Constructing a Field Dictionary from Scratch
Imagine being the first outsider to document a language with no written form. How would you create its first-ever dictionary? From pointing at your nose to defining 'untranslatable' cultural concepts,…
Tag: linguistic relativity
Logophoricity: The Grammar of Point of View
How do we know who "he" is in the sentence "John said he was tired"? While English leaves it ambiguous, many languages have a secret weapon: logophoricity. This fascinating grammatical…
One Slice, One Loaf: The Logic of Measure Words
Ever wondered why you can't say "one rice" in English or "one bread" in Chinese? This post dives into the fascinating world of measure words, or classifiers, exploring how these…
Isolate vs. Dialect Continuum
While language isolates like Basque stand as mysterious linguistic islands with no living relatives, dialect continuums show us how languages can blend seamlessly into one another across vast regions. These…
AI’s Sign Language Problem
We've taught AI to understand our spoken words, but sign language presents a far greater challenge that goes beyond tracking hand gestures. Its complexity relies on a visual grammar of…
The Grammar of a Menu: How Wording Whets the Appetite
Ever wonder why "Grandma's slow-cooked apple pie" sounds more appealing than just "apple pie"? The secret lies in menu engineering, a fascinating field where linguistics and psychology meet to whet…
The Two ‘Haves’ of Irish: Possession as a State
Unlike English, the Irish language doesn't have a single verb for "to have." Instead, to say "I have a book", you say `TΓ‘ leabhar agam`, which literally means "A book…
The Syntax of Silence in Japanese
In Japanese communication, silence is rarely an empty space. This post delves into the "grammar" of ζ²ι» (chinmoku), exploring how a pause can express everything from deep respect and empathy…
The One-Word Language Myth: Yaghan
The viral myth claims *mamihlapinatapai* is an untranslatable Yaghan word for a romantic, unspoken look. The truth, however, is far more interesting: it's a perfect example of a polysynthetic language's…
The Fourth Person: Obviation Explained
Ever get confused when a sentence has too many "he"s or "they"s? Some languages have a brilliant built-in solution for this narrative headache. Discover obviation, the "fourth person" pronoun system…
LTR vs RTL: Why We Read The Way We Do
Ever wondered why English is read left-to-right, but Arabic and Hebrew are read right-to-left? The answer is a fascinating journey involving stone chisels, smudged ink, and the incredible adaptability of…
The Grammar of Your Thoughts
Did you know the way you structure a sentence can reveal your deepest cognitive patterns? Our language isn't just for communicating with others; itβs a living blueprint of our inner…
Sacred Tongues: Language & Religion
From the intricate vibrations of Sanskrit mantras to the linguistic inimitability of the Quran, a language can become more than a tool for communicationβit can be seen as the very…
The Wolof Pronoun System
In many languages, pronouns are simple stand-ins like 'I' or 'they'. But in Wolof, a major language of West Africa, pronouns are powerhouses that also tell you *when* an action…
Finland’s “Possessive Suffixes”
In English, we say 'my house', but Finnish takes a more intimate approach. Instead of a separate word for 'my', ownership is baked directly into the noun as a suffix,…
The Three Genders of Dyirbal
Ever heard of a language that groups women, fire, and dangerous things into a single grammatical category? Dive into the fascinating world of Dyirbal, an Australian Aboriginal language whose unique…
The ‘We’ of Two vs. The ‘We’ of All
Most languages count one and many, but what about a number for precisely two? Discover the "grammatical dual", a lost feature of Old English that survives in languages like Slovene…
The Inuktitut “Word-Sentences”
Imagine a language where "I don't hear very well" isn't a sentence, but a single, perfectly grammatical word. Welcome to the fascinating world of Inuktitut, a polysynthetic language that challenges…
Writing Your Voice: The Blissymbols System
Dive into the world of Blissymbols, a fascinating ideographic writing system designed as a universal language. Explore its logical grammar, where simple symbols for "house" and "protection" combine to create…
The Grammar of Evidentials in Quechua
In Quechua, itβs grammatically impossible to state a fact without also specifying how you know it. This fascinating system of "evidentiality" uses suffixes like -mi (for direct experience), -si (for…