Linguists have always been interested in reconstructing languages from long ago.
By looking at how languages are now, we can work backwards to see how they must have been in the past. But now computer scientists are creating a kind …
Author: Daniel Midgley (page 31 of 41)
In a world of changing values, one set of values has never changed: the point values on Scrabble tiles.
Now word nerd Joshua Lewis has an idea that has some gamers reaching for pitchforks. He suggests changing the scoring values …
Why is language the way it is? Is it in our genes? Or does culture play a role?
Linguists have supposed that we have a language instinct that sets the boundaries on what a possible language is. But the language …
Linguist Daniel Everett has worked with the Pirahã people of the Amazon for decades.
They have an unusual language with no words for numbers or colours. And this language is finding itself at the centre of some explosive claims about …
What’s it like to be a dog?
It’s difficult to say, because they can’t tell us. But recent experiments have shown something about the way dogs group objects into categories, and it’s different from the way human children do it. …
Many of us turn to Wikipedia when learning about something new.
And most major languages have their own Wikipedia. But wikis also come in a few unexpected flavours, including Latin, Old English, and even a few constructed languages.
Linguist Daniel …
Time for our yearly round-up of words that made the news.
Which vocabulary items captured the essence of our time, and which will survive?
Linguist Daniel Midgley brings you the useful, the outrageous, and the awful on this episode of …
Mayan apocalypse? Boring!
Mayan languages? Interesting!
While some people are freaking out about the latest End of the World, you can find out what Mayan languages are like, and how their writing system was deciphered.
Linguist Daniel Midgley takes you …
Is there a difference between because and the shorter, snappier cos?
What’s in the future of swearing?
Our resident linguist Daniel Midgley got a chance to find out all this and more when linguist Kate Burridge was in town. …
We don’t seem to mind when words are created, but who decides when a word should be retired?
This week, the Associated Press decided that it would refrain from using the words homophobia and Islamophobia. What’s behind the change? …
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