LINGUAPHILE: Julie Sedivy on the Beauty, Complexity, and Mystery of Language

Writer's Voice with Francesca Rheannon

Summary

In this episode, Julie Sedivy, author of Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love, explores her profound relationship with language as both a scientist and a writer.

Sedivy shares her journey from a multilingual childhood to becoming a linguist, reflecting on the complexities of multilingualism, the emotional weight of language, and its profound ties to time, identity, and human connection.

She also delves into how language shapes our social interactions, cultural divides, and even our final moments.

“The last word my brother said was ‘love.’ And that’s what remains when everything else falls away.” — Julie Sedivy

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

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Key Words: Julie Sedivy, Linguaphile, multilingualism, psycholinguistics, linguistics, aging and language,

Key Topics

• Sedivy’s multilingual upbringing and the influence of her cultural journey on her love of language
• The science and art of linguistics: exploring psycholinguistics and time-dependent language processing
• Misconceptions about multilingualism: debunking the “confusion” myth
• The emotional resonance of first languages versus learned ones
• How language differences contribute to cultural and political divides
• AI’s limitations in replicating the lived, human experience of language
• The intersection of love, loss, and language in Sedivy’s personal life and writing

Timestamps

• [0:00] Introduction
• [3:10] Julie Sedivy’s multilingual childhood and journey to linguistics
• [10:25] Misconceptions about multilingualism and the science of language learning
• [18:00] The emotional weight of first languages
• [25:30] Cultural and political divides reflected in language
• [35:20] Reflections on language, time, and mortality
• [44:15] AI and its disconnection from human experience
• [50:00] The enduring power of love and connection in language

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Read an excerpt from Julie Sedivy’s Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love

Next Week On Writer’s Voice:

We spend most of the hour talking with Native American journalist Rebecca Nagle about her book, By The Fire We Carry: The Generations Long Fight For Justice On Native Land.

It’s a gripping account of the landmark Supreme Court ruling that recognized the sovereignty of tribal lands and the long and tragic history that led to it. Don’t miss it!

“When I first learned about the court case, long before it went to the Supreme Court, I felt this visceral sense of justice at the possibility that the land that my ancestors had died for could be recognized as Cherokee land for the first time in over a century.” — Rebecca Nagle