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
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One year of Linguistic Discovery
A look back at the first year of the newsletter, and what’s changing in 2026
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
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.
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