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Seán Roberts

@seangroberts.bsky.social
148 followers 183 following 46 posts

Seeker of strange correlations, digger of data, language evolver. Video Game Dialogue Corpus: correlation-machine.com/VideoGameDi… Lecturer in Linguistics at Cardiff University profiles.cardiff.ac.uk/staff/robert…

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Reposted by Seán Roberts
AdventureX @adventurex.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
This year’s schedule and lineup of incredible talks and panels are live! Visit adventurexpo.org for details. Join us at #AdvX26 in London on 7-8 November to hear from @sallybeaumont.bsky.social, @theexaminedgame.bsky.social, and more amazing gaming pros. Keynotes coming soon! Follow for updates
AdventureX 2026 on 07-08 November. Speakers and Panels Announcement. Audience members sit in a theater together. One person looks at an AdventureX program.
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Claire @chirila.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
I have a new paper out in Science today with colleagues Damian Blasi, Marcus Hamilton, and Russell Gray. www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....
science.org
The rise and fall of language diversity through the Holocene
Characterizing the factors that have shaped linguistic diversity is fundamental for understanding human history, culture, and cognition. In this study, we combined statistical and social computational...
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Catherine Sheard @sheardcat.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
How many languages were spoken in the past? This is an astonishingly good attempt to answer this question: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
The rise and fall of language diversity through the Holocene
Characterizing the factors that have shaped linguistic diversity is fundamental for understanding human history, culture, and cognition. In this study, we combined statistical and social computational...
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Michael Pleyer @symbolicstorage.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Proceedings of the AI in Language Evolution workshop at Evolang XVI, ed. by Bart de Boer, are now online (pdf) #language #linguistics ai.vub.ac.be/~bart/AI_in_...
Title page
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Stefan Hartmann @stefanhartmann.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Out now: The full proceedings volume of this year's #Evolang @evolangconf.bsky.social - 575 pages full of interdisciplinary research on the origins and evolution of language! doi.org/10.17617/2.3...
Cover of the Evolang 2026 proceedings. The text reads "The Evolution of Language. Proceedings of the 16th International Conference. Editors: Stefan Hartmann, Marta Sibierska, Marlen Fröhlich, Yannick Jadoul, Mathilde Josserand, Theresa Matzinger, Katie Mudd, Jonas Nölle, Michael Pleyer, Sławomir Wacewicz, Przemysław Żywiczyński"
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
How did language evolve? We ran some experiments in Minecraft to find out! youtu.be/7vgS8s6MhSk?... And link to paper: academic.oup.com/jole/article...
youtu.be
How does language evolve?
YouTube video by Science Animated
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
We had a great time at #AdventureX in November. You can now watch our our talk on women's dialogue in video games here ... With BSL interpretation! #videogames #linguistics www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA--...
youtube.com
AdventureX 2025 – Talk: Steph Rennick & Seán Roberts "Women's Dialogue in Video Games"
YouTube video by AdventureX
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Michael Pleyer @symbolicstorage.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Short post about our TiCS paper "The 'design features' of language revisited" on the news portal of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (in Polish) www.cell.com/trends/cogni... portal.umk.pl/pl/article/n...
portal.umk.pl
Nowe spojrzenie na język
Nowe spojrzenie na język
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Looking for a gift for geeky kids? Check out this fun mission pack - use your STEM skills to fix the Voyager Space Probe! I had a lot of fun working with Collider Cafe on this. collidercafe.com/shop/ws-/pro...
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Interactive #dialogue is a key mechanic in #videogames for giving the player a sense of agency. Can we improve player experiences by taking inspiration from real life conversations? Join our free online workshop for game developers, writers and researchers www.eventbrite.com/e/1977041007...
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
Can the way you speak affect your attitude to the future? Cole Robertson and I talk to @becauselanguage.com about our new work showing that, actually, maybe possibly could-sort-of-be-going-to-be definitely yes. becauselanguage.com/130-back-to-...
becauselanguage.com
130: Back to the FTR (with Séan Roberts, Cole Robertson, and Annemarie Verkerk) – Because Language
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Last month we published a new experiment into how symbolic languages evolved. Today, we've published a follow-up, REVEALING WHAT REALLY HAPPENED. New paper with Kateryna Krykoniuk, Fiona Jordan and @gamemakerstoolkit.com. academic.oup.com/jole/article...
academic.oup.com
Get data early, get data often, iterate constantly: an explorative, participatory approach to studying language evolution
Abstract. We argue that, as well as an empirical approach borrowed from experimental psychology, studies of language evolution can also benefit from an exp
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Liz Irvine and I once ran an experiment which went so wrong that I spent the next 10 years figuring out what had happened. Today we've published the explanation: a new theory for the evolution of symbolic signals (with Kateryna Krykoniuk & Fiona Jordan). academic.oup.com/jole/article...
academic.oup.com
The arena of language evolution: the emergence of symbolic referential signals in a common task framework
Abstract. We present the common task framework approach to testing causal theories about the evolution of language. There are now many theories about how s
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Asifa Majid @asifamajid.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
A new twist to the idea that future tense use affects decision making👇 Cole Robertson @seangroberts.bsky.social et al show it’s not future tense that drives psychological discounting but how people express the possibility of future events happening (modality). authors.elsevier.com/c/1m4gJ2Hx2-...
authors.elsevier.com
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
A little late in the witching hour, but Space Ghost Train 12 is here. youtu.be/l0x2nfpeElc #SpaceGhostTrain
youtu.be
Space Ghost Train 12
YouTube video by SeanGeraintRoberts
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Nearly a third of women who play mobile video games in the UK feel guilty about their hobby – new study with Steph Rennick. theconversation.com/nearly-a-thi...
theconversation.com
Nearly a third of female gamers feel guilty about their hobby – new study
Almost 60% felt that they do not play enough games to consider themselves a ‘gamer’ and more than 30% would be embarrassed to call themselves one.
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
“The gender-equality paradox entails that countries with more equality have larger gender differences in behavior. Positive associations between equality & gender differences disappear or reverse when accounting for cultural clusters of countries. The paradox appears to be a methodological artifact”
pnas.org
Simpson’s gender-equality paradox | PNAS
Several cross-country examinations have found larger gender differences in Western countries. More recently, it has been argued, from an evolutiona...
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
I talked to @nhpr.org about the relationship between language and the environment! www.nhpr.org/environment/...
nhpr.org
Outside/Inbox: Does the environment influence the evolution of a language?
"Most languages in the world are spoken by a small number of people in a relatively local place, and their language is probably really adapted to the kinds of things that they care about… and the way ...
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
I got my copy of the Oxford Handbook of Approaches to Language Evolution! global.oup.com/academic/pro... It's amazing to see the investment that so many people have put into developing methods in our field! Kateryna Krykoniuk and I have a chapter on Causal Graphs in correlation-machine.com/CHIELD/
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Cedric Boeckx @cedricboeckx.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
Delighted to announce the publication of a collaborative effort, co-led by @limorraviv.bsky.social @mpi-nl.bsky.social, showcasing the ways in which researchers have made language evolution an empirical issue: A handbook of experimental approaches to the fascinating problem of language evolution 🧪
Book cover by Simon Kirby
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Sad to hear that Mike Peters has passed, but a fitting tribute here “He lived as he sang — with passion, courage, and an unshakeable belief in the power of people to make a difference.” nation.cymru/feature/goin...
nation.cymru
Going out in a blaze of glory - saying goodbye to Mike Peters
John Geraint “He lived as he sang — with passion, courage, and an unshakeable belief in the power of people to make a difference.” Those were the words of his widow Jules, as we bade to Mike farewell ...
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
New book on the Interaction Engine by Steve Levinson, a fresh perspective on one of the most influential ideas in linguistics: www.cambridge.org/core/books/i...
cambridge.org
The Interaction Engine
Cambridge Core - Evolution of Language - The Interaction Engine
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Emma Humphries (she/her) @emhumps.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
It's here! Linguistic Insecurities and Authorities, published by @johnbenjamins.bsky.social, written by me!
Photo of me holding the hardback copy of my book!
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Emma Humphries (she/her) @emhumps.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Introducing my new project… Your Wrong (yourwrong.co.uk). It’s all about the language rules and judgements that appear in different forms of popular culture. Films, series, podcasts, music, books, even graffiti! I’d love your help to find examples!
yourwrong.co.uk
Your Wrong
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Michael Pleyer @symbolicstorage.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
JOB ALERT in #language and #linguistics! Postdoc Position at the Center for Language Evolution Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland. Job offer here: www.umk.pl/en/jobs/?tas... We are now looking at a broader candidate pool so do consider applying! Please repost & share widely!
A picture of Torun oldtown at night in winter
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Michael Pleyer @symbolicstorage.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Two more weeks to apply for this Post-Doc position in my project "Paths to Polysemy: Integrating Approaches to the Role of Polysemy in the Evolutionary Dynamics of Language.” Please share and dm me if you have any questions! euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/316751
euraxess.ec.europa.eu
assistant professor (adjunkt) - research staff - postdoctoral reasearcher; language evolution; (adiunkt - grupa badawcza)
The Center for Language Evolution Studies at the Faculty of Humanities, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, invites applications for a postdoctoral researcher position in an NCN-funded OPUS proje...
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
I made a tool to add Balatro-style mechanics to D&D. Ever wanted to roll a billion points of damage? Now you can! Feedback welcome. correlation-machine.com/DnDPowerCards/
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Simon Kirby @simonkirby.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
A thread explaining our new discovery about humpback whale song published today in Science... We found key statistical properties that characterise all human languages in another species for the first time. We have more in common with whales than we previously thought! doi.org/10.1126/scie...
A picture of a humpback whale just below the sea surface taken by Marc Quintin
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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
This episode mentions GISST, which is basically a way to "quote" a video game - almost like a save state: gisst.pomona.edu Yes, you can emulate or watch on youtube, but being able to legally (under fair use, hopefully) share a playable segment of a game seems revolutionary for education & academia.
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Adam Schembri (ˈʃɛmbɹi/ˈʃkɛmbri) @adamcschembri.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
‘From Birds to Words: Onomatopoeia, Metaphor, and the Language of Birdsong’ Please join us for the inaugural lecture of Professor @bodowinter.bsky.social on Friday 21 February 2025 (16:00-17:00) in the Alan Walters Building, University of Birmingham.
birmingham.ac.uk
From Birds to Words: Onomatopoeia, Metaphor, and the Language of Birdsong
From Birds to Words: Onomatopoeia, Metaphor, and the Language of Birdsong - Professor Bodo Winter's Inaugural Lecture
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Cadernos de Linguística @cadlin.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
Cedric Boeckx @cedricboeckx.bsky.social discusses the biology of human language at #AbralinAoVivo! Learn how genes like FOXP2, brain circuits, and evolution influence our ability for syntax and communication. Watch here: ▶️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E-X... #langsky #linguistics
youtube.com
Cedric Boeckx
YouTube video by Abralin
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Mercedes Durham @drswissmiss.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
I agreed to do this in part because I'd get a chance to underline that if we judge people for their accents, we're stereotyping them... #linguistics The Traitors: how trustworthy is a Welsh accent? A sociolinguist explains theconversation.com/the-traitors...
theconversation.com
The Traitors: how trustworthy is a Welsh accent? A sociolinguist explains
The Traitors contestant Charlotte has lived in London her whole life but has adopted a Welsh accent to appear more trustworthy. Is this a reliable strategy though?
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 28/12/2024
Today I went walking on the Black Mountains, high above a huge fog bank. I saw a fog bow and cast a Brocken spectre with a glory halo. Who knew such things existed?
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Boydell & Brewer @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
A blog post not to be missed! 🎮 Find out why self confessed nerd, Robert Houghton, decided to write his new book, The Middle Ages in Computer Games, in our latest author blog post. Read the blog > buff.ly/4fZMqHR @robehoughton.bsky.social
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Richard McElreath 🐈‍⬛ @rmcelreath.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Theorist bridge trolls barking at you to formally connect theory to data? Wondering how, without troll magic? We can help! "Bridging theory and data: A computational workflow for cultural evolution" With @dominikdeffner.bsky.social @natyfedorova.bsky.social Jeff Andrews. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Illustration of a computational workflow for cultural evolution that connects abstract theory to real-world data. The arrows indicate logical and computational dependencies among theoretical, statistical, and scientific elements of a project. For example, an effective inferential model depends upon generative models, a question about those models (estimand), and the structure of the available evidence (sample).
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Dominikus @handle.invalid · 06/11/2024
Oh hey, looks like titledrops.net made it (almost) to the top of Hacker News! If you haven't checked it out, now'd be a good time to know what everyone's talking about 😜 news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4205... #dataviz #movies
screenshot from the titledrops.net website showing the explainer of the central visualization technique: a filmstrip depicting the length of the movie, with all title drops highlighted.
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 01/11/2024
Coverage of our short story competition! nation.cymru/feature/auth...
nation.cymru
Authors and academics join forces to reimagine the past and future of language in Wales
Seán Roberts, Hannah Little, Kateryna Krykoniuk, Cardiff University What shapes a language’s story? 60 years after Saunders Lewis warned of the death of the Welsh language, its story is more hopeful. ...
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 31/10/2024
Winners of our #LanguageEvolves competition published in Gwyllion magazine today! In an alternative past, a Welsh Sign Language is under threat (Y Ddwyleg by Olivia Cowhig). And in a possible future, Welsh becomes an object of desire (Arianwen by Sarah McCreadie) gwyllionmagazine.com/product-cate...
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Mercedes Durham @drswissmiss.bsky.social · 31/10/2024
Our survey on Welsh English officially launches today! Check the maps to see the patterns so far and do the surveys yourself if you're from Wales. nation.cymru/feature/weng...
nation.cymru
Wenglish: Experts research how the English language is used in day-to-day life in Wales
From how some of us pronounce ‘ear’ to the words unique to English speakers in Wales, experts at Cardiff University are researching how the English language is used in our day-to-day lives ‘here’ in W...
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 31/10/2024
For Halloween, I made a video game about fairies who race in pushchairs. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACj-... You can play it online for free! correlation-machine.com/PramTurismo/ Prams will crash! So might the game! #gamedev #SpaceGhostTrain #prams
youtube.com
Pram Turismo (Space Ghost Train XI)
YouTube video by SeanGeraintRoberts
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Catherine Sheard @sheardcat.bsky.social · 29/10/2024
Fully-funded PhD position available on the cultural evolution of tea! With me, Sabine Parrish, and David Burslem at the University of Aberdeen (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿), come combine anthropology and biology to think about why people drink tea and how that may change in the future. www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
findaphd.com
People and tea: past, present, and future at University of Aberdeen on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - People and tea: past, present, and future at University of Aberdeen , listed on FindAPhD.com
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 29/10/2024
How does linguistic reference work? A new paper gives a rare glimpse into the complex dynamics of nurses referring to patients. Delighted to have worked on this with Kateryna Krykoniuk, Michelle Aldridge-Waddon and Lise Fontaine. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
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Gareth Roberts @garicgymro.bsky.social · 22/10/2024
This was quite good fun to do youtu.be/mey9EsOwhDo?...
youtu.be
Linguist Answers Word Origin Questions | Tech Support | WIRED
YouTube video by WIRED
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 21/10/2024
Stories from our #LanguageEvolves competition will be published in @gwyllion.bsky.social magazine on October 31st. Olivia Cowhig and Sarah McCreadie explore the past and future of language in Wales. It's the middle of the Venn diagram of Language Evolution, Sci-fi and Halloween! gwyllionmagazine.com
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Seán Roberts @seangroberts.bsky.social · 27/09/2024
For Migraine Awareness Week, we estimated the number of people who live with migraines in Wales for the first time (using UK prevalence data and the most up-to-date demographics). As many as 500,000 may live with migraines, with 10,000 having chronic migraines migrainecymruwales.org/2024/09/27/o...
migrainecymruwales.org
Over 500,000 people living with migraine disease in Wales
Over half a million people may be living with migraine disease in Wales, new statistics have revealed.
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Richard Moore @richardmoore.bsky.social · 28/08/2024
New paper with @kirstyegraham.bsky.social and Federico Rossano. This one has been a big project. We started talking about it around 2017 but life got in the way and we only started working on it properly in the pandemic. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
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