Ever wonder how "aspirin" or "zipper" went from protected trademarks to everyday words? This is "genericide", the high-stakes process where…
Ever cringe when someone says they "literally died laughing"? This common complaint points to a fascinating linguistic process called semantic…
Scientists have peered into the life of Ötzi the Iceman, learning what he ate and how he died. Now, thanks…
Long before Egyptian hieroglyphs, a mysterious Neolithic culture in the Balkans etched thousands of symbols onto clay. These Vinča symbols…
Ever wondered why Spaniards say "there are no Moors on the coast" to mean the coast is clear? Many Spanish…
Georgia doesn't just have one unique alphabet—it has three. This trio of distinct but related scripts, known as Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri,…
Have you ever wondered why so many languages follow a "Subject-Verb-Object" structure? A fascinating theory suggests that grammar wasn't born…
Have you ever wondered why the star Betelgeuse has an Arabic name but sits in a Greek constellation? The night…
Could a nearly extinct language from Siberia be related to Navajo and other Native American languages? The fascinating Dené-Yeniseian hypothesis…
How can a single sound shift the course of a civilization? This article explores Latin rhotacism, the fascinating process where…
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