Current Linguistics
Baby chicks know their kiki from their bouba
Also this week: Why human language isn’t like computer code + Why English needs “y’all” + Why do so many women’s names end in A?
Current Linguistics
How your brain separates sounds into words
Also this week: How toddlers in Finland are saving an endangered Sámi language + Language learning can help lower dementia risk by 40%
Newsletter
The Wug Test: How children learn grammar
What can a simple word game teach us about how language works?
Current Linguistics
Bilingualism affects your moral decision-making
Also this week: Did Kanzi the bonobo have imagination? + A better English alphabet
Current Linguistics
Swearing could give you a physical edge
Also this week: How the theory of the humors shaped English + New research uncovers the cerebellum’s crucial role in human language
Current Linguistics
Is the dictionary dead? Or merely changing?
Also in this week’s digest: Why Morse Code didn’t work for Chinese + Words affect us based on how they sound + Your brain processes language more alike to AI than we previously thought
Current Linguistics
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
Current Linguistics
Analysis of a century’s worth of political speeches challenges our understanding of how language changes
Also this week: Bilingualism is reworking this language’s rainbow + How speaking in a second language directly affects your moral judgement
Current Linguistics
Learning a second language can teach you to distinguish colors you don’t have in your first language
Also this week: Gesture may have been the origin of language + A new mind-reading AI can turn imagined speech into words. Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics.
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.