The Yi Script: China’s Living Logogram
While most of China uses Chinese characters, the Yi people of the southwest have their own unique writing system with a history spanning centuries. Once a complex logographic script used…
Linguistics
Pashto’s Split Ergativity
Ever thought the 'subject' of a sentence was a fixed, simple concept? In Pashto, the grammatical role of the 'doer' dramatically shifts depending on whether the action is happening now…
The Georgian Consonant Clusters
Georgian is famous for jaw-dropping consonant clusters like `gvprtskvni` ("you peel us"), which seem to defy the rules of pronunciation. But these words are not as chaotic as they appear.…
The Altaic Debate: A Family Feud
Are Turkish, Mongolian, Korean, and Japanese distant cousins? The Altaic hypothesis proposes they descend from a single ancient tongue, but modern linguistics has a different story to tell. Dive into…
The French R: An Aristocratic Sound?
The guttural French "R" is one of the most iconic sounds in the world, but it's a surprisingly recent development. Discover how this sound may have started as an affectation…
The Three Genders of Dyirbal
Ever heard of a language that groups women, fire, and dangerous things into a single grammatical category? Dive into the fascinating world of Dyirbal, an Australian Aboriginal language whose unique…
The Great ‘Bet/Vet’ Split in Hebrew
Ever stumbled over whether to say 'bet' or 'vet' in Hebrew? This seemingly random choice is a window into a fascinating historical sound change affecting a whole family of consonants.…
Tone vs. Intonation Explained
Ever wondered why saying 'mΔ' in Mandarin can mean 'mother' while 'mΗ' means 'horse'? Or how the exact same words, "You're leaving", can be a statement or a question in…
The ‘We’ of Two vs. The ‘We’ of All
Most languages count one and many, but what about a number for precisely two? Discover the "grammatical dual", a lost feature of Old English that survives in languages like Slovene…
The Syntax of Your File System
Did you know that every time you save a file, you're using a form of language? Your computer's folder structure is a surprisingly complex grammatical system, complete with its own…
The Inuktitut “Word-Sentences”
Imagine a language where "I don't hear very well" isn't a sentence, but a single, perfectly grammatical word. Welcome to the fascinating world of Inuktitut, a polysynthetic language that challenges…
The Social Meaning of H-Dropping
H-dropping, the act of saying "'ouse" instead of "house", is far more than a simple pronunciation quirk. This feature of many English dialects became a powerful marker of social class…
Writing Your Voice: The Blissymbols System
Dive into the world of Blissymbols, a fascinating ideographic writing system designed as a universal language. Explore its logical grammar, where simple symbols for "house" and "protection" combine to create…
The Grammar of Evidentials in Quechua
In Quechua, itβs grammatically impossible to state a fact without also specifying how you know it. This fascinating system of "evidentiality" uses suffixes like -mi (for direct experience), -si (for…
Why Korean and Japanese Share Grammar
Are Korean and Japanese related languages? While they feel incredibly similar to learners, the answer from linguists is "no." This uncanny resemblance isn't due to a shared family tree, but…
The Australian Kriol Language
** Did you know Australia's largest Indigenous language, by number of speakers, is an English-based creole? Move beyond pidgins to discover Australian Kriol, a complex and vibrant language spoken by…
The Sentence That Never Ends
Have you ever heard the nursery rhyme about the house that Jack built, where each line adds a new layer to the story? This fascinating, never-ending quality of language has…
The Sentence That Never Ends
Have you ever heard the nursery rhyme about the house that Jack built, where each line adds a new layer to the story? This fascinating, never-ending quality of language has…
The Ghost Phonemes of Irish
Why does the "s" in the Irish word "slΓ‘inte" sound like an "sh"? The answer lies in slender and broad consonants, a core feature of Gaelic languages dictated by "ghost…
The Hyperforeignism Trap
Ever wondered why some people say "mojito" with a French 'zh' sound or put on a fake accent for "foyer"? This phenomenon is called hyperforeignism, where our attempts to sound…