> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://linguisticdiscovery.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # When did humans develop language? + How whistle languages work - URL: https://linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/2025-15/ - Published: 2025-04-17T15:00:43.000Z - Updated: 2026-03-11T11:35:32.000Z - Description: When language evolved, how whistled languages work, and what alien languages might be like. Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics. - Author: Daniel W. Hieber, Ph.D. - Tags: Current Linguistics, whistle speech, Silbo Gomero, language evolution, emoji, xenolinguistics, tip of the tongue Welcome to this week’s edition of *Discovery Dispatch*, a weekly roundup of the latest language-related news, research in linguistics, interesting reads from the week, and newest books and other media dealing with language and linguistics. 💡 If you don't want this weekly digest, you can [manage your email subscriptions here](https://linguisticdiscovery.com/#/portal/account/newsletters). There you can unsubscribe from **Discovery Dispatch* and still stay subscribed to the newsletter (if you'd like). ## 🆕 New from Linguistic Discovery *This week's content from Linguistic Discovery.* ### whistle speech The latest issue of [*Babel: The Language Magazine*](https://babelzine.co.uk/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) has a fantastic article about whistle speech written by high schooler / secondary school student Benjamin Hong, as part of *Babel*’s Young Writers Competition. I wrote a [quick thread](https://www.threads.net/@linguisticdiscovery/post/DIgr-LshjXd?xmt=AQGzueRn3BNdquHimsAONfV%5FP18S5l618LwD-MlYKqPtBQ&ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) based on the article for social media, but here it is in prose form: ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9206f134-ddf0-444c-a988-8c4ad5c80aa4_1920x996.png) World map showing the names and locations of many whistle languages. There are over 80 whistle languages in the world. Whistle languages are usually just a whistled version of a specific spoken language. For example, Silbo Gomero is a whistled form of Spanish used in the Canary Islands. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2025/04/Silbo-gomero-750x430-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2025/04/HISTORIA-VIVA-DEL-SILBO-GOMERO.jpg) A man and a woman using Silbo Gomero. Whistle languages fall into two main types: In tonal languages, the pitch (melody) with which you say a word changes its meaning. Whistle languages that are based on tonal languages therefore typically just mimic the pitch of each word with the whistle. Different consonants are often distinguished by the length of pauses between whistles. ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba9c05a2-2694-47a6-991e-1610d384a94d_938x633.png) Pitch contour for the word **gòkwáànà* ‘speak’ in the Gusii language of Kenya. From Nash (2011), **Tone in Ekegusii*. For non-tonal languages, the corresponding whistles are based on the acoustic profile of each type of sound in the language. Whistlers whistle at specific pitches that correspond to each vowel or consonant in the language. ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdc61f449-8f7f-4513-b996-83f3ea4c8181_1664x1035.png) A spectrograph (acoustic profile) of the word **ékèmììnchà* ‘tail’ in the Gusii language of Kenya. From Nash (2011), **Tone in Ekegusii*. For example, in Silbo Gomero, the tongue is placed in a similar shape as when pronouncing each spoken sound, giving the whistle a similar pitch. In whistled Turkish, /o/ is whistled at a lower frequency than /a/. Read the entire article about whistle speech in [*Babel: The Language Magazine*](https://babelzine.co.uk/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com). [Babel MagazineThe quarterly language magazine that brings you Babelzine, the cutting-edge linguistic research in an accessible and colourful format.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/favicon-48.ico)Babel Magazine | The magazine for lovers of languages and linguisticsStephen Fry![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/Babel-Best-Of-cover-1.jpg)](https://babelzine.co.uk/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) ## 📰 In the News *Language and linguistics in the news.* ### Indigenous languages at Yale Yale University has added more indigenous languages to their curriculum via their Directed Independent Study Language program (DILS). DILS is a great program because it allows students to pursue languages not formally offered through Yale’s curriculum, by arranging structured one-on-one sessions with native or fluent speakers known as Language Partners. As Yale Daily News states: > The program has become a lifeline for students looking to reconnect with their heritage, preserve endangered tongues and engage in scholarship that would otherwise be impossible without linguistic access. The way that students work with their Language Partners is similar to what’s known as the Master-Apprentice method in language revitalization, which has been incredibly effective in the communities where it’s been implemented. So I’m very excited to see this development at Yale, and hope that other universities may follow suit. More reporting here: [Yale adds new Indigenous, endangered languages to DILS programWith more endangered languages offered, students and language partners stress the importance of linguistic identity, access and institutional support for credit.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/apple-icon-180x180-2.png)Yale Daily NewsBaala Shakya![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/dils_bs_Ximena-Solorzano-Staff-Photography-scaled-1024x682.jpg)](https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/04/14/yale-adds-new-indigenous-endangered-languages-to-dils-program/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) ## 🗞️ Current Linguistics *Recently published research in linguistics.* ### Humans developed language by 135,000 ya One of the most hotly debated questions in the history of linguistics is how language evolved, and a crucial component of answering that question involves knowing *when* it evolved. Some scholars believe that language evolved because of a specific genetic adaptation that is unique to humans—the **nativist** position. Nativists thus expect that language would have appeared relatively suddenly in evolutionary terms, likely correlating with the onset of a **Great Leap Forward** or Upper Paleolithic Revolution ca. 50,000 ya, when the archaeological record is shows an explosion of symbolic, technological, and artistic behavior. This is the point at which humans reached **behavioral modernity**. A major difficulty with this timing, however, is that humanity had already spread throughout Europe and South Asia by 50,000 ya and was no longer a single coherent population. If language had evolved at a point after humanity’s populations diverged, we would expect to see different human populations with different degrees of language abilities. But the fact that all humans share the same capacity for language and that language works the same way for all of us shows that *Homo sapiens* must have had the capacity for language before the species diverged. In addition, evidence increasingly points to the fact that the cultural shift to behavioral modernity was actually a gradual process, with some features appearing among African populations as early as 300,00 ya (Kissel & Fuentes 2018; Scerri & Will 2023). ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2ab8d1b2-ab88-4595-8f3d-f514e9f02bb1_1920x898.png) World map showing the dispersion of **Homo sapiens*, **Homo neanderthalensis*, and **Homo erectus*, with approximate dates. Other scholars believe that language emerged gradually as various *Homo* species developed increasingly sophisticated cognitive abilities, none of which are specific to language. This **functionalist** position holds that language merely co-opts other cognitive abilities which were already present in our species. In this view, it’s possible that the *Homo* genus had the *ability* for language before it had the *motivation* for language and actually developed it. In this scenario, language is essentially a cultural evolution rather than a genetic adaptation. This means that it could have appeared very suddenly in the archaeological record *despite there being no accompanying sudden genetic changes*. Language would have swept though the existing populations in a blink of an eye, in archaeological terms, explaining how humans could have developed language after their dispersal. As plausible as this explanation is, it’s not what the fossil record and archaeological record show. Instead we see a gradual increase in anatomical and archaeological evidence for language, spread out over several hundred thousand years (Kissel & Fuentes 2018; Johansson 2021: 387; Scerri & Will 2023). The language faculty must have emerged early in *Homo*’s evolutionary history, and was fully in place before humanity began to disperse across the globe. ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4ce2f8d7-21e9-46ce-b404-b644159fc7e0_296x466.png) [Amazon](https://amzn.to/49rriHU?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) Taking this fact as a starting point, a study published in *Frontiers in Psychology* last month uses genetic evidence to determine the earliest known divergence of human populations, and concluded that the first split occurred about 135,000 ya, meaning that fully modern language is at least that old. The paper and the interviews with the authors make it clear that they’re firmly in the nativist camp, but their findings are of course consistent with both nativist and functionalist perspectives. The paper also situates the emergence of behavioral modernity at 100,000 ya rather than 50,000, which illustrates my earlier point that scholars increasingly see the Great Leap Forward as less of a leap and more of a gradual set of changes that began fairly early in our history. That said, the authors of this study don’t seem to adhere to this gradualist perspective themselves. They characterize the 100,000 ya point as a clear inflection point: - “it is only after 100 kya that we see such behaviors become routine and normalized in *H. sapiens*”. - “modern human behaviors such as body decoration and the production of ochre pieces with symbolic engravings appeared as normative and persistent behaviors around 100 kya” It’s strange that the authors pick this timeline, because it’s not the consensus among either nativists or functionalists. Scholars who see behavioral modernity as a rapid transition, a Great Leap Forward, generally choose 50,000 ya as the transition point; and scholars who see behavioral modernity as gradual generally point to evidence early in our species, even as far back as 300,000 ya (Kissel & Fuentes 2018). The authors cite work by Tatersall (2012, 2017, 2018) and Wadley (2020) in support of this timeline, but the focus of Tatersall’s papers is not the dating of those changes—he merely states that timeline in passing—and Wadley explicitly states (emphasis added), “Such reciprocal interactions between technology, cognition and society may have motivated the accumulation of innovations that are particularly visible in the archaeological record after 100,000 years ago (**not as a revolution, but incrementally**).” These sources aren’t really an appropriate basis for the claim that behavioral modernity occurred suddenly at 100,000 ya. But this 100,000 ya timeline comports nicely with the authors’ nativist perspective that language was the key to modern human behavior. They state: > As the most complex communication tool yet devised in nature, it had a direct and enormous impact on all facets of human life. Language, with its complex system of mental representations and rules for combining them, is able to create new ways to connect existing symbols and predict new ways of behavior. This is, perhaps, what we see in the time gap between the lower boundary of 135kya for language, and the beginnings of the emergence of rich and normative symbolic behavior starting around 100kya. A way to interpret this gap is that language was central in organizing and systematizing modern human behavior. In this view, humans evolved language, and soon after this led to the Great Leap Forward. But this is a more difficult claim to motivate if one assumes 50,000 ya as the tipping point. Nonetheless, that doesn’t invalidate the authors’ findings, just the conclusion they draw from them. This study is still fascinating because it gives us an upper limit on the latest point that humanity could have developed the capacity for language—about 135,000 ya. **Press Coverage** [When did humans first develop language? Scientists think they knowOne of the most profound questions about human history is: when did language, as we know it, first emerge?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/favicon-49.ico)Earth.comAndrei Ionescu![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/Human-language.jpg)](https://www.earth.com/news/when-did-humans-first-develop-language-scientists-think-they-know/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) [Crucial Feature of Human Language Emerged More Than 135,000 Years AgoHumans speak more than 7,000 languages today.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/cropped-sa-rounded-favicon-270x270-1.png)ScienceAlertTessa Koumoundouros![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/PaintingOfAHumanLeavingHandprintOnAcaveHumanLanguage.jpg)](https://www.sciencealert.com/crucial-feature-of-human-language-emerged-more-than-135000-years-ago?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) [Unraveling the Origins: When Did Human Language First Emerge?The origins of human language have long intrigued researchers, raising profound questions about our species’ evolution and cognitive development. Recent genomic research has provided new![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/cropped-scienmag_ico-270x270-3.jpg)ScienmagSCIENMAG![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/Unraveling-the-Origins-When-Did-Human-Language-First-Emerge-1742318641.jpg)](https://scienmag.com/unraveling-the-origins-when-did-human-language-first-emerge/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) **Original Research Article** - Miyagawa et al. 2025\. Linguistic capacity was present in the *Homo sapiens* population 135 thousand years ago. *Frontiers in Psychology* 16\. DOI: [10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1503900](https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1503900?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) ### Other Research This Week Here’s an interesting study that shows that we tend to interpret people more literally when they speak with a foreign accent, making it harder to realize they’re engaging in sarcasm or irony—and thus causing a lot more miscommunication! [How foreign accents subconsciously shape the way we interactOur brains find it easier to process a familiar accent, meaning irony often gets lost in interpretation.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/web-app-logo-192x192-2d05bdd6de6328146de80245d4685946-21.png)The ConversationAlice Foucart![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/file-20250321-74-f7pajx.jpg)](https://theconversation.com/how-foreign-accents-subconsciously-shape-the-way-we-interact-252689?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) Another study shows that birds use their songs not just to signal to members of their own species, but to coordinate with individuals from other species during migrations as well. [Migrating Birds Sing to Team Up with Other SpeciesSongbirds may socialize across species during nighttime migrations![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/favicon-50.ico)Scientific AmericanGayoung Lee![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/american_redstart_singing.jpg)](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/migrating-birds-sing-to-team-up-with-other-species/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) ## 📃 This Week’s Reads *Interesting articles I've come across this week.* Jessica Kruk ([@TalkingInTongues](https://www.tiktok.com/@talkingintongues?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) on TikTok) and Lauren Gawne (of the [Lingthusiasm podcast](https://lingthusiasm.com/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)) have an article in *The Conversation* explaining why older adults sometimes find use of emoji by adolescents iniquitous or as having hidden meanings, and how these fears are unfounded. [Adolescence has sparked fears over teen slang – but emoji don’t cause radicalisationIf you’re a parent worried about your child’s unfamiliar online world, a fear-based response is unlikely to work. What is needed is open communication.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/web-app-logo-192x192-2d05bdd6de6328146de80245d4685946-22.png)The ConversationJessica Kruk![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/file-20250401-56-70c6zd.jpg)](https://theconversation.com/adolescence-has-sparked-fears-over-teen-slang-but-emoji-dont-cause-radicalisation-253218?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) Lauren also has an older article for *The Conversation* explaining how emoji are best thought of as digital gestures: [Emoji aren’t ruining language: they’re a natural substitute for gesture 🔥🔥🔥Instead of worrying that emoji is replacing competent language use, we can celebrate that emoji are creating a richer form of online communication that returns the features of gesture to language.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/web-app-logo-192x192-2d05bdd6de6328146de80245d4685946-23.png)The ConversationLauren Gawne![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/file-20190612-32327-1ecj4r7.jpg)](https://theconversation.com/emoji-arent-ruining-language-theyre-a-natural-substitute-for-gesture-118689?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) --- The Babbel blog discusses how multilingualism “may be the best route to a stronger, nimbler brain”: [Bilingual Education: The Key To Building A Better Brain?The latest research on bilingual education shows that it can actually aid attention control, reasoning, and flexible problem-solving.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/favicon-51.ico)BabbelMatt Hormann![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/CM_BilingualLearning_1200-1.png)](https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/bilingual-education-key-better-brain?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) --- Is the name for the letter ⟨z⟩ “zee” or “zed”? Traditionally the U.S. has called it “zee” while the U.K. calls it “zed”, but it seems that English-speaking countries are gradually shifting to “zee”, presumably due to American influence. [How You Pronounce This Letter May Reveal Your Age, Linguist SaysI’ll never hear it the same way again.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/favicon-52.ico)HuffPost UKAmy Glover![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/67ebb2ce15000018000abaee.jpg)](https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/zee-vs-zed-uk-age-explained%5Fuk%5F67ebad14e4b0884aa95347bd?ncid=APPLENEWS00001&ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) --- There’s been a uptick in research (or perhaps, scientifically-informed thought experiments) lately about **xenolinguistics**, the study of alien languages, which I actually find to be a useful exercise in understanding the fundamental nature of symbolic systems of communication. There’s both a monograph and an edited volume about the topic: ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20cf5fd9-d9a3-48ca-9bbd-45c37ea4057a_307x466.png) [Amazon](https://amzn.to/4jv0Mlv?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F54241262-f0d0-46dd-a4d9-6c8f79d417b0_296x445.png) [Amazon](https://amzn.to/414bneO?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) And Southern Illinois University recently organized a small workshop about it: - [SIU to host international conference on potential extraterrestrial communication](https://news.siu.edu/2024/10/103024-siu-to-host-international-conference-on-potential-extraterrestrial-communication.php?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) (SIU News) I myself even hopped on the trend, exploring what fictional languages like that of the *Three-Body Problem* books can tell us about human language: [What alien languages can teach us about human language: The linguistics of The Three-Body ProblemImagine 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?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/languages-bordered-32.png)Linguistic DiscoveryDaniel W. Hieber, Ph.D.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/blog-banner-5.png)](https://linguisticdiscovery.com/reviews/Three-Body-Problem/) Now this month’s issue of *Scientific American* takes a look at some of this recent research, and how it’s both preparing humanity for first contact and helping explain language itself: [How Might Aliens Communicate? The Answer Could Reveal the Point of LanguageStudying how extraterrestrials might communicate could help prepare for first contact and also hint at the point of language itself![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/favicon-53.ico)Scientific AmericanSarah Scoles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/Xenolinguistics_alien_lauguage.jpeg)](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/xenolinguistics-the-study-of-alien-languages-helps-to-reveal-why-all-beings/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) --- A few weeks back I made some fun videos stitching (replying to) videos of people struggling with **tip of the tongue** incidents (also called **lethologica**): [Gestures can counteract subtle stereotypes introduced by languageThis week I discuss the growth of science communication in linguistics, plus how simple gestures can counteract subtle linguistic biases.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/languages-bordered-33.png)Linguistic DiscoveryDaniel W. Hieber, Ph.D.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/Social-Preview.png)](https://linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/2025-11/) Last month *The Conversation* also published an article about the neuroscience behind tip of the tongue phenomena: [What happens in the brain when there’s a word ‘on the tip of the tongue’?Having a word “on the tip of the tongue” has happened to all of us. Behind this everyday phenomenon lie complex brain mechanisms.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/web-app-logo-192x192-2d05bdd6de6328146de80245d4685946-24.png)The ConversationFrédéric Bernard![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/file-20241126-15-21bou3-1.jpg)](https://theconversation.com/what-happens-in-the-brain-when-theres-a-word-on-the-tip-of-the-tongue-246091?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) And if you’d like to dive deeper into these kinds of speech errors, here’s a great book about the topic: ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F039176bf-58aa-4229-b208-5877b26a1003_308x466.png) [Amazon](https://amzn.to/4kNjlC4?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) --- Babbel has a neat post on all the words English borrowed from Old Norse, the language of the Vikings. The most surprising of these, from a linguistic perspective, is *they*, the third person plural pronoun, simply because it’s rare for languages to borrow grammatical/function words from other languages in this way. [139 Old Norse Words That Invaded The English LanguageWithout the Vikings, English would be missing some awesome words like berserk, muck, skull, knife, and cake! Here’s our list of Old Norse words in English.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/favicon-54.ico)BabbelJohn-Erik Jordan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/viking-ship.jpg)](https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/139-norse-words?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) ## 📚 Books & Media *New (and old) books and media touching on language and linguistics.* *New Scientist* has a cool review of a new book, [*The Mesopotamian Riddle: An archaeologist, a soldier, a clergyman, and the race to decipher the world’s oldest writing*](https://amzn.to/4jyenI1?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com). Like it sounds, the book tells the story of how cuneiform was deciphered. I’m pretty excited to read it! [Gripping story reveals race to crack world’s oldest script, cuneiformCuneiform, the oldest identified writing system, defied deciphering – until 1857\. What happened then makes a terrific read, in Joshua Hammer’s The Mesopotamian Riddle![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/180x180.50b024f6-4.png)New Scientist#author.fullName}![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/SEI_2461408371.jpg)](https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26635383-700-gripping-story-reveals-race-to-crack-worlds-oldest-script-cuneiform/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0062f6f2-2925-4369-bdd4-56ac09099896_304x466.png) [Amazon](https://amzn.to/4jyenI1?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) And if you’d like to learn more about how cuneiform evolved, be sure to check out this issue of the Linguistic Discovery newsletter: [From counting to language: How writing evolvedThe 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.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/languages-bordered-34.png)Linguistic DiscoveryDaniel W. Hieber, Ph.D.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/cuneiform-numerals-1-2.png)](https://linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/sumerian-numerals/) --- ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2856e45b-cd97-4c03-a4ad-03622ddeb005_2048x2731.png) *Babel: The Language Magazine* recently published its 50th issue! This one has a big list of 50 recommended books on language and linguistics, plus a neat article about Nüshu, a women’s script used in a region of Hunan Province, China, as well as the cool article about whistle languages I discussed above. ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F01e558cb-6105-4304-b687-39b15bbfffcf_2048x2731.png) A sampling of Nüshu characters. Get your own subscription [here](https://babelzine.co.uk/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com). [Babel MagazineThe quarterly language magazine that brings you Babelzine, the cutting-edge linguistic research in an accessible and colourful format.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/favicon-55.ico)Babel Magazine | The magazine for lovers of languages and linguisticsStephen Fry![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/Babel-Best-Of-cover-2.jpg)](https://babelzine.co.uk/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) *(Full Disclosure: I volunteer on Babel’s Advisory Panel, but it’s an unpaid position which I took on as part of my service work to the field.)* --- I hope you enjoyed this week’s issue! If you’ve been finding these digests fun or informative, click the like button below and let me know! Have a great week! \~ Danny ## Sign up for the Linguistic Discovery newsletter! A weekly newsletter showcasing the diversity of the world's languages. Topics include: ⚙️ how language works and changes 🌍 surveys of the diverse ways that languages do things 🗣️ language profiles ℹ️ explainers of terms and concepts in linguistics ⭐ reviews of books and other media. 🆕 a weekly digest of the latest language-related news Some posts are for paid subscribers only, but most are free. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. **You can also subscribe on* [**Patreon*](https://www.patreon.com/linguisticdiscovery?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) *or* [**Substack*](https://linguisticdiscovery.substack.com/) *if you prefer to use those platforms instead. You'll get all the same content and extras.* ## 📑 References - Johansson. 2021\. [*The dawn of language: How we came to talk*](https://amzn.to/49rriHU?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com). Maclehose Press. - Kissel & Fuentes. 2018\. ‘Behavioral modernity’ as a process, not an event, in the human niche. *Time & Mind* 11(2): 163–183\. DOI: [10.1080/1751696X.2018.1469230](https://doi.org/10.1080/1751696X.2018.1469230?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) - Scerri & Will. 2023\. The revolution that still isn’t: The origins of behavioral complexity in *Homo sapiens*. *Journal of Human Evolution* 179\. DOI: [10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103358](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103358?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) 💡 The Amazon links on this site are affiliate links, which means that I earn a small commission from Amazon for purchases made through them (at no extra cost to you). If you'd like to support Linguistic Discovery, purchasing through these links is a great way to do so! I greatly appreciate your support! [Check out my entire Amazon storefront here.](https://www.amazon.com/shop/linguisticdiscovery?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)