Discover the *Appendix Probi*, a 3rd-century list of "mistakes" that unintendedly documented the birth of the Romance languages. This article…
While most assume the Latin alphabet evolved directly from Greek, the true story features a vital middleman: the Etruscans. This…
Unlike its southern relatives such as Cantonese, standard Mandarin has completely lost the "entering tone" and the clipped final stops…
Discover why linguists consider Frisian to be the closest living sibling to the English language. This article explores the Anglo-Frisian…
Between the 14th and 18th centuries, English speakers radically changed how they pronounced vowels, engaging in a massive linguistic game…
Discover why Armenian is considered a "lone wolf" within the Indo-European language family, sitting on its own independent branch. We…
The Korean alphabet, Hangul, is praised for its scientific design, but it once held a secret: a lost vowel called…
The famous ‘th’ sound in Castilian Spanish is often attributed to a lisping king whose court mimicked his speech. This…
Why is the Finnish word for 'fish' (kala) so similar to the Hungarian word (hal), despite being spoken 1,500km apart?…
Language sounds are always in flux, but where do new ones come from? This article explores the fascinating linguistic process…
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