> ## 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.

# Why your brain is faster at dismantling some words than others
- URL: https://linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/2026-22/
- Published: 2026-06-06T09:00:08.000Z
- Updated: 2026-06-06T09:00:08.000Z
- Description: Also this week: Mom defends decision to teach her kids French despite not being a native speaker + Why English isn’t actually decaying + Baby talk is good for your child, actually
- Author: Daniel W. Hieber, Ph.D.
- Tags: Newsletter, baby talk, child-directed speech, history of writing, writing, writing systems, neurolinguistics, sociolinguistics, first language acquistion

Welcome to this week’s edition of *Discovery Digest*, 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!

Not yet a subscriber? Sign up below! (It's free!)

Subscribe 

Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. 

## 📢 Updates & Announcements

*Announcements and what’s new with me and Linguistic Discovery.*

### Linguistics Commencement Speech

The other week I posted the transcript of my commencement speech for the linguistics department at the College of William & Mary (link below). Now you can watch a video of the talk as well!

You can also read the entire transcript here:

[The curse of knowledge (and what to do about it)Inspiring words for linguistics majors![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Linguistic DiscoveryDaniel W. Hieber, Ph.D.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/size/w1200/2026/05/mateus-campos-felipe-YYjyJJz2R9w-unsplash.jpg)](https://linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/linguistics-commencement/)

## 🆕 New from Linguistic Discovery

*This week’s content from Linguistic Discovery.*

### On Iran, Persia, Farsi, and Aryan: The many names for Iran, its peoples, and its languages

Is the country called *Iran* or *Persia*? What about the language? *Farsi* or *Persian*? And what’s the word *Aryan* got to do with it?

Here’s your guide to the many names for Iran, its peoples, and its languages.

[Is it “Iran” or “Persia”? “Persian” or “Farsi”?On Persia, Iran, Farsi, and Aryan: The many names for Iran, its peoples, and its languages![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/languages-bordered-f5f2abf2-05e2-41d9-975c-2d4b16281aea.png)Linguistic DiscoveryDaniel W. Hieber, Ph.D.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/What-is-the-name-of-Iran-7d258c97-ec47-4f77-9c25-7dc24273dd84.png)](https://linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/name-of-iran/)

## 🗞️ Current Linguistics

*Recently published research in linguistics.*

### Why your brain is faster at dismantling some words than others

Before you even know what a written word means, your brain is already playing a rapid-fire game of linguistic LEGO. Imagine catching a flash of the word football on a screen. Before you even register its meaning (‘a game’ or ‘a ball’), your brain may have already parsed it into *foot* \+ *ball*. A clever new experiment used red-and-blue anaglyph glasses and split-second word flashes to probe this. It found that real compound words (like football) are recognized much faster than lookalikes (like shamrock), suggesting our eyes and brain latch onto word form almost instantly.

[Why ‘football’ beats ‘shamrock’ when your brain is dismantling every word at lightning speedBefore you even know what a word means, your brain is already playing a rapid-fire game of linguistic LEGO. Discover how our minds secretly dissect words, piece by orthographic piece, in the blink of an eye.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/favicon-ac64cc0bfdf19ac23bb07bfd6c0a37ab48fedc3fb81996aff2a15b31c899a8e7.svg)Science XSayan Tribedi![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/your-brain-starts-pull-2-e91cc1d4e4efd050442d4afabe6e4db6e992db3969ac66f511ea4a1a7b91697d.jpg)](https://sciencex.com/news/2026-05-football-shamrock-brain-dismantling-word.html?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)

- de Almeida, Antal, & Salehi. 2026\. Early morpho-orthographic and semantic effects in word recognition: Evidence from a foveal-splitting dichoptic paradigm with anaglyphs. *Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition* 52(7): 1108–1132\. DOI: [https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0001533](https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0001533?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com).

## 📃 This Week’s Reads

*Interesting articles I’ve come across this week.*

I’ve been social media acquaintances with Michelle Bruni since the early days of shortform video, when her child was just weeks old, and I think she’s a great exemplar for parents who want to give their kids fluency in another language:

- [Mom defends decision to teach her kids French over a ‘more useful’ language, despite not being a native speaker](https://people.com/mom-defends-decision-to-teach-her-kids-french-despite-not-being-a-native-speaker-exclusive-11955133?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) (*People*)

Why English isn’t degenerating:

[Despite all the likes, literallys and dropped g’s, English isn’t decaying before our eyesThroughout the history of the language, what has been considered ‘bad’ speech often becomes ‘proper.’ You just have to give it time.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)The ConversationValerie M. Fridland![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/file-20260420-57-digckg-637c7b370273e9161da8bf61438572d4e5defefeda30b26fbacccc736c0990cf.jpg)](https://theconversation.com/despite-all-the-likes-literallys-and-dropped-gs-english-isnt-decaying-before-our-eyes-279955?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)

That article also touches on Valerie Fridland’s new book, *Why we talk funny: The real story behind our accents* ([Amazon](https://amzn.to/4rXkM4I?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) | [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/110785/9780593830482?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)).

![Book cover for Why We Talk Funny: The Real Story Behind Our Accents by Valerie Fridland, author of Like, Literally, Dude. On a pale yellow background, the bold black title and red subtitle sit on the left, while four stylized open mouths in red, blue, purple, and green run down the right side, each showing teeth and tongue in mid-speech.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2026/05/image-33.png)

[Amazon](https://amzn.to/4rXkM4I?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) | [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/110785/9780593830482?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)

You can also read an excerpt from the book in the Linguistic Discovery newsletter!

[Baby, talk to me: How children get their accentsA sneak peek at Dr. Valerie Fridland’s new book, “Why we talk funny: The real story behind our accents”![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Linguistic DiscoveryDaniel W. Hieber, Ph.D.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/Why-we-talk-funny-0e86e003ffe58179213cc7624a3c6bc8ad182ae2bfa9280122e0512ff438613f.png)](https://linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/why-we-talk-funny/)

Other articles from this week:

[Hooker, as promisedThe Oxford Etymologist explores the etymological development and history of the word “hooker.”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/favicon-74f6159f36612eceb7e85df2b6de2a3d92f3883884872acd31c228edbbee5d3a.ico)OUPblogBecky Clifford![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/Carraroe_boats-v2-d5e007bf0e94a1855f1658fec636aabbafc2868e7ee2e867859b9340e378d525.jpg)](https://blog.oup.com/2023/04/hooker-as-promised/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)

[What Is A Lexicon?At its most general, lexicon can refer to quite a few different things. What is a lexicon, and is it useful in language learning?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/favicon-90bb5536798a1ee86b2269e412ffff351a331f1030960d6f6f98c1e9d68f340f.ico)BabbelThomas Moore Devlin![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/What_Is_Lexicon_Woman_Reading_on_Couch-9d4bf51ddf343338dd2628133cd2e1ab97d14d73b197d053402fdccffa3beade.png)](https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/what-is-lexicon?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)

[Delve Into Diacritics: The Accent Marks That Guide Pronunciation - Rosetta StoneFind out how diacritics and accent marks guide pronunciation in a language, including the different types of diacritics and how to use them.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Rosetta StoneJennifer Gunner![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/diacritics_2188465341-e881088f001a99c2a55c51354b6a834ef85c1da7feb06316566ca545e72b5bb5.jpg)](https://blog.rosettastone.com/diacritics/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)

[How Old is ‘Haha’? The Sound of Medieval LaughterA strange image and the earliest ‘haha’ in English.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F8b52ec70-1d25-4968-aae7-763bea84c0f7-2Fapple-touch-icon-180x180-edd6521b7bcee55664a52c06f3619d5c35a4d5ab6503448d9adfdfa5f5ee63ae.png)IncertusIncertus![](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-2F57d8d645-dc87-4e5d-9d83-6526d6e1b56b_422x253-2a4b8669c6f125ad5144e898217b6c9bbe8aa6f57b7eff48116ffe8fb15ae91e.png)](https://incertus.substack.com/p/how-old-is-ha-ha-the-sound-of-medieval)

## 📚 Books & Media

*New (and old) books and media touching on language and linguistics.*

### Is baby talk bad?

> Many parents have heard the warning: Don’t use baby talk with babies and toddlers. Instead, caregivers are often encouraged to speak properly and use adultlike language, out of concern that simplified speech could confuse children or delay language development.

But research in child language acquisition actually suggests the opposite is true! Dr. Karen Stollznow explains why in this article for *The Conversation*:

[Is baby talk bad? Why ‘parentese’ actually helps babies learn languageExaggerating phrases and talking in a sing-song way can actually help, not make it harder, for young children to master speaking a language.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)The ConversationKaren Stollznow![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/file-20260514-69-bkxp2b-94b0cdbfcac1ec45d2e107be26b1cb5fff3b9f1031a9bc3b7abf609d1ea35cf3.jpg)](https://theconversation.com/is-baby-talk-bad-why-parentese-actually-helps-babies-learn-language-282927?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)

That article discusses some of the ideas from Dr. Stollznow’s new book, [*Beyond words: How we learn, use, and lose language*](https://amzn.to/4uwDelt?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com), which I’m excited to see because there are very few books about first language acquisition out there for a general audience!

![Book cover for “Beyond Words: How We Learn, Use, and Lose Language” by Karen Stollznow. The title appears in large teal serif lettering on a textured cream background, with the author’s name in dark navy small caps at the top and the subtitle in navy at the bottom. Above the title, a scattering of small letters in various sizes drifts upward and disperses into the air.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2026/05/image-34.png)

[Amazon](https://amzn.to/4uwDelt?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)

I also have an entire series of articles about baby talk if you want to learn more!

#### 👶 The science of baby talk

- **Part 1:** [Why you should be talking to your infant](https://linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/baby-talk-1/)
- **Part 2:** [What’s the point of baby talk?](https://linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/baby-talk-2/)
- **Part 3:** [Is baby talk good for your child?](https://linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/baby-talk-3/)
- **Part 4:** [Do all cultures use baby talk?](https://linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/baby-talk-4/)
- **Part 5:** [Baby talk in the languages of the world](https://linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/baby-talk-5/)
- **Part 6:** [How much should you talk to your toddler?](https://linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/baby-talk-6/)
- **Part 7:** What really matters when talking to your child **\[forthcoming\]**

### *The writing revolution: Cuneiform to the internet*

I just learned that a second edition of *The writing revolution: Cuneiform to the internet* was released last year, and I immediately procured a copy because I think this is the best history of writing for a general audience out there. Excited to see what’s new in this version!

- [Amazon](https://amzn.to/42AWsdv?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)
- [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/110785/9781394218196?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2026/05/IMG_1064.JPEG)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2026/05/IMG_1060.JPEG)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2026/05/IMG_1059.JPEG)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2026/05/IMG_1058.JPEG)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2026/05/IMG_1057.JPEG)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2026/05/IMG_1056.JPEG)

## 🗃️ Resources

*Maps, databases, lists, etc. on language and linguistics.*

### The Atlas of Endangered Alphabets

![A screenshot from the Atlas of Endangered Alphabets website. The orange header reads "ATLAS OF ENDANGERED ALPHABETS" with the tagline "Indigenous and minority writing systems, and the people who are trying to save them," followed by social media icons, a search bar, and a navigation menu (Home, About, The Alphabets, Help Wanted, Support Our Work, Contact). Below, a page titled "BERIA" displays the script's name written in the Beria (Zaghawa) alphabet. A row of gallery thumbnails shows a chart of pictographic symbols, a person writing characters on a whiteboard, a camel, and a detailed chart of the alphabet's letters with phonetic values.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2026/05/image-35.png)

The online Atlas of Endangered Alphabets is a beautiful testament to many endangered writing systems all over the world.

The atlas has photo galleries and informational articles to explore for each endangered writing system.

[Atlas of Endangered Alphabets: Indigenous and minority writing systems, and the people who are trying to save them.Our goal is to include scripts from indigenous and minority cultures who are in danger of losing their sense of history, identity and purpose and who are trying to protect, preserve and/or revive their writing system as a way of reconnecting to their past, their dignity, their sense of a way ahead.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/ea-logo-512-538bbfa853eb482f05400b1cd0dea05cfcade64302ad3090e6765acbaf53de5d.png)![](https://www.endangeredalphabets.net/atlas-banner.png)](https://www.endangeredalphabets.net/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)

## 👋🏼 Till next week!

![A black-and-white cartoon in New Yorker style. Inside a cave, several fur-clad cavemen sit around a small campfire, with spears propped against the walls and gnawed bones scattered on the ground. Through the cave's arched mouth, a mountainous landscape and clouds are visible. One caveman gestures as he addresses the others. The caption reads: "We'll start out by speaking in simple declarative sentences.”](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/2026/05/image-36.png)

📚

The Amazon and Bookshop links on this site are affiliate links, which means that I earn a small commission from those companies 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)