Learn about the science and diversity of language 🗣️

Learning a second language can teach you to distinguish colors you don’t have in your first language

Also this week: Gesture may have been the origin of language + A new mind-reading AI can turn imagined speech into words. Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.

An experiment with the Aboriginal language Murrinhpatha suggests language influences perception

Also this week: Why all languages have words for ‘this’ and ‘that’ + Antarctic leopard seal ‘songs’ are surprisingly similar to nursey rhymes. Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.

Researchers uncover the origins of the Uralic language family

Also this week: Today is National Navajo Code Talkers Day! And the K-pop band is making Korean Sign Language famous

Revitalizing a dormant language from 80-year-old manuscripts

How archival manuscripts are helping revitalize the Chitimacha language of Louisiana

A mysterious pre-Islamic script from Oman has been deciphered, while AI helps historians complete damaged Latin texts

Also this week: Does your native language affect how you feel pain? And did language evolve because of tools or baby talk? Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.

What to do when someone corrects your pronunciation

Some strategies for educating people about linguistics

The last native speaker of Caddo dies at age 95

Also this week: The long-lost Chinese typewriter that changed modern computing, plus why AI doesn’t work in bars. Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.

How are new languages created? The linguistics of “The Iron Dreamers”, Part 4

Pidgins, creoles, and mixed languages

Are some languages more complex than others? The linguistics of “The Iron Dreamers”, Part 3

Do languages get simpler over time? Could they get more complex?

Are we stuck with the same grammar for life? The linguistics of “The Iron Dreamers”, Part 2

How does your grammar change over the course of your lifetime?

Why do languages change? The linguistics of “The Iron Dreamers”, Part 1

Could a language stay frozen in time?

Who are better programmers—language nerds or math geeks? Can we identify extroverts by the language they use? Did the Huns speak a Yeniseian language?

Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.