https://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/linguistics/RSS feed for linguistics enWed, 25 Feb 2026 20:31:29 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/humans-may-have-used-these-mysterious-symbols-to-encode-information-tens-of-thousands-of-years-before-the-first-writing-systems-180988250/The symbols, discovered on 40,000-year-old artifacts in caves in southwest Germany, may have been a precursor to the first written languageWed, 25 Feb 2026 20:31:29 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/humans-may-have-used-these-mysterious-symbols-to-encode-information-tens-of-thousands-of-years-before-the-first-writing-systems-180988250/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/need-a-quick-boost-in-physical-strength-try-blurting-out-some-curse-words-a-study-suggests-180987915/When repeating four-letter words, participants held a challenging physical task for longer than when they said neutral words. Cursing seemed to help them feel more focused, more confident and less distractedTue, 23 Dec 2025 14:27:44 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/need-a-quick-boost-in-physical-strength-try-blurting-out-some-curse-words-a-study-suggests-180987915/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-linguists-are-creating-a-new-dictionary-of-ancient-celtic-languages-with-help-from-curse-tablets-and-roman-records-180987872/The project aims to produce a record of the Celtic languages spoken in Britain and Ireland, though the majority of these words have already been lost to historyFri, 19 Dec 2025 21:40:05 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-linguists-are-creating-a-new-dictionary-of-ancient-celtic-languages-with-help-from-curse-tablets-and-roman-records-180987872/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/merriam-websters-word-of-the-year-for-2025-is-slop-the-ai-generated-junk-that-fills-our-social-media-feeds-180987887/The word describes the onslaught of "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence"Wed, 17 Dec 2025 19:25:18 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/merriam-websters-word-of-the-year-for-2025-is-slop-the-ai-generated-junk-that-fills-our-social-media-feeds-180987887/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/rage-bait-which-desribes-online-content-created-to-make-us-mad-is-oxfords-2025-word-of-the-year-180987776/The term "has become shorthand for content designed to elicit anger by being frustrating, offensive or deliberately divisive in nature," according to expertsTue, 02 Dec 2025 17:26:12 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/rage-bait-which-desribes-online-content-created-to-make-us-mad-is-oxfords-2025-word-of-the-year-180987776/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/feel-a-connection-to-a-celebrity-youve-never-met-your-bond-may-be-parasocial-which-is-cambridge-dictionarys-word-of-the-year-for-2025-180987711/The term is used to describe "a connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know," according to the dictionaryTue, 18 Nov 2025 21:11:17 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/feel-a-connection-to-a-celebrity-youve-never-met-your-bond-may-be-parasocial-which-is-cambridge-dictionarys-word-of-the-year-for-2025-180987711/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-term-67-is-impossible-to-define-it-just-became-dictionary-coms-word-of-the-year-for-2025-180987650/The dictionary says the viral word, which has become particularly popular among members of Gen Alpha, is "meaningless, ubiquitous and nonsensical"Fri, 07 Nov 2025 16:42:47 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-term-67-is-impossible-to-define-it-just-became-dictionary-coms-word-of-the-year-for-2025-180987650/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/delulu-skibidi-and-tradwife-are-among-more-than-6000-words-added-to-the-cambridge-dictionary-180987210/Many of the additions reflect how internet culture has changed the English language in recent yearsWed, 20 Aug 2025 16:03:43 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/delulu-skibidi-and-tradwife-are-among-more-than-6000-words-added-to-the-cambridge-dictionary-180987210/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/millions-of-maya-still-call-mesoamerica-home-this-groundbreaking-initiative-ushers-the-rich-tapestry-of-mayan-languages-into-the-digital-age-180987113/The Mayan Languages Preservation and Digitization Project promotes tools designed by and for Indigenous communities, like online glossaries and special phone keyboardsFri, 08 Aug 2025 11:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/millions-of-maya-still-call-mesoamerica-home-this-groundbreaking-initiative-ushers-the-rich-tapestry-of-mayan-languages-into-the-digital-age-180987113/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/there-might-be-something-human-in-the-way-bonobos-communicate-their-calls-share-a-key-trait-with-our-language-study-suggests-180986370/Researchers attempted to decode bonobo calls by recording their social context, then analyzed how the primates string together these vocalizationsFri, 04 Apr 2025 20:54:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/there-might-be-something-human-in-the-way-bonobos-communicate-their-calls-share-a-key-trait-with-our-language-study-suggests-180986370/