What makes a language... a language? - Martin Hilpert
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Outside of China, Mandarin and Cantonese are often referred to as Chinese dialects, despite being even more dissimilar than Spanish and Italian. On the other hand, speakers of Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish, which are three distinct languages, can usually communicate with each other in their native tongues. So, when is speech considered a dialect versus a language? Martin Hilpert investigates.
Many people have strong opinions about language, specifically about the introduction of new ways of using language. As an example, consider the use of "they" as a gender-neutral singular pronoun (as in "I told my student where they can reach you"). While the advantages of inclusive language are well-known, there is also opposition to it. Why do you think that is?
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Meet The Creators
- Educator Martin Hilpert
- Director Luísa Holanda, Hype CG
- Narrator Addison Anderson
- Storyboard Artist Luísa Holanda
- Animator Murilo Jardim
- Art Director Luísa Holanda
- Hype Producer Taíla Soliman
- Composer Gabriel Maia
- Sound Designer Gabriel Maia
- Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
- Editorial Director Alex Rosenthal
- Producer Bethany Cutmore-Scott
- Associate Editorial Producer Cella Wright
- Production Coordinator Abdallah Ewis
- Script Editor Alex Gendler
- Fact-Checker Jennifer Nam
