In English, you can talk about "a hand" as a detached object. But in many languages, the rules of grammar…
Did you know that some languages get by perfectly without sounds we consider fundamental, like the 'p' in 'puppy'? This…
Why can you say "three dogs" in English, but speakers of Chinese, Japanese, and Mayan languages must use a special…
What if you couldn't say "one", "two", or "three"? For anumeric cultures in the Amazon and beyond, this is a…
How would you describe a "big red ball" in a language with no words for "big" or "red"? Many languages…
Journey to the Omo Valley to meet the Dhaasanac people of Ethiopia, whose language defies easy categorization. Instead of marking…
Is your target language a "Lego" language or a "sculpture" language? This practical framework introduces language typology (isolating, agglutinative, fusional)…
Ever wonder why English sounds rhythmically different from Spanish or Japanese? The answer lies in a fascinating linguistic concept: the…
In languages from Thailand to Ghana, you can say "go buy bring the book" and be perfectly grammatical. This fascinating…
We all know onomatopoeia, but many languages have something far richer: ideophones. These "adverbs of the senses" don't just mimic…
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