Kusunda: The Ghost Language of Nepal
Once believed to be extinct, the Kusunda language of Nepal is a true linguistic ghost, with no known relatives in the world. Spoken by only a handful of people, its…
Endangered Languages
The Language of North Sentinel Island
On a remote island lives a people who have rejected all contact with the modern world. Their language, Sentinelese, is the ultimate linguistic black box, a complete mystery to science.…
The Siberian-American Language Bridge
Could a nearly extinct language from Siberia be related to Navajo and other Native American languages? The fascinating Dené-Yeniseian hypothesis proposes a direct linguistic link across the Bering Strait, telling…
The Emperor’s Fading Echo: The Precarious Survival of the Manchu Language
Once the official language of China's last imperial dynasty, Manchu is now on the verge of extinction with only a handful of native speakers left. This is the story of…
The World’s Smallest Languages: When a Language Has Fewer Than 10 Speakers
What happens when a language's entire world can fit into a single room? We explore the most extreme cases of language endangerment, from the Tolowa Dee-ni' in the US to…
Reading the Landscape: How Forgotten Languages Are Fossilized in Place Names
What if the map on your wall was a Rosetta Stone, holding the key to forgotten languages and ancient migrations? The study of toponymy reveals that the names of our…
The First-Contact Linguist: The Ethical Tightrope of Studying a Previously Uncontacted People’s Language
What are the ethical responsibilities of a linguist who is the first outsider to document a language from a previously uncontacted people? This article explores the high-stakes world of first-contact…
The Ainu Language: A Linguistic Island in Japan
On the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, a language isolate with no known relatives is fighting for survival. The Ainu language, with its unique polysynthetic grammar and rich oral traditions…
The Language Catchers: Racing Against Time to Document Endangered Tongues
Every two weeks, a language dies, taking with it a unique way of seeing the world. Meet the "Language Catchers," modern-day linguists racing against time with digital tools and deep…
Resurrecting Dead Languages: A Journey into Linguistic Archaeology
Linguistics, in the simplest sense, is the study of languages. But what happens when the language itself has been lost to time, when there are...
Preserving Endangered Languages: An Urgent Quest for Linguistic Diversity
Every language encapsulates a unique world view, an intricate tapestry of culture, history, and identity. However, many of these linguistic gems are rapidly disappearing, falling...