Imagine being the first outsider to document a language with no written form. How would you create its first-ever dictionary?…
How do we know who "he" is in the sentence "John said he was tired"? While English leaves it ambiguous,…
Ever wondered why you can't say "one rice" in English or "one bread" in Chinese? This post dives into the…
Beyond the cards and chips, the poker table is a battlefield of language where every action is a speech act.…
Imagine a speaker in a new language points to a rabbit and says "gavagai." How do you know if it…
Language sounds are always in flux, but where do new ones come from? This article explores the fascinating linguistic process…
Behold the German word Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän. Far from being a chaotic jumble of letters, this linguistic titan is a masterclass in…
Ever wondered why your French friend says "email" but calls a skyscraper a "gratte-ciel"? Languages borrow from each other in…
When a shaman or ritualist speaks in a 'spirit language', it isn't random babbling but a fascinating sociolinguistic performance. Even…
Ever wonder why "Grandma's slow-cooked apple pie" sounds more appealing than just "apple pie"? The secret lies in menu engineering,…
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