Unlocking the Universe of Languages
Discover the fascinating linguistic journey of Adyghe, a complex Northwest Caucasian language that traveled from the Russian city of Maykop to the Middle East during the 19th-century Circassian exile. We…
Explore the fascinating linguistic history of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where a unique dialect of Scottish Gaelic has survived for centuries after the Highland Clearances. We delve into how this…
While fans of *Outlander* fell in love with possible Gaelic phrases, the true history of the language involves a dramatic fight for survival against the devastation of the Highland Clearances…
Discover the incredible history of the Dainu skapis, a 19th-century card catalog built by Krišjānis Barons that houses over 200,000 Latvian folk songs. Learn how this massive "proto-database" of oral…
For centuries, the Fula language, spoken by over 40 million people, lacked its own native script. In the 1980s, two teenage brothers in Guinea decided to change that, inventing a…
Beyond the major Slavic languages like Russian and Polish lie hidden linguistic gems on the brink of extinction. Discover the unique beauty of tongues like Kashubian, Sorbian, and Rusyn, each…
In 1974, UNESCO declared the Manx language extinct with the death of its last native speaker, Ned Maddrell. Yet, this was not the end but the beginning of an extraordinary…
Not all of Rome's linguistic children are thriving like Spanish or French. We shine a light on endangered Romance languages like Aragonese, Picard, and Istriot, telling the stories of their…
Colonial-era dictionaries and grammars, once crafted as tools of control to convert and assimilate Indigenous peoples, carry a profound irony. Today, these same historical documents are being reclaimed by Indigenous…
Journey beyond the familiar and discover languages that defy expectations, from a whistled language that echoes through Canary Island valleys to a Dagestani tongue where a single verb can have…
Ever wondered about the difference between Irish and Scottish Gaelic? This guide introduces the three living Gaelic languages—Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx—exploring their shared history, unique sounds, and vibrant modern…
Deep in the Siberian wilderness, the Ket language is the last of its kind, a linguistic island with a mind-bendingly complex grammar. More than a curiosity, it holds the key…
Imagine learning a language with no alphabet, no dictionary, and no textbooks. This is the challenge for field linguists who document the world's unwritten tongues, relying on pure auditory skill…
Journey to the coast of British Columbia to discover X̱aad Kíl, the Haida language. A true linguistic isolate with a symphony of unique consonants and verbs that paint entire pictures,…
Deep within modern Germany, a Slavic language called Sorbian holds onto a grammatical feature lost by almost all others: the rare dual number. This unique way of speaking, which distinguishes…
Belgium's linguistic landscape is famously divided, but beyond French and Dutch lies Walloon, a distinct Romance language with deep historical roots. This post explores its unique features that separate it…
What happens when a language’s last fluent speaker passes away? For the Myaamia people, this was not an ending but the beginning of an extraordinary journey. This is the story…
Long before a language falls silent, its unique writing system can fade into obscurity. This post explores ten beautiful and endangered scripts, from the vertical Mongolian alphabet to the Philippines'…
Once officially declared extinct after the death of its last native speaker in the 18th century, the Cornish language (Kernewek) has experienced a remarkable revival against all odds. This is…
While the revival of Hebrew is a celebrated success, the path of language revitalization is often fraught with failure. The hard truth is that most efforts face immense challenges, from…