semantics

The Gestural Lexicon: When Hand Signs Become Words

We do it without thinking: a thumbs-up for a job well done, a wave to say hello. But these hand…

3 weeks ago

The Chinese Room: Can a Machine Ever Understand?

John Searle's famous "Chinese Room" thought experiment poses a timeless challenge to the idea of a truly thinking machine. By…

3 weeks ago

Is Music a Language? A Linguistic Breakdown

We call music a "universal language," but can it truly communicate like one? This deep dive compares the notes and…

3 weeks ago

The Unseen World of Linguistic Annotation: The Human Hands Behind AI Language Models

** Before an AI can understand language, a human has to teach it. This work is done by linguistic annotators,…

3 weeks ago

The Hidden Verbs of Persuasion: How Advertising Language Gets Inside Your Head

Every word in an advertisement is chosen with surgical precision. Beyond marketing psychology, specific linguistic tricks—from "weasel words" like 'helps'…

3 weeks ago

Tasting the Word ‘Tuesday’: The Extraordinary World of Lexical-Gustatory Synesthesia

What does the word 'Tuesday' taste like to you? For most of us, the question is nonsensical, but for individuals…

3 weeks ago

The “If” That Changes Everything: How Counterfactuals and the Subjunctive Mood Built Science

What if the ability to say "if" was a prerequisite for science itself? This post explores how counterfactuals and the…

3 weeks ago

Building Languages for Machines: The Linguistic Principles Behind Programming Languages

We think of Python or Java as "computer languages," but they are fundamentally constructed languages built on core linguistic principles.…

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 Ghost in the Machine: How Linguists Teach Computers to Understand Ambiguity

Ever wonder how your phone knows you mean the band Queen, not a monarch? This post explores the linguistic challenge…

3 weeks ago

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