Newsletter
The etymology of “penguin”
Where does the word “penguin” come from? French, Welsh, or Latin?
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
Did Kanzi the bonobo understand language?
Kanzi the bonobo, who learned language, made stone tools, and played Minecraft, dies at age 44. What can his remarkable linguistic abilities teach us about language?
Current Linguistics
How did the Indo-Europeans spread?
Also this week: What does conversation look like in the brain? Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.
Current Linguistics
Gestures can counteract subtle stereotypes introduced by language
This week I discuss the growth of science communication in linguistics, plus how simple gestures can counteract subtle linguistic biases.
Newsletter
The etymology of "guacamole"
Where do the words “avocado” and “guacamole” come from?
Current Linguistics
Babies can learn multiple languages from birth—and they’ll slow the onset of dementia if they do
Babies can learn multiple languages from birth—and they’ll slow the onset of dementia if they do. Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.
Newsletter
The linguistics of Trump’s official English policy
Trump issued an executive order making English the official language of the U.S.—sort of. Here’s what that order does, and what language in the U.S. looks like today.
Current Linguistics
gen z loves lowercase, but they’re losing their southern drawl
gen z loves lowercase, but they’re losing their southern drawl. meanwhile trump makes english the official language (sort of).
Current Linguistics
1,000 subscribers! 🎉 And did Proto-Indo-European have SOV word order?
The Linguistic Discovery newsletter just reached 1,000 subscribers! 🎉 And linguist Danny L. Bate suggests that Proto-Indo-European didn’t have Subject-Object-Verb word order after all.
Current Linguistics
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.
Newsletter
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?
Current Linguistics
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.