penn Treebank and the data turn.
7. Chapter V Hidden Markov models and the speech bridge.
8. Chapter VI Distributional semantics — the word as company.
9. Chapter VII Recurrent networks and the long-distance problem.
10. Chapter VIII "Attention is all you need."
11. Chapter IX The pre-training paradigm.
12. Chapter X Tokens, subwords, and the unit problem.
13. Chapter XI Kaplan, Chinchilla, and the laws of scale.
14. Chapter XII Emergent capabilities.
15. Chapter XIII What does the model know?
16. Chapter XIV The multilingual question.
17. Chapter XV Machine translation, finally.
18. Chapter XVI Speech, voice, and audio language models.
19. Chapter XVII Chain of thought, and reasoning as inference-time scaling.
20. Chapter XVIII RLHF, instruction-tuning, and the alignment loop.
21. Chapter XIX Agents and tool use.
22. Chapter XX Programming languages as natural languages.
23. Chapter XXI The LLM as a linguistic object.
24. Chapter XXII The benchmark treadmill.
25. Chapter XXIII Closed and open frontiers.
26. Chapter XXIV What LLMs still can't do.
27. Chapter XXV People worth knowing.
28. Chapter XXVI Twenty-five works.
29. Chapter XXVII Watch & read.
30. Chapter XXVIII Where the field goes.
31. The end of the deck.

### Dialects & Sociolinguistics
URL: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-dialects-and-sociolinguistics
LLM text: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-dialects-and-sociolinguistics/llms.txt
Slides: 31
Tags: languages, dialects, and, sociolinguistics

The Yiddish linguist Max Weinreich's quip — recorded by him in 1945 from an audience member at a YIVO lecture — is the field's epigram. There is no purely linguistic distinction between a language and a dialect. The distinction is political. Key sections include: Dia · lects.; Opening A language is a dialect with an army.; Chapter I Before sociolinguistics.; Chapter II William Labov.; Chapter III The linguistic variable.; Chapter IV The class stratification of speech.; Chapter V The Northern Cities Shift.; Chapter VI Peter Trudgill and the Norwich study.; Chapter VII African American Vernacular English.; Chapter VIII The history and politics of AAVE..

Outline:
1. Dia · lects.
2. Opening A language is a dialect with an army.
3. Chapter I Before sociolinguistics.
4. Chapter II William Labov.
5. Chapter III The linguistic variable.
6. Chapter IV The class stratification of speech.
7. Chapter V The Northern Cities Shift.
8. Chapter VI Peter Trudgill and the Norwich study.
9. Chapter VII African American Vernacular English.
10. Chapter VIII The history and politics of AAVE.
11. Chapter IX The dialect regions of America.
12. Chapter X Britain — RP, Estuary, regional.
13. Chapter XI Style, register, and audience design.
14. Chapter XII Penelope Eckert and the high-school study.
15. Chapter XIII Code-switching.
16. Chapter XIV Identity and indexicality.
17. Chapter XV Gender and language.
18. Chapter XVI Race, ethnicity, and linguistic profiling.
19. Chapter XVII The making of standards.
20. Chapter XVIII The multilingual norm.
21. Chapter XIX Social networks and dense ties.
22. Chapter XX Language on the internet.
23. Chapter XXI How language changes.
24. Chapter XXII Schools and the dialect problem.
25. Chapter XXIII The methods.
26. Chapter XXIV Pidgins, creoles, and contact varieties.
27. Chapter XXV Language ideologies.
28. Chapter XXVI Twenty-five works.
29. Chapter XXVII Watch & read.
30. Chapter XXVIII What this field is for.
31. The end of the deck.

### Endangered Languages
URL: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-endangered-languages
LLM text: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-endangered-languages/llms.txt
Slides: 31
Tags: languages, endangered

A language dies, on average, every two weeks. Within a century, between 50 and 90 percent of human linguistic diversity will be gone. The catastrophe is well-documented and largely unstoppable. Key sections include: End ang ered.; Opening The half that vanishes.; Chapter I What endangerment means.; Chapter II Krauss's alarm.; Chapter III How many, where.; Chapter IV Eyak: the last speaker.; Chapter V How a language dies.; Chapter VI Hebrew: the impossible case.; Chapter VII Hawaiian: from 2,000 to 18,000.; Chapter VIII Welsh: held at half a million..

Outline:
1. End ang ered.
2. Opening The half that vanishes.
3. Chapter I What endangerment means.
4. Chapter II Krauss's alarm.
5. Chapter III How many, where.
6. Chapter IV Eyak: the last speaker.
7. Chapter V How a language dies.
8. Chapter VI Hebrew: the impossible case.
9. Chapter VII Hawaiian: from 2,000 to 18,000.
10. Chapter VIII Welsh: held at half a million.
11. Chapter IX Māori: kōhanga reo and the language nest.
12. Chapter X Documentary linguistics.
13. Chapter XI The fieldworker's toolkit.
14. Chapter XII What is in a small language.
15. Chapter XIII Australia: the worst case.
16. Chapter XIV The Americas.
17. Chapter XV Pacific and Asia.
18. Chapter XVI Africa: more stable than expected.
19. Chapter XVII Europe's minorities.
20. Chapter XVIII Sleeping languages and reawakening.
21. Chapter XIX Why save languages.
22. Chapter XX What revitalisation actually does.
23. Chapter XXI Technology, for and against.
24. Chapter XXII The people who do this.
25. Chapter XXIII The shelf.
26. Chapter XXIV Watch and read.
27. Chapter XXV A working vocabulary.
28. Chapter XXVI What actually works.
29. Chapter XXVII The next century.
30. Chapter XXVIII The case.
31. The end of the deck.

### The History of English
URL: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-english-history
LLM text: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-english-history/llms.txt
Slides: 30
Tags: languages, english, history

English is unusual. It is the only major European language with no gender, almost no case, and a vocabulary borrowed from a half-dozen unrelated sources. Its spelling is famously irregular. Its speakers, two-thirds of them now, learned it as a second language. Key sections include: The History of English.; Opening Why English is strange.; Chapter I The four Englishes.; Chapter II Anglo-Saxon arrival.; Chapter III Old English: the alien stage.; Chapter IV The Vikings: simplification.; Chapter V Norman Conquest.; Chapter VI Middle English.; Chapter VII The Great Vowel Shift.; Chapter VIII Caxton and standardisation..

Outline:
1. The History of English.
2. Opening Why English is strange.
3. Chapter I The four Englishes.
4. Chapter II Anglo-Saxon arrival.
5. Chapter III Old English: the alien stage.
6. Chapter IV The Vikings: simplification.
7. Chapter V Norman Conquest.
8. Chapter VI Middle English.
9. Chapter VII The Great Vowel Shift.
10. Chapter VIII Caxton and standardisation.
11. Chapter IX The Renaissance loan-explosion.
12. Chapter X Shakespeare's English.
13. Chapter XI The King James Bible.
14. Chapter XII Samuel Johnson and the dictionary.
15. Chapter XIII American English diverges.
16. Chapter XIV The Empire and the spread.
17. Chapter XV The 20th century: lingua franca.
18. Chapter XVI The "World Englishes."
19. Chapter XVII Native dialect maps.
20. Chapter XVIII The spelling problem.
21. Chapter XIX The grammar that survives.
22. Chapter XX Slang and the moving register.
23. Chapter XXI Where the language goes.
24. Chapter XXII The shelf.
25. Chapter XXIII Watch and read.
26. Chapter XXIV Six etymologies.
27. Chapter XXV Cognates and the family tree.
28. Chapter XXVI Why English is the way it is.
29. Chapter XXVII The Lord's Prayer in five Englishes.
30. The end of the deck.

### Indo-European
URL: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-indo-european
LLM text: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-indo-european/llms.txt
Slides: 32
Tags: languages, indo, european

Three of every seven humans alive speak an Indo-European language. The family is the most successful in human history, and its discovery is the founding event of comparative linguistics. Key sections include: Indo- European.; Opening The largest family.; Chapter I The 1786 lecture.; Chapter II How reconstruction works.; Chapter III Grimm's Law.; Chapter IV The ten daughters.; Chapter V Numbers and the family.; Chapter VI The first-order division.; Chapter VII Saussure's prediction.; Chapter VIII What PIE looked like..

Outline:
1. Indo- European.
2. Opening The largest family.
3. Chapter I The 1786 lecture.
4. Chapter II How reconstruction works.
5. Chapter III Grimm's Law.
6. Chapter IV The ten daughters.
7. Chapter V Numbers and the family.
8. Chapter VI The first-order division.
9. Chapter VII Saussure's prediction.
10. Chapter VIII What PIE looked like.
11. Chapter IX The two hypotheses.
12. Chapter X The genetic verdict.
13. Chapter XI The horse people.
14. Chapter XII Hittite and the early branch.
15. Chapter XIII The Indic line.
16. Chapter XIV The Hellenic branch.
17. Chapter XV The Italic radiation.
18. Chapter XVI The eastern outlier.
19. Chapter XVII The Atlantic fringe.
20. Chapter XVIII The Slavic expansion.
21. Chapter XIX The most archaic.
22. Chapter XX Computational trees.
23. Chapter XXI Reconstructed myth.
24. Chapter XXII The political shadow.
25. Chapter XXIII The contested alternative.
26. Chapter XXIV What was borrowed.
27. Chapter XXV Twenty essentials.
28. Chapter XXVI Watch & read.
29. Chapter XXVII The empire of speakers.
30. Chapter XXVIII Where the field goes.
31. Chapter XXIX What we can say.
32. The end of the deck.

### Origins of Language
URL: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-origins-of-language
LLM text: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-origins-of-language/llms.txt
Slides: 32
Tags: languages, origins, language

No fossil preserves a sentence. No artefact records the first word. The origin of language is the central problem of human evolution and the one for which direct evidence is most absent. Key sections include: Origins of Language.; Opening The hardest question.; Chapter I Defining the thing.; Chapter II Chomsky's claim.; Chapter III UG and its critics.; Chapter IV Bickerton's hypothesis.; Chapter V Tomasello's account.; Chapter VI The speech gene.; Chapter VII The descended larynx.; Chapter VIII The bones we have..

Outline:
1. Origins of Language.
2. Opening The hardest question.
3. Chapter I Defining the thing.
4. Chapter II Chomsky's claim.
5. Chapter III UG and its critics.
6. Chapter IV Bickerton's hypothesis.
7. Chapter V Tomasello's account.
8. Chapter VI The speech gene.
9. Chapter VII The descended larynx.
10. Chapter VIII The bones we have.
11. Chapter IX The Blombos signal.
12. Chapter X Hands before voice.
13. Chapter XI The musilanguage hypothesis.
14. Chapter XII The pidgin-creole evidence.
15. Chapter XIII The Nicaraguan miracle.
16. Chapter XIV The window.
17. Chapter XV The recursion question.
18. Chapter XVI What apes can.
19. Chapter XVII The unlikely cousins.
20. Chapter XVIII Two systems.
21. Chapter XIX Broca and Wernicke.
22. Chapter XX The dispersal and language.
23. Chapter XXI An honest disclaimer.
24. Chapter XXII The instinct argument.
25. Chapter XXIII Counting and language.
26. Chapter XXIV Language and thought.
27. Chapter XXV The grooming hypothesis.
28. Chapter XXVI Twenty essentials.
29. Chapter XXVII Watch & read.
30. Chapter XXVIII The defensible summary.
31. Chapter XXIX The frontier.
32. The end of the deck.

### SLA
URL: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-second-language-acquisition
LLM text: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-second-language-acquisition/llms.txt
Slides: 30
Tags: languages, second, language, acquisition

Most adults who try to learn a second language do not become fluent. The exceptions are interesting; the rule is sobering. Key sections include: Second Language.; Opening Why second-language learning is hard.; Chapter I The Lenneberg hypothesis.; Chapter II The input hypothesis.; Chapter III The natural method.; Chapter IV The classroom.; Chapter V What's different.; Chapter VI The exceptions.; Chapter VII The audio method.; Chapter VIII Spaced repetition..

Outline:
1. Second Language.
2. Opening Why second-language learning is hard.
3. Chapter I The Lenneberg hypothesis.
4. Chapter II The input hypothesis.
5. Chapter III The natural method.
6. Chapter IV The classroom.
7. Chapter V What's different.
8. Chapter VI The exceptions.
9. Chapter VII The audio method.
10. Chapter VIII Spaced repetition.
11. Chapter IX The mass-market app.
12. Chapter X The 2020s shift.
13. Chapter XI The new frontier.
14. Chapter XII Speaking.
15. Chapter XIII The accent question.
16. Chapter XIV The numbers game.
17. Chapter XV The rich path.
18. Chapter XVI Two skills.
19. Chapter XVII Difficulty.
20. Chapter XVIII The largest variable.
21. Chapter XIX The complicated case.
22. Chapter XX The policy fight.
23. Chapter XXI Revitalisation.
24. Chapter XXII Where it's going.
25. Chapter XXIII Twenty-five works.
26. Chapter XXIV Watch & read.
27. Chapter XXV If you want to learn it.
28. Chapter XXVI Why it matters.
29. Chapter XXVII The next decade.
30. The end of the deck.

### Sign
URL: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-sign-languages
LLM text: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-sign-languages/llms.txt
Slides: 30
Tags: languages, sign

Sign languages are full natural languages — phonology (in the manual modality), morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics. They are not pantomime, not visual versions of spoken languages, and not 'broken' communication systems. The recognition of this fact, in serious academic linguistics, dates to William Stokoe's 1960 analysis. Key sections include: Sign Languages.; Opening Languages without sound.; Chapter I The 1960 paper.; Chapter II American Sign Language.; Chapter III British Sign Language.; Chapter IV The diversity.; Chapter V The visual building blocks.; Chapter VI Visual syntax.; Chapter VII The 1880 Conference.; Chapter VIII The 1960s recovery..

Outline:
1. Sign Languages.
2. Opening Languages without sound.
3. Chapter I The 1960 paper.
4. Chapter II American Sign Language.
5. Chapter III British Sign Language.
6. Chapter IV The diversity.
7. Chapter V The visual building blocks.
8. Chapter VI Visual syntax.
9. Chapter VII The 1880 Conference.
10. Chapter VIII The 1960s recovery.
11. Chapter IX The community.
12. Chapter X The language born.
13. Chapter XI Native learners.
14. Chapter XII Sign-language interpreters.
15. Chapter XIII Captions and telecoms.
16. Chapter XIV Schools for the deaf.
17. Chapter XV The continued debate.
18. Chapter XVI Variation worldwide.
19. Chapter XVII What sign tells us.
20. Chapter XVIII Deaf artistic forms.
21. Chapter XIX Variation.
22. Chapter XX The risks.
23. Chapter XXI Where it's going.
24. Chapter XXIII Twenty-five works.
25. Chapter XXIV Watch & read.
26. Chapter XXV If you want to learn it.
27. Chapter XXVI Why it matters.
28. Chapter XXVII The next decade.
29. Addendum Glossary of sign-language terms.
30. The end of the deck.

### Sino-Tibetan
URL: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-sino-tibetan
LLM text: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-sino-tibetan/llms.txt
Slides: 30
Tags: languages, sino, tibetan

Sino-Tibetan is the second-largest language family on earth by speakers — second only to Indo-European — and on present evidence the oldest continuously documented one. Key sections include: Sino- Tibetan.; Opening The other big family.; Chapter I Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman.; Chapter II Standard Chinese.; Chapter III The seven (or ten) Chineses.; Chapter IV The pitch system.; Chapter V Reconstructing Karlgren and after.; Chapter VI The script.; Chapter VII The script reform.; Chapter VIII The roof of the world..

Outline:
1. Sino- Tibetan.
2. Opening The other big family.
3. Chapter I Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman.
4. Chapter II Standard Chinese.
5. Chapter III The seven (or ten) Chineses.
6. Chapter IV The pitch system.
7. Chapter V Reconstructing Karlgren and after.
8. Chapter VI The script.
9. Chapter VII The script reform.
10. Chapter VIII The roof of the world.
11. Chapter IX The Lolo-Burmese branch.
12. Chapter X The Yue language.
13. Chapter XI The southeastern coast.
14. Chapter XII Shanghai and the Yangtze delta.
15. Chapter XIII Where ST began.
16. Chapter XIV The eastern Himalayan diversity.
17. Chapter XV The independent branch.
18. Chapter XVI Romanisation.
19. Chapter XVII Wenyan.
20. Chapter XVIII Beyond the family.
21. Chapter XIX The 20th-century vernacular revolution.
22. Chapter XX The Buddhist canon.
23. Chapter XXI The small languages.
24. Chapter XXII The pictographic survival.
25. Chapter XXIII Twenty essentials.
26. Chapter XXIV Watch & read.
27. Chapter XXV The contemporary picture.
28. Chapter XXVI Where the field goes.
29. Chapter XXVII What we know.
30. The end of the deck.

### Writing Systems
URL: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-writing-systems
LLM text: https://shipslides.com/d/languages-writing-systems/llms.txt
Slides: 31
Tags: languages, writing, systems

Language is universal among humans; writing is not. Writing has been independently invented at most five times in the history of the species, and most peoples have lived and died without it. Key sections include: Writing Systems.; Opening The technology that made history.; Chapter I Cuneiform.; Chapter II Hieroglyphs.; Chapter III The Rosetta Stone.; Chapter IV The first alphabet.; Chapter V Adding vowels.; Chapter VI The Latin alphabet.; Chapter VII The longest tradition.; Chapter VIII Mesoamerican glyphs..

Outline:
1. Writing Systems.
2. Opening The technology that made history.
3. Chapter I Cuneiform.
4. Chapter II Hieroglyphs.
5. Chapter III The Rosetta Stone.
6. Chapter IV The first alphabet.
7. Chapter V Adding vowels.
8. Chapter VI The Latin alphabet.
9. Chapter VII The longest tradition.
10. Chapter VIII Mesoamerican glyphs.
11. Chapter IX Ventris.
12. Chapter X The script designed by a king.
13. Chapter XI The abugida family.
14. Chapter XII The abjad.
15. Chapter XIII Slavic and beyond.
16. Chapter XIV The square script.
17. Chapter XV Three scripts at once.
18. Chapter XVI The undeciphered.
19. Chapter XVII Sequoyah's syllabary.
20. Chapter XVIII The numbers we use.
21. Chapter XIX Movable type.
22. Chapter XX Spelling and orthography.
23. Chapter XXI Encoding the world.
24. Chapter XXII Which way the script runs.
25. Chapter XXIII Writing as art.
26. Chapter XXIV Undeciphered scripts.
27. Chapter XXV Twenty essentials.
28. Chapter XXVI Watch & read.
29. Chapter XXVII The structural argument.
30. Chapter XXVIII Where scripts go.
31. The end of the deck.