World of Words
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.
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Discovery Dispatch
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).
Discovery Dispatch
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.
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.
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 linguistic history 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
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
February
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/?