The linguistics of Trump’s official English policy
Trump issued an executive order making English the official language of the U.S.—sort of. Here’s what that order does, and what language in the U.S. looks like today.
Latest
gen z loves lowercase, but they’re losing their southern drawl
gen z loves lowercase, but they’re losing their southern drawl. meanwhile trump makes english the official language (sort of).
1,000 subscribers! 🎉 And did Proto-Indo-European have SOV word order?
The Linguistic Discovery newsletter just reached 1,000 subscribers! 🎉 And linguist Danny L. Bate suggests that Proto-Indo-European didn’t have Subject-Object-Verb word order after all.
Is AI changing language? Plus new evidence for a “language protein”
A recent article argues that AI is wrecking language, and new research has found a "language protein". Here's what happened this week in language and linguistics.
Hawaiian only has 8 consonants—What happens when it borrows words with other sounds?
The Hawaiian language only has 8 consonants. So how does it deal with sounds in words borrowed from other languages?
The linguistic history of "love"
The etymology of the word "love" and all its related words in English.
The quest for the first Indo-Europeans, and whales communicating like humans
New DNA evidence emerges in the hunt for the first speakers of Indo-European, and researchers discover that whalesong shares a property of human language never before found in the animal kingdom.
Honest aliens and yet another attempt at Proto-Australian
An analysis of the linguistics of The Three-Body Problem, and new research claiming to reconstruct Proto-Australian.
The linguistics of The Three-Body Problem
Imagine 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?
February
Why is “February” spelled with two ⟨r⟩'s even though most people only pronounce one of them?
Welcome to Discovery Dispatch!
Discovery Dispatch is a weekly roundup of the latest language-related news, research in linguistics, interesting reads from the week, and newest books and media!
Why do the British pronounce “herb” with an /h/?
Why don’t Americans pronounce herb with an /h/?
World of Words
Renaissance on the bayou: Revitalizing the Chitimacha language
The Chitimacha language was once thought to be extinct, but today is undergoing a renaissance as young people learn the language again.
World of Words
From counting to language: How writing evolved
The 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.
World of Words
William Labov (1927–2024)
William Labov was the father of sociolinguistics who pioneered the study of dialectology.
World of Words
The linguistics behind Biden's "garbage" gaffe
Why an apostrophe might determine the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.
World of Words
Where do writing systems come from?
Where do the world's writing systems come from?
World of Words
3 things people get wrong about language
Here are 3 things people get wrong about language.
World of Words
Welcome to Linguistic Discovery!
Linguistic Discovery explores the science and diversity of language, a field known as linguistics.
World of Words
fruition
Does "fruition" come from the word "fruit"?
World of Words
'dog' vs. 'horse' in Native American languages
Why are dogs called 'little horses' in some Native American languages?
World of Words
What are language isolates?
A language isolate is a language that is unrelated to any other known language.
Encyclopedia
What are retronyms?
A retronym is a new term for an old concept that is created because the word for the old concept has shifted in meaning and no longer uniquely refers to the original idea.
World of Words
Welcome to the new LinguisticDiscovery.com!
Welcome to the new LinguisticDiscovery.com!