Language

"My goal with music is to represent myself in a natural and sincere way," says musician Alidé Sans, "and what is more natural and sincere than an Aranese woman expressing herself in Aranese?"

This Musician’s Songs Give Powerful Voice to a Language in Crisis

Singer and linguistic activist Alidé Sans hails from an isolated Catalan valley where a rare dialect is spoken

Elephants communicate in low rumbles, each listening for the resulting vibrations in the ground with their feet.

Some Animals Take Turns While Talking, Just Like Humans. Why?

Understanding their courteous exchanges—from frog croaks to elephant rumbles—could shed light on the origins of human conversation

Say what? Residents of the town of Liberal, Kansas, are developing a new accent thanks to changing demographics in the area.

This Town In Kansas Has Its Own Unique Accent

Immigration over the last 40 years has all the young people in town speaking English with a slightly Latin feel

Nisarg Desai observes wild chimps known as Sandi, Ferdinand and Siri in Tanzania.

What Can Chimpanzee Calls Tell Us About the Origins of Human Language?

Scientists follow and record chimps in the wild to find out if they talk to each other—and to fill in details about how and why language evolved in humans

Why Researchers Believe These 100,000-Year-Old Etchings Weren't Symbolic

In a new study, the markings — which resemble hashtags —were not found to be distinctive based on time and geography

Malacites of the Wanabaki Confederacy standing along the edge of the water at French village, Kingsclear, celebrating Corpus Christi Day, ca 1887.

Researchers Are Tracing Wabanaki Canoe Routes in New Brunswick

The First Nation routes were ancient “highways” that traversed rivers, creeks and streams

Jökulsárlón, Iceland

Climate Change Can Also Transform Language

As our world warms, warps and melts, metaphors of the past take on new meaning

Will a New Law Forever Change the German Language?

When a language is strongly gendered, it can raise all sorts of challenges to a society that’s increasingly accepting of a wide spectrum of identities

Musicians from the Yanada Shinko perform at Misawa Air Base, Japan, April 6, 2013.

Why Music Is Not a Universal Language

Physics and culture shape music, but as a recent video essay breaks it down, the results are more varied that most people think

Jedek speakers

Unknown Language Discovered in Malaysia

About 280 people north of the Malay Peninsula speak the language, which is called Jedek

Image from the cover of Emma Byrne's new book, Swearing is Good For You.

The Science of Swearing

A new book explains the neuroscience of why we swear—and how it can sway our listeners

We've got you covered.

Five Whimsical Words of the Winter Olympics, from 'Skeleton' to 'Salchow'

The sports are hard. The words are harder. We're here to help

A "mobile multifonction" or "mobile" in action.

France Says ‘Au Revoir’ to the Word ‘Smartphone’

Hoping to prevent English tech vocabulary from entering the French language, officials have suggested ‘mobile multifunction’ as an alternative

In a recent presentation held at the National Museum of Natural History, University of Melbourne researcher Gerald Roche called attention to 21 minority languages spoken in villages across Tibet.

The Incredible Linguistic Diversity of Tibet Is Disappearing

Thanks to national schooling and the Internet, many of the plateau’s unique languages are in danger

Sign the Stars Anywhere on Earth With the First International Astronomy Dictionary For Deaf Communities

The encyclopedic list includes more than 40 space terms ranging from the Moon to exoplanet

A common thread to this huge collection of materials—time-worn press credentials, painted tennis shoes, photographs, mic flags, scripts—is that they represent decades in the making of the Spanish-language broadcasting network Telemundo.

How Spanish-Language Broadcasters Gave Voice to America's Hispanics

In a country where more than 37 million people speak Spanish, stations like Telemundo reach under-served communities

Adams worked with artist Emma Segal to create illustrations that represent the new energy terms. The English translation of the words on this image is: Solar Panels, a flat piece resembling a window/mirror placed on top of a building to collect electricity from the sun to power the house.

Inventing a Vocabulary to Help Inuit People Talk About Climate Change

One team is working with Inuvialuit elders to come up with a renewable energy terminology—and maybe revive a dying language

A transcription of 95-foot-long inscription written in Luwian has been translated for the first time since its 1878 discovery

Scholar Deciphers 3,200-Year-Old Inscription That Could Shed Light on the "Sea People"

But the Luwian language text's unproven provenance calls its authenticity into question

Want to Learn Cherokee? How About Ainu? This Startup Is Teaching Endangered Languages

Tribalingual founder Inky Gibbens explains how saving languages is a means of preserving different worldviews

Maori Translation of ‘Moana’ Is a Hit in New Zealand

Experts hope the film will spark a renewed interest in the Maori language

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