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?

Newsletter

What’s in a name?: Eponymous etymology

A sneak peek at Jess Zafarris’ new book, “Useless etymology: Word origins for curious minds”

Current Linguistics

Could Neanderthals handle language variation?

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

Newsletter

Where does the alphabet come from? And why does English use it so strangely?

A new book takes us on a linguistic odyssey through the history of the alphabet

Current Linguistics

Analysis of a century’s worth of political speeches challenges our understanding of how language changes

Also this week: Bilingualism is reworking this language’s rainbow + How speaking in a second language directly affects your moral judgement

Current Linguistics

How a deaf quarterback invented the huddle + Linguists explain the life of slang

Also this week: The world’s oldest written languages, and a cool new book on etymology. Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.

Newsletter

Your cryptogram is lying to you—/t/ isn’t the most frequent consonant in English

What are the most frequent sounds across languages (and why)?

Current Linguistics

Birdsong exhibits a hidden feature of human language

Also this week: Bilingualism is possible for people with a rare genetic condition that normally limits speech + Talk Like a Pirate Day is coming up! 🏴‍☠️ Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.

Current Linguistics

New DNA data reveals the origins of the Slavic peoples

Also this week: How our DNA holds the history of our language + The Cambridge dictionary adds 6,000 new words—and not everybody’s happy about it. Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.

Newsletter

Pumpkin Spice Linguistics

What the words “pumpkin spice” teach us about language change and indigenous history

Current Linguistics

Learning a second language can teach you to distinguish colors you don’t have in your first language

Also this week: Gesture may have been the origin of language + A new mind-reading AI can turn imagined speech into words. Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.