When Amos Tutuola published *The Palm-Wine Drinkard* in 1952, its "broken" English was celebrated abroad but scorned as a national…
Explore the sociopolitical story of Singlish, Singapore's vibrant creole, and its decades-long clash with the government's official "Speak Good English…
Ever wonder why some people say ''ouse' instead of 'house'? In the 1970s, sociolinguist Peter Trudgill conducted a groundbreaking study…
Meet Elias Lönnrot, the 19th-century Finnish physician who traveled thousands of kilometers on foot and ski to collect the fading…
The Welsh 'll' is more than just a tricky sound for language learners; it's a voiceless fricative with a deep…
The word 'spinster' didn't always evoke images of a lonely old maid. It originally meant a woman who spun thread…
Mednyj Aleut is a rare "mixed language" from the Commander Islands that defies typical linguistic classification. It was created by…
For centuries, the Fula language, spoken by over 40 million people, lacked its own native script. In the 1980s, two…
When a shaman or ritualist speaks in a 'spirit language', it isn't random babbling but a fascinating sociolinguistic performance. Even…
Ever wondered why Bombay became Mumbai, or why The Netherlands is no longer called Holland? The names on our maps…
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