amazonian languages

The Uncrackable Language: The Pirahã Debate

The Pirahã language of the Amazon defies nearly every rule of "universal grammar", sparking one of modern linguistics' fiercest debates.…

2 weeks ago

The Amazon’s Verbal Art: The World of Hixkaryana

Journey to the Amazon basin to explore Hixkaryana, one of the few confirmed languages with a default Object-Verb-Subject (OVS) word…

2 weeks ago

Linguistic Exogamy: Marrying Out to Survive

In certain Amazonian societies, there's a strict rule: you cannot marry someone who speaks your own language. This practice, known…

2 weeks ago

How to Count Without Numbers

What if you couldn't say "one", "two", or "three"? For anumeric cultures in the Amazon and beyond, this is a…

3 weeks ago

I Heard, I Saw, I Inferred: The Linguistic World of Evidentials

In English, we use optional phrases like "I heard" or "I saw" to show how we know something. But in…

3 weeks ago

The Language That Broke the Rules: Daniel Everett and the Pirahã Controversy

Deep in the Amazon, linguist Daniel Everett encountered a language that seemed to break all the rules. His claim that…

3 weeks ago

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