Current Linguistics
Bilingualism affects your moral decision-making
Also this week: Did Kanzi the bonobo have imagination? + A better English alphabet
Daniel W. Hieber, Ph.D.
Hi! I'm Danny! 👋🏼 I am a linguist. 🗣️ I work to document and revitalize endangered languages, while studying the crosslinguistic patterns we see across the world’s languages.
Newsletter
Is baby talk good for your child?
Does using baby talk make language learning easier, or does it hinder your child’s language development?
Current Linguistics
Swearing could give you a physical edge
Also this week: How the theory of the humors shaped English + New research uncovers the cerebellum’s crucial role in human language
Newsletter
The etymology of “love”
“love” and its many related words in English
Newsletter
The science of libfixes
How libfixes work, where they come from, and what they teach us about language and the mind
Current Linguistics
Language may not be so hierarchical after all: A new study challenges 70 years of linguistic theory
Also this week: Some dogs learn words like children + “How to kill a language”, a new book by Sophia Smith Galer
Newsletter
What’s the point of baby talk?
How caregivers instinctively simplify their speech for children—and how it helps
Current Linguistics
Honeyguide birds learn regional human dialects
Also this week: People with personality disorders use language differently + Decoding the lost scripts of the ancient world. Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.
Newsletter
Why is “February” spelled with two ⟨r⟩’s?
Why is “February” spelled with two ⟨r⟩’s even though most people only pronounce one of them?
Current Linguistics
Is the dictionary dead? Or merely changing?
Also in this week’s digest: Why Morse Code didn’t work for Chinese + Words affect us based on how they sound + Your brain processes language more alike to AI than we previously thought
Newsletter
Libfixes: When word parts go rogue
What happens when parts of words declare independence
Current Linguistics
World’s oldest alphabet discovered
Also this week: Researchers determine that bees understand morse code + ⅓ of grammatical universals stand up to rigorous testing