The Grammar of ‘Went’: A Tale of Suppletion
Why isn't the past tense of "go" *goed*? The answer lies in a fascinating linguistic phenomenon called suppletion, where a word's inflected form is "substituted" by a word from a…
Linguistics
AI’s Word Boundary Problem
To a computer, what exactly is a "word"? This seemingly simple question opens up the "word boundary problem", a surprisingly complex challenge in AI and linguistics. From handling compound nouns…
Linguistic Passing: The Adopted Accent
Linguistic passing is the conscious act of adopting a new accent, not just to blend in, but to gain social capital or avoid prejudice. This strategic shift in speech reveals…
The Grammar of “Chit-Chat”: Reduplication
From the simple 'bye-bye' in English to the Indonesian *wiku-wiku* (very fast), repeating words is a powerful tool found in languages worldwide. This morphological process, known as reduplication, can create…
Apraxia: The Brain’s Broken Speech Plan
Apraxia of speech is a mysterious neurological condition where the brain knows the perfect word but can't send the right instructions to the mouth. Unlike aphasia, where language is lost,…
Verner’s Law: The Glitch in the System
Grimm's Law neatly explains many sound changes from ancient Proto-Indo-European to Germanic languages, but puzzling exceptions remained a mystery for decades. This post explores Verner's Law, the brilliant discovery that…
The Wanderwort: Words That Travel the World
Explore the fascinating world of "Wanderwörter", or wandering words—terms for tradeable goods like tea, sugar, and silk that crossed entire language families with their cargo. Discover how the story of…
The Verbal Compass: How Rivers Define Direction
Forget North and South. For speakers of some languages, the entire world is oriented not by a magnetic pole, but by the constant, unwavering flow of a river. This "verbal…
Five-Star Lies: The Linguistics of Fake Reviews
Ever wondered if that glowing five-star review is too good to be true? This article delves into the fascinating world of forensic linguistics to reveal the subtle linguistic clues—from pronoun…
The Language of Avoidance: In-Law Tongues
Imagine having to learn a completely separate vocabulary just to be in the same room as your mother-in-law. For speakers of the Australian Aboriginal language Dyirbal, this wasn't a joke—it…
The Tongue’s Blind Spots: Unmakeable Sounds
Your mouth is a remarkable instrument, capable of producing an astonishing range of sounds. But like any instrument, it has physical limits. This exploration of articulatory phonetics reveals the "blind…
How to Own Without ‘Have’: The Be-Languages
In languages like English, you 'have' a book. But in Russian, Irish, or Turkish, you would say "to me there is a book". This fundamental grammatical difference explores the world…
The Dictionary’s Phantom: Hunting for Mountweazels
What if some of the words in your dictionary were complete fabrications, planted by clever editors as copyright traps? These phantom words, known as "mountweazels", have haunted the pages of…
The Unspoken Tutor: How Games Teach Language
How do video games teach us to navigate new worlds and master complex actions without a single word of instruction? They use a powerful, unspoken language built from mechanics, level…
The Scribe’s Mistake: Errors in Medieval Texts
Before the printing press, every book was a handmade original, and every scribe made mistakes. Far from being mere blemishes, these scribal "bloopers" are a treasure trove for historians and…
The Child Who Forgot to Speak: Childhood L1 Attrition
We often worry about losing a second language, but what happens when a child starts to forget their first? First-language attrition is the poignant phenomenon where a child's mother tongue…
The Milliseconds Before You Speak
Before a single sound leaves your lips, your brain performs an incredible series of high-speed calculations. In just a few hundred milliseconds, it races from a vague idea to a…
10 Biases AI Learned From Our Writing
AI models learn language from us, warts and all. From reinforcing gender stereotypes in professions to assuming a Western-centric worldview, the vast library of our writing has baked subtle and…
10 Endangered Scripts to Watch in 2025
Long before a language falls silent, its unique writing system can fade into obscurity. This post explores ten beautiful and endangered scripts, from the vertical Mongolian alphabet to the Philippines'…
10 Game Localization Hurdles for 2025
Translating a video game isn't just about swapping words; it's about rebuilding an entire world for a new audience. From untranslatable puns to UI that breaks under the weight of…