Linguistics

Why You ‘Talk’ to Your Pet: The Grammar of Anthro-Speak

Ever wonder why you talk to your pet in a high-pitched, sing-song voice? This unique way of communicating, known as…

3 months ago

The Color of a Consonant: Grapheme-Color Synesthesia

For people with grapheme-color synesthesia, letters and numbers aren't just black marks on a page—they have their own inherent, vivid…

3 months ago

The Ghost of a Verb: How Words Become Grammar

Ever wonder how the word "will" came to signal the future? This linguistic magic trick is called grammaticalization, a process…

3 months ago

Why We Call It Japan, Not Nippon

Why do we call the "Land of the Rising Sun" Japan instead of its native Nippon? This linguistic puzzle opens…

3 months ago

The Case of the Stolen Letter: Compensatory Lengthening

In the history of language, sounds can vanish without a trace. Or can they? This post explores compensatory lengthening, the…

3 months ago

The Sentence That Attacks Itself: Center-Embedding

The sentence "The rat the cat the dog chased ate died" is perfectly grammatical, yet it feels like a cognitive…

3 months ago

The Language of Loss: Linguistic Patterns in Dementia

Dementia does more than steal memories; it systematically unravels the very fabric of language. This post explores the specific linguistic…

3 months ago

The Limits of Truth: What Are Vague Predicates?

When does a 'heap' of sand stop being a heap after you remove one grain at a time? This is…

3 months ago

Linguistic Implicature: What We Mean, Not What We Say

Have you ever understood someone's "no" even when they didn't say the word? This is linguistic implicature, the art of…

3 months ago

The Logic of ‘Doch’: Germany’s Magic Word

German learners are often baffled by tiny words like 'doch'. This post unpacks the world of German modal particles, the…

3 months ago

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