Daniel W. Hieber, Ph.D.

Current Linguistics

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.

Current Linguistics

Multilinguals may be more likely to take a vaccine if they read about it in English: Words shape how we process feelings and make decisions

Plus, can AI decode dead languages? And how do linguists reconstruct dead languages without AI? Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.

Newsletter

Do Inuit languages really have more words for snow? And why does it matter, anyway?

A new study shows that Inuit languages really do have more words for snow, but what does that tell us about language?

Current Linguistics

Did technology drive the evolution of language? Or was it music?

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

Current Linguistics

A Paleo-Hispanic alphabet is discovered in Spain, and researchers use AI to read 2,000-year-old scrolls burnt to a crisp by Mt. Vesuvius for the first time

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

Current Linguistics

Vocabulary undergoes natural selection just like species. Plus a new database on the languages of the Americas.

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

Newsletter

You probably missed this in Song of Achilles

Also, here’s what Patroclus and Cleopatra have in common

Current Linguistics

Islands are incubators of linguistic diversity, and people are more likely to cooperate with those who use similar linguistic constructions

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

Current Linguistics

Germans bemoan the “idiot’s apostrophe”, and research on using AI to communicate with dolphins wins the $100,000 Dolittle Prize

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

Current Linguistics

Why do people use double negatives? And what’s the difference between a pidgin vs. a creole?

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

Newsletter

Why English needs “y’all”

Why doesn’t English just have a plural “you” like other languages?

See all

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

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?

Multilinguals may be more likely to take a vaccine if they read about it in English: Words shape how we process feelings and make decisions

Do Inuit languages really have more words for snow? And why does it matter, anyway?

Did technology drive the evolution of language? Or was it music?

A Paleo-Hispanic alphabet is discovered in Spain, and researchers use AI to read 2,000-year-old scrolls burnt to a crisp by Mt. Vesuvius for the first time

Vocabulary undergoes natural selection just like species. Plus a new database on the languages of the Americas.

You probably missed this in Song of Achilles

Islands are incubators of linguistic diversity, and people are more likely to cooperate with those who use similar linguistic constructions

Germans bemoan the “idiot’s apostrophe”, and research on using AI to communicate with dolphins wins the $100,000 Dolittle Prize

Why do people use double negatives? And what’s the difference between a pidgin vs. a creole?

Why English needs “y’all”