Syntax

The Inuktitut “Word-Sentences”

Imagine a language where "I don't hear very well" isn't a sentence, but a single, perfectly grammatical word. Welcome to…

1 month ago

The Sentence That Never Ends

Have you ever heard the nursery rhyme about the house that Jack built, where each line adds a new layer…

1 month ago

The Sentence That Never Ends

Have you ever heard the nursery rhyme about the house that Jack built, where each line adds a new layer…

1 month ago

The Un-Passive Voice: The Antipassive Construction

You know the passive voice, but have you ever heard of its bizarre mirror image? The antipassive construction, found in…

1 month ago

The Fossilized Question: Grammaticalization of Verbs

When you ask, "Do you speak English?", what is the word 'do' really doing? This seemingly simple word is actually…

1 month ago

The A-Not-A Question Structure

Many languages, like Mandarin Chinese, form yes-no questions without words for "yes" or "no." Instead, they use the ingenious "A-not-A"…

1 month ago

AI’s Language Puzzle: Who Has the Telescope?

Consider the classic riddle: "I saw a man on a hill with a telescope." This simple sentence, which can mean…

4 months ago

A Grammar of Whalesong: The Humpback’s Dialect

Beyond the familiar sounds of the ocean lies a complex world of communication, where humpback whales sing in distinct, evolving…

4 months ago

The Final Word: Verb Chaining in Papuan Languages

Imagine a sentence that lists a dozen actions before revealing the main verb at the very end. This is the…

4 months ago

The Amazon’s Verbal Art: The World of Hixkaryana

Journey to the Amazon basin to explore Hixkaryana, one of the few confirmed languages with a default Object-Verb-Subject (OVS) word…

4 months ago

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