The Vai Script: A Dreamed-Up Alphabet
In the 1830s, an illiterate Vai man in West Africa named Momolu Duwalu Bukele had a vivid dream where he was shown a book of symbols. Inspired by this vision…
Tag: 19th century
Said the Blind Man: The Lost Art of the Wellerism
Uncover the Wellerism, a quirky three-part joke format that owes its name to a character in Charles Dickens's *The Pickwick Papers*. This lost art of humor pits common sayings against…
The Dutch Door: Japan’s Hidden Language Bridge
For over two centuries, Japan was sealed from the world. Yet, on the tiny island of Dejima, a single language—Dutch—became a secret bridge, funneling Western science and ideas into the…
How Do We Name a Hurricane?
Ever wondered why storms are named Katrina or Ian, and not Kevin? The process is a fascinating blend of history, linguistic strategy, and cultural sensitivity, managed by the World Meteorological…
When Did “Hello” Become the Standard Greeting?
"Hello" is so common we rarely question its origin, but it wasn't always our go-to greeting. This now-ubiquitous word exploded in popularity due to the invention of the telephone and…
Russenorsk: The Lost Arctic Pidgin
For 150 years, Russian fishermen and Norwegian merchants in the Arctic communicated in a unique pidgin language: Russenorsk. This fascinating trade language, which blended Russian and Norwegian with a simplified…
The Brain’s Language Switch: Broca’s vs. Wernicke’s Area
Meet the two superstars of your brain's language network: Broca's area and Wernicke's area. One acts as the architect, building grammatical sentences and producing speech, while the other is the…
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 spirit survives not in widespread fluency, but in the unique…
Mapping the Mouth: The Genius of the IPA
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a universal system for transcribing the sounds of any language with scientific precision. Born out of the need to solve the chaos of inconsistent…
The Life and Death of a Brand Name Word
Ever wonder how "aspirin" or "zipper" went from protected trademarks to everyday words? This is "genericide", the high-stakes process where a brand name becomes so famous it loses its legal…
The Code of Touch: How Louis Braille’s Fingers Forged a Universal Language for the Blind
Discover the genius of Braille, a revolutionary writing system born from a French teenager's ingenuity. We explore how its simple six-dot cell unlocked literacy for millions, transcending language and culture…
The Surgeon and the Lexicographer: The Unlikely Genius Who Built the OED From an Asylum
The creation of the Oxford English Dictionary relied on thousands of volunteers, but none were as brilliant or enigmatic as Dr. W.C. Minor. From his cell in the Broadmoor Asylum…
Sequoyah and the Birth of Written Cherokee
In a world where written language is commonplace, it’s easy to forget the profound impact of developing a writing system. One of the most extraordinary...
Language Stories: Darwin and the Birth of Ethnolinguistics
The narrative of Charles Darwin’s voyage aboard the HMS Beagle, while famous for its contributions to evolutionary biology, is seldom explored from the viewpoint of...