Linguistics

Are You a Robot? The Grammar of CAPTCHA

From warped text to "select all images with traffic lights", how does a CAPTCHA test for humanity? These web security…

3 weeks ago

The Logic of Autocorrect

Why does your phone insist on changing "well" to "we'll", yet hilariously fumbles simple words? The answer lies not in…

3 weeks ago

Why Can’t Your Dog Say ‘Pizza’?

Ever wonder why your dog can't just ask for a slice of pizza? The answer lies not in their intelligence,…

3 weeks ago

Why is ‘You Guys’ a Pronoun Now?

Ever wonder how 'you guys' became the go-to way to address a group, even a group of women? This phrase…

3 weeks ago

The Sound of a Vowel: What Are Formants?

Why does an 'ee' sound so different from an 'oo', even when sung at the exact same pitch? The secret…

3 weeks ago

How Do We Read Without Saying Words Aloud?

Have you ever noticed the quiet voice in your head that reads along with your eyes? This internal narrator, known…

3 weeks ago

How Does Stress Change a Word’s Meaning in English?

What's the difference between 'a rebel' and 'to rebel'? Just a tiny shift in emphasis. This seemingly small detail, known…

3 weeks ago

Why Do Some Languages Use Postpositions?

Ever wondered why Japanese speakers say "box in" instead of "in the box"? This seemingly small difference is no accident;…

3 weeks ago

What Is a ‘Construct State’ in Hebrew and Arabic?

In English, we say 'the king's house', but what if you could fuse the words into a single concept like…

3 weeks ago

When Did English Lose Its Grammatical Gender?

Old English once had a complex system of masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns, much like modern German. This all changed…

3 weeks ago

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