Babel 2016 - Issue 14 out now!

The first Babel issue of 2016 is out now. We are very pleased to lead with Deborah Cameron and Sylvia Shaw's article on party leaders' language during the 2015 General Election debates, which looks at whether perceptions of differences between male and female politicians' language hold up to linguistic scrutiny.

In issue 14's other feature articles, Andrea Macrae discusses how language allows us to locate ourselves in time and space, Dominic Watt and his team of forenssic speech analysts describe how people use their speech patterns to intimidate, and William Cotter explores the relationship between political conflict and language change.

Our regular features also cover a wide range of linguistic topics. This issue's resident agony linguist, Vyv Evans, discusses the controversial issue of emoji and meaning, The Allusionist podcast presenter Helen Zaltzman talks about how to communicate one's love of language, and Martin Edwardes provides a colourful pull-out guide to working out what kind of linguist you are!

We also take the opportunity to announce the second annual Babel lecture, which will be given by our very own Linguistic Consultant, David Crystal. David's lecture on 'The English tone of voice' - an exploration of the English sound system taking in everything from spies to Star Wars - will take place in Huddersfield on Friday 13th May. Full details of how Babel readers can ensure they get a free ticket for the biggest night of the Babel calendar will be in the magazine!

Subscriptions
If you are not yet a subscriber, find out how to take out a print, digital or print + digital subscription on our subscriptions page, where you can also find out how to catch up on back issues. You can also read Babel 1 for free and consult the new Babel issue guide to see what you can expect inside!