Discovery Dispatch
Is AI changing language? Plus new evidence for a “language protein”
A recent article argues that AI is wrecking language, and new research has found a "language protein". Here's what happened this week in language and linguistics.
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.
World of Words
Hawaiian only has 8 consonants—What happens when it borrows words with other sounds?
The Hawaiian language only has 8 consonants. So how does it deal with sounds in words borrowed from other languages?
World of Words
The etymology of "love"
The etymology of the word "love" and all its related words in English.
Discovery Dispatch
The quest for the first Indo-Europeans, and whales communicating like humans
New DNA evidence emerges in the hunt for the first speakers of Indo-European, and researchers discover that whalesong shares a property of human language never before found in the animal kingdom.
Discovery Dispatch
Honest aliens and yet another attempt at Proto-Australian
An analysis of the linguistics of The Three-Body Problem, and new research claiming to reconstruct Proto-Australian.
World of Words
What alien languages can teach us about human language: The linguistics of The Three-Body Problem
Imagine if every word you thought could be heard by everyone around you. In this world, thinking would be the same as communicating. What would language—and society—be like?
World of Words
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?
Discovery Dispatch
Welcome to Discovery Dispatch!
Discovery Dispatch is a weekly roundup of the latest language-related news, research in linguistics, interesting reads from the week, and newest books and media!
World of Words
Why do the British pronounce “herb” with an /h/?
Why don’t Americans pronounce herb with an /h/?
World of Words
Renaissance on the bayou: Revitalizing the Chitimacha language
The Chitimacha language was once thought to be extinct, but today is undergoing a renaissance as young people learn the language again.
World of Words
From counting to cuneiform: How writing was invented
The earliest version of cuneiform wasn't used to write language at all—it was used to count! And that Sumerian system of counting still influences our counting systems today. Here's the story of Sumerian numerals.
World of Words
William Labov (1927–2024)
William Labov was the father of sociolinguistics who pioneered the study of dialectology.