Current Linguistics
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.
Current 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
Current Linguistics
Mom’s voice boosts language-center development in preemies’ brains
Also this week: Smart dogs have a humanlike knack for naming new objects + Birds all over the world use the same sound to warn of threats + The Language-Lover’s Lexipedia
Current Linguistics
An experiment with the Aboriginal language Murrinhpatha suggests language influences perception
Also this week: Why all languages have words for ‘this’ and ‘that’ + Antarctic leopard seal ‘songs’ are surprisingly similar to nursey rhymes. Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.
Current Linguistics
Researchers uncover the origins of the Uralic language family
Also this week: Today is National Navajo Code Talkers Day! And the K-pop band is making Korean Sign Language famous
Current Linguistics
A Paleo-Hispanic alphabet is discovered in Spain, and researchers use AI to read 2,000-year-old scrolls burnt to a crisp by Mt. Vesuvius for the first time
Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.
Current Linguistics
Vocabulary undergoes natural selection just like species. Plus a new database on the languages of the Americas.
Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.
Current Linguistics
Islands are incubators of linguistic diversity, and people are more likely to cooperate with those who use similar linguistic constructions
Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.
Current Linguistics
Germans bemoan the “idiot’s apostrophe”, and research on using AI to communicate with dolphins wins the $100,000 Dolittle Prize
Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.
Current Linguistics
Bonobos combine their vocalizations the way humans combine words—a trait once thought unique to humans
Bonobos challenge the uniqueness of human language, penguins learn etymology, and China adopts a new gender-neutral pronoun. Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.
Current Linguistics
The sad passing of Kanzi, penguin etymology, and what “fixin’ to” / “finna” mean
Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.
Newsletter
Did Kanzi the bonobo understand language?
Kanzi the bonobo, who learned language, made stone tools, and played Minecraft, dies at age 44. What can his remarkable linguistic abilities teach us about language?