Current Linguistics

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

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

Current Linguistics

The way we read in our first language influences how we read in other languages

Also this week: AI models can now analyze language as well as humans + The first monolingual Irish dictionary is published

Current Linguistics

Men speak with vocal fry just as much as women

Also in the news this week: Merriam-Webster chooses “slop” as the 2025 Word of the Year; Gaelic and Scots now recognized as official languages in the UK; and Canada’s prime minister called out for using British spellings

Current Linguistics

Some dogs learn word categories like human toddlers do

Also this week: The California Language Archives receives a treasure trove of new materials on Pomoan languages. Here's what happened this week in language and linguistics.

Current Linguistics

Oxford chooses “ragebait” as the 2025 Word of the Year

Also this week: Whales are found to use “vowels” + 6,000-year-old Mesopotamian seals linked to the dawn of writing

Current Linguistics

Dictionary.com announces 6-7 as the word of the year

Also this week: Turkic states agree on a common Latin alphabet; and researchers decode Mandarin Chinese from brain activity

Current Linguistics

Have scholars finally deciphered the mysterious writing of Teotihuacan?

Also this week: How technological advances in language modeling have allowed researchers to develop speech recognition technology even for small, endangered languages

Current Linguistics

We’re finally starting to read the scrolls burnt in the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius

Also this week: How playing a musical instrument helps children learn to read + Why AI is not like humans

Current Linguistics

Mom’s voice boosts language-center development in preemies’ brains

Also this week: Smart dogs have a humanlike knack for naming new objects + Birds all over the world use the same sound to warn of threats + The Language-Lover’s Lexipedia

Current Linguistics

China lays claim to Austronesian languages

Also this week: The Linguistics of a Showgirl: How Taylor Swift’s accent has changed over time + We will soon be able to talk with other species—but which one will be first?

Current Linguistics

Could Neanderthals handle language variation?

Also this week: Jane Goodall dies at 91 + Merriam-Webster adds 5,000 words to the dictionary