Speaking Without a Tongue: A Linguistic Miracle
What happens when the tongue, our primary tool for speech, is lost? This article explores the linguistic miracle of glossectomy speech, where individuals recruit new parts of their vocal tract—from…
Language Stories
Articles in the Language Stories series
The Surgeon and the Lexicographer: The Unlikely Genius Who Built the OED From an Asylum
The creation of the Oxford English Dictionary relied on thousands of volunteers, but none were as brilliant or enigmatic as Dr. W.C. Minor. From his cell in the Broadmoor Asylum…
The Curious Case of the Green Children of Woolpit
In the annals of history, there are tales so strange that they seem more like fiction than fact. One such story is the curious case...
Language Stories: The Great Emu War of Languages
Among the myriad anecdotes about languages, none encapsulates the eccentricity and wonder of linguistic evolution quite like the story of the word “emu”. A fascinating...
Language Stories: The Great ‘Eskimo Snow Words’ Debate
Among the many charming anecdotes in the world of linguistics, the ‘Eskimo Snow Words’ story holds a position of considerable prominence. A tale as beguiling...
The Tower of Babel and the Mystical Roots of Linguistic Diversity
The story begins in a place shrouded in antiquity, a fertile landscape between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the cradle of civilization itself – ancient...