Unlocking the Universe of Languages
Excorporation is a rare linguistic process where a grammatical piece, once bound inside a larger word, "escapes" to become an independent word itself. We explore this fascinating phenomenon, using the…
When you hear 'the blue ball', how does your brain know 'blue' applies to 'ball' and not something else? This is the 'binding problem', the fascinating neurological mystery of how…
Ever thought the 'subject' of a sentence was a fixed, simple concept? In Pashto, the grammatical role of the 'doer' dramatically shifts depending on whether the action is happening now…
Did you know that every time you save a file, you're using a form of language? Your computer's folder structure is a surprisingly complex grammatical system, complete with its own…
Struggling with German sentences that seem to hide the verb at the very end? You're not alone. This deep dive explains the simple but crucial difference between 'verb-second' main clauses…
Many languages, like Mandarin Chinese, form yes-no questions without words for "yes" or "no." Instead, they use the ingenious "A-not-A" structure, which poses a question by presenting both the positive…
Imagine a sentence that lists a dozen actions before revealing the main verb at the very end. This is the world of verb chaining, a fascinating feature of Papuan languages…
In English, we use optional phrases like "I heard" or "I saw" to show how we know something. But in many languages, this information is mandatory and baked directly into…