vocabulary

The Viking’s Echo: When Icelandic Met Norwegian

What happens when a language preserved in a 1,000-year-old time capsule re-encounters its rapidly evolved cousin? The meeting of Icelandic…

3 weeks ago

AI’s Word Boundary Problem

To a computer, what exactly is a "word"? This seemingly simple question opens up the "word boundary problem", a surprisingly…

3 weeks ago

The Language of Avoidance: In-Law Tongues

Imagine having to learn a completely separate vocabulary just to be in the same room as your mother-in-law. For speakers…

3 weeks ago

The Ghost of Spanish in the Philippines

For over 300 years, Spanish was the official language of the Philippines, but today it is a linguistic ghost. Its…

3 weeks ago

The Linguist Who Caught the Unabomber

For 17 years, the Unabomber was a ghost, but his most powerful weapon—a 35,000-word manifesto—became his undoing. This is the…

3 weeks ago

When English Met French

The Norman Conquest of 1066 wasn't just a military victory; it was a linguistic collision that created a centuries-long class…

3 weeks ago

The Final Boss: Untranslatable Puns

You can conjugate verbs and debate politics, but can you understand a pun in your target language? This article breaks…

3 weeks ago

Language Ghosts: L2 to L3 Interference

Ever tried to speak your third language, only for a word from your second language to slip out? This phenomenon,…

3 weeks ago

English Doublets: Words That Deceive

** Have you ever wondered why *shirt* and *skirt* sound so similar? They are "etymological doublets"—words from the same root…

3 weeks ago

Herein, Aforesaid, Notwithstanding: Why Legal Language Is a Language of Its Own

Have you ever felt lost reading a contract full of words like "aforesaid" and "notwithstanding"? This is "legalese," a unique…

3 weeks ago

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