comparative method

East vs. West vs. South Slavic: What’s the Difference?

The Slavic languages are a sprawling family, divided into East, West, and South branches. But what does that split actually…

1 week ago

When Did Slavic Languages Separate?

Ever wonder how Polish and Russian, while related, became so different? The story begins with a single language, Proto-Slavic, and…

1 week ago

Can Slavic Speakers Understand Each Other?

Can a Pole successfully order a beer in Slovakia? We explore the fascinating world of Slavic mutual intelligibility, testing the…

1 week ago

The Origins of Slavic: A Journey Back in Time

Ever wondered how Russian, Polish, and Croatian can be so different yet so similar? We journey back 1500 years to…

1 week ago

The Balto-Slavic Mystery: Are They Siblings or Cousins?

A Lithuanian and a Pole can't understand each other, so why do linguists insist their languages are close relatives? We…

1 week ago

Japanese vs. Chinese: Are They Even Related?

At a glance, Japanese and Chinese look incredibly similar due to their shared characters, leading many to believe they are…

1 week ago

The ‘Defective’ Verb: When Grammar Has Gaps

Ever wondered why you can say 'I am running' but not 'I am musting'? These grammatical black holes are the…

1 week ago

The A-Not-A Question Structure

Many languages, like Mandarin Chinese, form yes-no questions without words for "yes" or "no." Instead, they use the ingenious "A-not-A"…

1 week ago

Linguistic Taphonomy: Word Decay

Just as paleontologists study fossils to understand ancient life, we can explore the fossils in our own language. Linguistic taphonomy…

1 week ago

The Sadesan Hoax: A Language That Never Was

In the early days of the internet, a mysterious language called Sadesan appeared, promising a lost branch of the Indo-European…

3 months ago

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