Uploaded December 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Is it Hanukkah? Chanukah? Khanike? Janice? Why are there so many spellings for Hanukkah (or Chanukah)? In this video I definitively settle the disagreement about how to spell the winter holiday that lasts eight nights. You're welcome, everybody!
#Hanukkah #Chanukah #festivaloflights #holidays #holidayseason #maccabees #jewish #jewishfestival #jewishfestivaloflights
Patreon: patreon.com/languagejones
Website: languagejones.com
Is it Hanukkah? Chanukah? Khanike? Janice? Why are there so many spellings for Hanukkah (or Chanukah)? In this video I definitively settle the disagreement about how to spell the winter holiday that lasts eight nights. You're welcome, everybody!
#Hanukkah #Chanukah #festivaloflights #holidays #holidayseason #maccabees #jewish #jewishfestival #jewishfestivaloflights
Patreon: patreon.com/languagejones
Website: languagejones.com




![I Tried to Teach Phonology with a Mouthful of Marshmallows
Start speaking a new language in 3 weeks with Babbel 🎉. Get up to 55% OFF ➡️ Here: https://bit.ly/languagejonesApr26
Can a bag of marshmallows explain the most complex concept in phonology? 🍬🗣️
Most people think of sounds as the atoms of language, but even atoms have a sub-atomic structure. In this video, I take the Fluffy Bunny marshmallow challenge to a scientific extreme to demonstrate distinctive features and feature geometry.
By jamming the switches of my own speech with marshmallows, we’ll explore how your brain actually maps sounds. We’ll move from a video game character selection screen metaphor to a birds on a wire visualization of how vowels interact across different tiers.
In this video, you’ll learn:
• Why phonemes arent as simple as they seem.
• The Light Switch Metaphor: Understanding binary features like [Voice] and [Nasal].
• Feature Matrices: How linguists organize the building blocks of speech.
• Feature Geometry: Why vowels can see each other over a crowd of consonants.
🚀 JOIN THE LINGUISTICS BLUEPRINT
Ready to move beyond the marshmallows? Sign up for the waitlist for my upcoming digital course, The Language Blueprint, a complete introduction to the science of language. 👉 Join the waitlist: languagejones.com/blueprint
🕒 CHAPTERS
• 0:00 The Fluffy Bunny Phonology Challenge
• 0:31 Are Phonemes Actually Atoms?
• 2:22 Babbel sponsorship
• 3:14 Character Selection: The Parameters of Sound
• 4:09 The Light Switch: Binary Features
• 5:17 Marshmallows vs. Coronal Switches
• 5:22 The Linguistics Blueprint
• 5:52 The Feature Matrix
• 7:05 Feature Geometry: Birds on a Wire
SUPPORT THE CHANNEL
If you enjoyed this deep dive into the sub-atomic world of linguistics, consider supporting the channel:
• Patreon: patreon.com/languagejones
• SuperThanks: Click the ❤️ button below the video!
• Subscribe: Join our community of language nerds!
About Dr. Taylor Jones: I’m a PhD linguist (University of Pennsylvania) dedicated to making the science of language accessible, fun, and occasionally involving snacks.
#Linguistics #Phonology #LanguageLearning #ScienceChallenge #Phonemes #LanguageJones I Tried to Teach Phonology with a Mouthful of Marshmallows](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/j_HZ43E6vpg/mqdefault.jpg)





