Is there anything that all human languages have in common?
With all the diversity in the world’s languages, a true universal is hard to find. But new research has unearthed a principle involving the distances between words, and this discovery …
Category: cognition (page 4 of 6)
For this episode, we’re reaching deep into the newsbag, and showing what’s new in the world of linguistics.
What is the War on Women’s Voices? Is a popular toy spouting obscenities? And how did the language of trade floor speculation …
Where did Indo-European come from?
It’s a controversial question that has set linguist against linguist for generations. But now DNA evidence is providing clues.
Linguist Luisa Miceli is in the studio with Daniel and Ben on this episode of Talk …
We get questions from our many listeners. And we have answers.
Do the languages of the world form a continuous chain? And isn’t it possible that language influences thought by the words we use?
Linguist Daniel Midgley tells all on …
Do you like long discussions or heavy conversations?
If you understood that, you’re good at metaphors. They help us express ourselves, and even understand things. But what’s happening in our brains when we hear them? And can metaphors change our …
Anyone who’s tried to learn a foreign language knows that it can take a lot of work.
Yet children seem to learn languages easily. How do they do it? And why should you try learning a language?
Linguist Daniel Midgley…
Some words and sentences are ambiguous — they could be taken more than one way.
And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Or is it? Does ambiguity make language difficult to understand? Or could it actually make communicating easier?
Linguist Daniel …
Does the world look different if you speak a different language?
Can we tell what someone’s culture is like, just from the structure of their syntax?
For linguists, the answers are no. And no.
John McWhorter is the author of …
Even if you’re great at understanding the words to songs, you’ve probably encountered mondegreens.
They’re misheard song lyrics, and they can be funny, bizarre, and sometimes better then the real thing. Why do they happen, and what can they …
Do you like rubber baby buggy bumpers? Or big black bug’s blood?
Tongue twisters are fun, but they’re also a serious area of study. MIT researchers think they may have found the world’s toughest tongue twister. Why are tongue twisters …
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- CBAA Awards 2018: Best Radio Program — Talk
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- Talkley Award 2018
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