Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

The Cuttlefish’s Skin: A Visual Language?

Cuttlefish skin is a canvas of mesmerizing, rapid-fire patterns. But is this complex display merely sophisticated camouflage, or could it…

3 weeks ago

A Thousand Grains of Rice: The World of Classifiers

Why can you say "three dogs" in English, but speakers of Chinese, Japanese, and Mayan languages must use a special…

3 weeks ago

The Grammar of Tics: The Linguistics of Tourette’s

Beyond the sensationalized stereotypes, Tourette's Syndrome offers a profound and involuntary window into the brain's language factory. The vocal tics…

3 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

The RAE vs. ‘Todes’: A Language Standoff

A linguistic battle is raging across the Spanish-speaking world, pitting the prestigious Real Academia EspaƱola (RAE) against a powerful grassroots…

3 weeks ago

Can a Language Have No Adjectives?

How would you describe a "big red ball" in a language with no words for "big" or "red"? Many languages…

3 weeks ago

Kusunda: The Ghost Language of Nepal

Once believed to be extinct, the Kusunda language of Nepal is a true linguistic ghost, with no known relatives in…

3 weeks ago

The Language of Fandom: From Headcanon to Ship

Ever stumbled into an online discussion about your favorite show and felt like you needed a translator? You've just encountered…

3 weeks ago

AI’s Linguistic Blind Spots

AI language models can write poetry and translate languages, but their impressive abilities mask significant linguistic blind spots. Inheriting biases…

3 weeks ago

The Foreign-Language Effect: Thinking Rationally

Research suggests that thinking in a second language can reduce our emotional biases and override flawed mental shortcuts. This "foreign-language…

3 weeks ago

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