Why is the Finnish word for 'fish' (kala) so similar to the Hungarian word (hal), despite being spoken 1,500km apart?…
How different are two dialects, really? Linguists can now answer that question with surprising precision. Discover the methods used to…
Could a nearly extinct language from Siberia be related to Navajo and other Native American languages? The fascinating Dené-Yeniseian hypothesis…
Ever tried to speak your third language, only for a word from your second language to slip out? This phenomenon,…
** Have you ever wondered why *shirt* and *skirt* sound so similar? They are "etymological doublets"—words from the same root…
Ever wonder how linguists estimate when languages like Spanish and French split from their common ancestor? The answer lies in…
How can linguists be so certain that English and ancient Sanskrit are cousins, while neighboring Finnish is a total stranger?…
Long before English vowels did their famous shuffle, a far more ancient and dramatic event rocked its linguistic family tree.…
While most languages belong to vast family trees, some stand utterly alone. These linguistic isolates, like the mysterious Basque of…
Have you ever felt lost reading a contract full of words like "aforesaid" and "notwithstanding"? This is "legalese," a unique…
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