Why do all human languages resemble each other? And how do children learn language so fast?
For many linguists, the answer is Universal Grammar. It’s one of the biggest ideas in linguistics, but now it might possibly be coming unstuck. …
Category: world languages (page 3 of 4)
Language learning is important. Loads of kids are taking languages other than English (or LOTE). Lots of people are teaching them.
But for all that, we’re just not learning them. So why not? Are we doing it wrong? Not starting …
What’s going to happen to French?
We’re getting conflicting reports. While English-speaking pundits gloat over the decline in French influence, population shifts may see French becoming the next big thing. And French still has a lot of prestige. So what’s …
Can our language tell us if we’re not well?
The words we use can reveal a lot of social information. But in the future, computers will examine our words to detect mental illnesses like dementia and motor neuron disease — even …
Swedish is a great language, and we have a lot of questions about it.
What about its unusual and hard-to-pronounce sounds? Why are people in Sweden so good at learning English? And are we going to see the emergence of Swinglish …
Brand names can get lost in translation.
When a company tries to market a product overseas, sometimes the result is international zany hijinks ahoy. But not all the stories are true — there are plenty of urban legends around. Who …
Hinglish. It’s not Hindi. It’s not English. So what is it?
It’s a hybrid language spoken by about 350 million Indian people. And it’s getting bigger all the time. But what’s it like, and what function does it have for …
Why do words appear the way they do?
Why aren’t words the same in every language?
Sometimes it doesn’t seem to make any sense. But new research shows that maybe language is not as arbitrary as it seems.
Linguist Daniel …
When we think of endangered languages, we tend to think of those with a small number of speakers in remote areas.
We don’t usually think of Cantonese.
And yet this language with millions of speakers on multiple continents is facing …
Human language isn’t all about speech — some communication happens by whistling.
Whistled languages are found around the world, and they give us a chance to learn about language and the brain. How do they work? And why are they …
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- CBAA Awards 2018: Best Radio Program — Talk
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- Talkley Award 2018
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