Sociolinguistics

Spain’s Secret Lexicon: The Influence of Caló

Ever wondered where cool Spanish slang words like 'currar' (to work) or 'molar' (to be cool) come from? The answer…

3 weeks ago

Leísmo, Laísmo, Loísmo: Spain’s Pronoun War

In the world of Spanish grammar, a quiet war rages on. The combatants are three tiny pronouns—le, la, and lo—and…

3 weeks ago

The Upside-Down Question Mark’s Origin

Why is Spanish the only major language to use inverted question marks (¿) and exclamation marks (¡)? This unique punctuation…

3 weeks ago

The Ghost of Spanish in the Philippines

For over 300 years, Spanish was the official language of the Philippines, but today it is a linguistic ghost. Its…

3 weeks ago

Language vs. Dialect: Who Decides the Line?

What's the real difference between a language and a dialect? The answer has less to do with linguistics than you…

3 weeks ago

Why Do Old Movies Sound So Weird?

Ever wonder why stars like Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant spoke with that peculiar, half-British accent in old movies? This…

3 weeks ago

The Art of Interrupting in Sign Language

In spoken language, interruption means talking over someone. But how do you interrupt in a visual language like ASL? We…

3 weeks ago

Algospeak: The Internet’s Evolving Code Language

Ever wondered why online comments use bizarre words like "seggs" or "unalive"? This is "algospeak", a secret cryptolect constantly evolving…

3 weeks ago

The Glottal Stop: A Ghost in the Machine

It’s the subtle catch in your throat in the middle of "uh-oh" or the defining feature of a Cockney accent…

3 weeks ago

Bilingual Aphasia: The Lost Language Puzzle

What happens when a bilingual person suffers brain damage and loses one of their languages, but not the other? This…

3 weeks ago

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