Linguistic Typology

The Final Word: Verb Chaining in Papuan Languages

Imagine a sentence that lists a dozen actions before revealing the main verb at the very end. This is the…

1 week ago

One Verb, Many Actions: The Grammar of Plurality

Some languages don't just make nouns plural; they can make verbs plural to show repeated or distributed action. This fascinating…

1 week ago

Indo-European vs. Sino-Tibetan Compared

A deep dive into the world's two largest language families, revealing their core architectural differences. We explore how Indo-European languages…

1 week ago

The Uncrackable Language: The Pirahã Debate

The Pirahã language of the Amazon defies nearly every rule of "universal grammar", sparking one of modern linguistics' fiercest debates.…

2 weeks ago

The Amazon’s Verbal Art: The World of Hixkaryana

Journey to the Amazon basin to explore Hixkaryana, one of the few confirmed languages with a default Object-Verb-Subject (OVS) word…

2 weeks ago

The World’s Tonal Atlas: Where Pitch is Meaning

Imagine if saying "horse" with a rising pitch turned it into "mother." For over half the world's population, this isn't…

2 weeks ago

The Inward Breath: The World of Implosive Sounds

While most consonants are made by pushing air out, a fascinating category of sounds called implosives does the exact opposite.…

2 weeks ago

The Real Difference Between Chinese and Korean

At a glance, Chinese and Korean can seem related due to their geographic proximity and shared vocabulary. However, these two…

2 weeks ago

One Idea, Many Mouths: A Global Idiom Tour

Instead of focusing on one language, this post takes universal concepts—like heavy rain or a revealed secret—and explores the wildly…

2 weeks ago

The Middle Voice: Neither Active nor Passive

We're all familiar with the active voice ("I wash the car") and the passive voice ("The car is washed"). But…

2 weeks ago

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