> ## 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. # Some dogs learn word categories like human toddlers do - URL: https://linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/2025-49/ - Published: 2025-12-11T15:00:54.000Z - Updated: 2026-03-11T11:31:38.000Z - Description: 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. - Author: Daniel W. Hieber, Ph.D. - Tags: Current Linguistics, writing, history of writing, animal communication, documentary linguistics, neurolinguistics, Old Latin, Ancient Greek, Pomoan, archival science, Navajo 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! ## 📢 Updates & Announcements *Announcements and what’s new with me and Linguistic Discovery.* ### Tell me what you think about the newsletter! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2025/12/image.png) I’ve been publishing this newsletter for almost a year now! So this seems like a felicitous moment to get your feedback on how this first year has been, things you like about the newsletter, areas it could improve, etc. I’ve put together a quick survey (20 questions, \~5 minutes) for you to give your feedback: [Tell me what you think](https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=DQSIkWdsW0yxEjajBLZtrQAAAAAAAAAAAAYAAMN93-JUQVIwSVUxTkZMUzNBWUIyVVBFQzJESFJPNi4u&ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) You’re also welcome to simply [email me your thoughts here](mailto:contact@linguisticdiscovery.com)! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this newsletter each week, and an especially huge thank you to those of you whose financial support helps keep the newsletter running. The costs of running Linguistic Discovery aren’t insignificant (graphic design software, website hosting, a Notion subscription, video editing software, etc.), and I still don’t have very many paid supporters, so your individual support really has made a big difference in keeping this sustainable. Thank you 🙏🏼 If you aren’t yet a supporter and would like to become one, you can do so for $5 USD/mo. by clicking the button below. Paying supporters get occasional **bonus articles** and **early access** to articles as well as my in-progress book projects. [💝 Become a supporter!](#/portal/signup) ## 🆕 New from Linguistic Discovery *This week’s content from Linguistic Discovery.* ### Why Old Latin writing looks like Greek I dug up an old video recently (I’ve been slowly cataloguing my old videos) inspired by a wild conspiracy theorist on TikTok who believes that the Latin language is a hoax invented by the Catholic church in the 1500s. Her antics turned out to be a great teaching moment about how writing systems spread. Here’s my video response: ## 📰 In the News *Language and linguistics in the news.* ### Pomoan Languages at the California Language Archive ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2025/12/image-1.png) Some of the cassette tapes and notebooks containing data on Pomoan accessioned by the California Language Archive. For 50 years, linguist Sally McLendon worked to document the Native Pomoan languages of California. Now, her trove of materials is being accessioned at the California Language Archive at UC Berkeley, where it’s helping shape the future of the Pomoan languages. UC Berkeley News has a great write-up about these materials and the Archive’s work: [23 boxes and a suitcase full of tapes: How a linguist’s lifelong work is shaping Indigenous language today - Berkeley NewsCollections at UC Berkeley’s California Language Archive help keep Indigenous languages alive. This is the story of one of them.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/favicon-16.svg)Berkeley NewsJason Pohl, Anne Brice![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/BV-S1E1-CLA-05-2560.jpg)](https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/11/06/23-boxes-and-a-suitcase-full-of-tapes-how-a-linguists-lifelong-work-is-shaping-indigenous-language-today/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) And the *Berkeley Voices* podcast, about the people and research happening at UC Berkeley, has an episode dedicated to this work: [For 50 years, she recorded her Pomo language. Her voice is helping this student reclaim his culture. - Berkeley NewsIn this Berkeley Voices episode, Tyler Lee-Wynant discusses how linguistic materials in the California Language Archive featuring his great-great aunt have opened a portal to his family’s history and led him to teach their language to new generations.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/favicon-17.svg)Berkeley NewsAnne Brice, Jason Pohl![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/BV-S2E1-CLA-01-2560-1024x585.jpg)](https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/11/06/berkeley-voices-s2e1-california-language-archive/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) ### How Wiki for Minorities is helping preserve languages in Nigeria ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2025/12/image-2.png) A student at one of the Wiki for Minorities projects in Nigeria In Nigeria, Wiki for Minorities is helping contributors use Wikipedia and its sister projects to document, bring awareness, and digitally preserve languages considered minor or small in terms of speaker populations, documentation, and institutional support. Through training sessions, edit-a-thons, and digital literacy workshops, volunteers learn the skills needed to contribute to Wikimedia projects – and in turn, they share their stories, culture, and knowledge. These activities celebrating Nigeria’s diverse culture and languages have led to the creation of more than 450 new Wikipedia articles and the addition of over 600 culturally-relevant photos to Wikimedia Commons. [How Wiki for Minorities (WfMin) Is Changing the Narrative of Small Languages in NigeriaNigeria is one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world, with over 500 indigenous languages spoken across its regions. Many of these languages are considered minor or small in term…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/cropped-1024px-Wikimedia-logo.svg_.png)DiffFulani215![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_0159.jpeg)](https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/10/11/how-wiki-for-minorities-wfmin-is-changing-the-narrative-of-small-languages-in-nigeria/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) ## 🗞️ Current Linguistics *Recently published research in linguistics.* ### Some dogs can learn categories like human toddlers do ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2025/12/image-3.png) A new study had owners of 10 talented dogs—mostly border collies—teach them words for objects in two categories: tug toys, called “pulls”, and fetch toys, called “throws”. All toys were different in size, shape, and color, so appearance could not guide learning. After four weeks of training, the researchers introduced brand new toys with a variety of designs. This time the dogs only used the toy, but were not taught words for any of them. After a week of playing with the new toys, the owners then asked the dogs to retrieve either a “pull” or a “throw”. The seven dogs that had completed all experimental phases chose the right toy about two-thirds of the time—well about the 12.5 percent expected for selections by chance. This parallels how human infants extend meanings to new words as well. At first, babies rely on how things look to understand words, but by age 14 months they can also use the role or function of an object to understand them. [These Clever Dogs Know the Difference between ‘Pull’ and ‘Throw’ ToysThese dogs can extend words to new objects based on function the way children do in early language learning![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/favicon-134.ico)Scientific AmericanAnirban Mukhopadhyay![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/Border-collier-holding-ball.jpg)](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dogs-with-large-vocabularies-can-understand-category-words-not-just-names/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) - Fugazza, Sommese, & Miklósi. 2025\. Dogs extend verbal labels for functional classification of objects. *Current Biology* 35(19): DOI: [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.08.013](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.08.013?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com). ### New study maps how we simultaneously process different words ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2025/12/image-4.png) The figure shows how the brain works to decode the different aspects of words over time, with phonetics (i.e., sounds) processed first and most quickly and semantic meaning coming later and taking longer. Credit: Laura Gwilliams A new study looks at how the brain organizes and interprets information about speech as it unfolds in real time, showing that our brains process both multiple words and multiple types of information (phonetic, syntactic, semantic, etc.) in parallel. [New study maps how we simultaneously process different wordsTrains move through the world’s subway stations in a consistent pattern: arriving, stopping, and moving to the next stop—and repeated by other trains throughout the day. A new study by a team of New York University psychology and linguistics researchers finds that our brains work much the same way when processing several words at once—as we routinely do when listening to others speak.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/favicon-18.svg)Medical XpressJames Devitt![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/when-is-the-brain-like.jpg)](https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-simultaneously-words.html?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) - Gwilliams et al. 2025\. Hierarchical dynamic coding coordinates speech comprehension in the human brain. *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences* 122(42): e2422097122: DOI: [https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2422097122](https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2422097122?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com). ## 📃 This Week’s Reads *Interesting articles I’ve come across this week.* [New linguistics research casts doubt on decades-old murder convictionStephen ‘Shorty’ Jamieson has been behind bars since 1988\. Fresh research critically examines the confession that put him there.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/web-app-logo-192x192-2d05bdd6de6328146de80245d4685946-55.png)The ConversationEleanor Kettle![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/file-20251031-56-khofp8.png)](https://theconversation.com/new-linguistics-research-casts-doubt-on-decades-old-murder-conviction-267425?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) [Much of ‘Predator: Badlands’ is in an alien language. We asked a Yautja expert to break it down‘Predator: Badlands’ director Dan Trachtenberg and Yautja language creator Britton Watkins discuss creating an alien language for the film, plus some tips for those who want to learn it.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-61.png)Los Angeles TimesFollow![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/75)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2025-11-10/predator-badlands-yautja-alien-language-dan-trachtenberg-britton-watkins?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) [Etymological excavation: What is a fossil word?The following is an excerpt from the book Useless Etymology: Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds. A fossil word is a word that primarily appears in the context of phrases or idioms. It typically…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/cropped-useless-etymology-logo-circle.png)Useless EtymologyJess Zafarris![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/fossil-words-useless-etymology.png)](https://uselessetymology.com/2025/11/11/etymological-excavation-what-is-a-fossil-word/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) [A Voice for the Voiceless: English’s Lost ConsonantsWhat a linguist takes away from a medieval song about happy animals![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/icon-4.svg)Danny BateDanny Bate![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2Fa83d13ef-b053-4320-a168-d34e8f4826df_600x382.jpeg)](https://dannylbate.substack.com/p/a-voice-for-the-voiceless-englishs) [What Is Castilian Spanish? Discover Where It’s Spoken And How It Differs - Rosetta StoneMaster Spanish prepositions with a complete breakdown of these common connecting words, their meanings, and examples of their function.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/cropped-RS-logo-12.png)Rosetta StoneJamie Edwards![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/castilian-spanish_2384123989.jpg)](https://blog.rosettastone.com/castilian-spanish/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) ## 📚 Books & Media *New (and old) books and media touching on language and linguistics.* ### Bringing the Navajo language to *Rez Ball* ### *Rez Ball* is a basketball drama film about a high school team in the Navajo Nation. This behind-the-scenes video features the cast and crew discussing their commitment to authentic Navajo language representation in the film. It’s great to see that indigenous languages are getting greater representation in mainstream media like this. And in case you’re not already familiar with it, Navajo (*Diné bizaad*) is an Athabaskan language spoken primarily in the southwestern United States. It has approximately 170,000 speakers, making it one of the most widely spoken indigenous languages in North America. ### *The atlas of languages* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2025/12/image-6.png) [Amazon](https://amzn.to/4a8D5Nw?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) | [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/110785/9781419766831?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) A new language book for kids was published earlier this year! A beautifully illustrated overview of the history of languages around the world, filled with maps, sidebars, and unusual facts. - [Amazon](https://amzn.to/4a8D5Nw?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) - [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/110785/9781419766831?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) ## 👋🏼 Til next week! ### Applying prescriptivist principles to zoology Ryan Starkey ([Starkey Comics](https://starkeycomics.com/2019/04/18/linguistic-prescriptivists-make-terrible-zoologists/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)) explores what zoology would be like if zoologists applied prescriptive linguistic principles to their field. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2025/12/image-7.png) 💡 The Amazon and Bookshop.org 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 Amazon storefront here.](https://www.amazon.com/shop/linguisticdiscovery?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) [Check out my Bookshop storefront here.](https://bookshop.org/shop/linguisticdiscovery?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)