How Persian Lost Its Gender
Modern Persian, or Farsi, is famously gender-neutral, but its ancestor, Old Persian, was not. This post explores the fascinating linguistic journey of how Persian shed its masculine, feminine, and neuter…
Historical Linguistics
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 due to centuries of intense contact with Old Norse-speaking Vikings,…
The Sound of Old English: How Was Beowulf Spoken?
We can read the words of Beowulf, but what did this ancient ancestor of English actually sound like? By using linguistic reconstruction, we can uncover the lost phonetics of Old…
How Do New Signs Get Created in ASL?
American Sign Language is a living, evolving system, not a static code. The process of creating new signs for modern concepts like 'selfie' or 'Facebook' is a fascinating blend of…
“Correcting” a Language: A Brief History
Ever wonder why we have "correct" spelling and grammar? These rules aren't timeless truths but were forged by powerful forces like the printing press, national academies, and ambitious reformers. We…
A Guide to Sino-Tibetan Languages
Journey into the Sino-Tibetan language family, a vast linguistic world of over 400 languages spoken by 1.4 billion people. From the tones of Mandarin to the scripts of Tibetan and…
A Guide to Slavic Languages
** Dive into the fascinating world of Slavic languages, a family that connects over 300 million speakers from Prague to Vladivostok. This guide explores their common origins, the three major…
The Gaelic Languages Explained
Ever wondered about the difference between Irish and Scottish Gaelic? This guide introduces the three living Gaelic languages—Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx—exploring their shared history, unique sounds, and vibrant modern…
How ‘V’ and ‘B’ Became One in Spanish
Ever wondered why 'vaca' and 'boca' sound identical in Spanish, despite the different spellings? This isn't a mistake but a fascinating piece of linguistic history called Betacism, a sound merger…
The Secret Marriage of Letters
Have you ever noticed how the letters 'f' and 'i' sometimes merge into a single, elegant character? This is a ligature, the secret marriage of letters, with a history stretching…
The Birth Certificate of French
The Oaths of Strasbourg, a 9th-century military pact, are often called the "birth certificate" of the French language. Sworn in the vernacular tongues of two armies, the document contains the…
The Birth of a Question Mark
The question mark seems like a fundamental part of writing, but it wasn't always there. This ubiquitous symbol of curiosity has a fascinating and debated history, evolving from a simple…
The Death of ‘Thou’: A Social Revolution
The disappearance of 'thou' from common usage wasn't just a linguistic spring-cleaning; it was a quiet revolution. This shift from a two-tiered system of pronouns to a universal 'you' reflects…
The Typo That Became a Word: The Story of ‘Syllabus’
Ever wondered where the word 'syllabus' comes from? The answer is a fascinating journey involving ancient Roman scrolls, a 15th-century typo, and the peculiar linguistic phenomenon of "ghost words". Discover…
The One-Letter Word: The Story of ‘O’
Did you know one of the most powerful words in the English language is just a single letter? From ancient Roman orators to Shakespearean heroes, the word 'O' is a…
The Chinook Jargon: Language of the Pacific Fur Trade
For over a century, a unique pidgin language connected Indigenous peoples, Europeans, and Asians along the Pacific Northwest coast. Known as Chinook Jargon, this streamlined trade language blended words from…
The Language of the Looms: Jacquard’s Code
Long before Silicon Valley, a different kind of code was being written—not in silicon, but in cardboard and thread. The Jacquard loom's punched cards formed a tangible, woven grammar, a…
Hidden Cousins: Cognates That Look Like Strangers
We’ve all heard of "false friends"—words that look the same in different languages but mean different things. But what about the opposite? This linguistic detective story uncovers the "hidden cousins"…
Echoes in the Dark: The Linguistics of Coincidence
Why do Japanese arigatō and Portuguese obrigado sound so similar? While it's tempting to invent a story of ancient contact, the real reason is far more fascinating. This article dives…
From Insult to Honor: The Journey of Amelioration
While many words degrade, some do the opposite in a process called amelioration. This post explores the linguistic glow-up of words like 'nice' (from 'ignorant') and 'geek' (from 'circus freak').…