Linguistics

Linguistic Exaptation Explained

Did you know that your brain never evolved to read? Instead, it brilliantly repurposed areas meant for object recognition to…

1 month ago

Isolate vs. Dialect Continuum

While language isolates like Basque stand as mysterious linguistic islands with no living relatives, dialect continuums show us how languages…

1 month ago

The Phonology of Brand Names

Ever wondered why so many successful brands have names that just *sound* right? From Google to Pepsi, the secret often…

1 month ago

Loanwords vs. Calques

Ever wondered why your French friend says "email" but calls a skyscraper a "gratte-ciel"? Languages borrow from each other in…

1 month ago

Auditory Masking in the City

Ever wondered why a distant siren can slice through city noise, but you can't hear a friend talking right beside…

1 month ago

Grammatical Evaporation

Have you ever wondered why English grammar seems simpler than Latin or German? This phenomenon, known as grammatical evaporation, is…

1 month ago

Quantifying a Dialect’s ‘Distance’

How different are two dialects, really? Linguists can now answer that question with surprising precision. Discover the methods used to…

1 month ago

The Speech of Second Selves

When a shaman or ritualist speaks in a 'spirit language', it isn't random babbling but a fascinating sociolinguistic performance. Even…

1 month ago

The Typo That Survives Extinction

A scribe's error in a single manuscript can be so influential it gets copied for centuries, becoming the "correct" version.…

1 month ago

When Did We Agree on Place Names?

Ever wondered why Bombay became Mumbai, or why The Netherlands is no longer called Holland? The names on our maps…

1 month ago

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