Language

Emoji cover the facade of this Dutch building.

This Building Is Covered in Emoji

-Person raising both hands in celebration-

What's the Difference Between Horns and Antlers and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Linguist and cultural preservationist Daryl Baldwin was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2016.

How to Resurrect a Lost Language

Piecing together the language of the Miami tribe, linguists Daryl Baldwin and David Costa are creating a new generation of speakers

"Wing," "coin" and "toil" are all words you can play in any Scrabble game. "Biten," however, is not legal.

The Tournament Scrabble Dictionary Contains More Than A Hundred Slurs

One woman first raised the issue of the Scrabble dictionary containing offensive words in the 1990s

The 2016 Spelling Bee co-champions Nihar Janga, 11, of Austin, Texas, and Jairam Hathwar, 13, of Corning, New York.

The National Spelling Bee Adjusts Its Rules To Prevent Ties

Top spellers will be required to take a written test on the final evening of the competition

Sometimes when we say "you," we really mean "me"

When I Say "You" But Really Mean "Me"

In some cases, the use of the second-person pronoun could help us put distance between ourselves and negative emotions

The pronoun "they" will finally be part of the AP Stylebook.

Gender-Neutral Pronoun “They” Adopted by Associated Press

The journalist’s bible will finally help reporters talk about non-binary people

(Grammatical) order in the court!

A Missing Oxford Comma Just Changed the Course of a Court Case

Call it pedantic, but comma wars are a thing

You won't find "dord" in the dictionary these days, but back in the 1930s, Webster's had a definition for this non-word.

As “Dord” Shows, Being in the Dictionary Doesn’t Always Mean Something’s a Word

Even dictionaries can make mistakes, although Merriam-Webster maintains this is their only one

Microscope not included.

This Necklace Contains All of the World’s Languages

Because cultural preservation never goes out of fashion

Why Puppies Love Baby Talk

New research shows puppies respond strongly to high-pitched chatter, but most adult dogs could care less

The journals that scientists consider most prestigious are often in English.

English Is the Language of Science. That Isn't Always a Good Thing

How a bias toward English-language science can result in preventable crises, duplicated efforts and lost knowledge

The American holiday celebrating African traditions is 50 years old this year.

This Year Marks the 50th Kwanzaa

The week-long holiday is a celebration of African-American culture

Mersiv is worn around a user’s neck, like a necklace, and features a silver dollar-sized pendant with an embedded camera and microphone.

This Language-Teaching Device Constantly Whispers Lessons In Your Ear

A conceptual gadget called Mersiv immerses language-learners in their tongue of choice

To speak, perchance to think? A long-tailed macaque opens wide in Bali, Indonesia.

What's Really Keeping Monkeys From Speaking Their Minds? Their Minds

When it comes to language, primates have all the right vocal equipment. They just lack the brains

Don't see a word you like? Make one up!

Austria’s Word of the Year Has 52 Letters

<i>Bundespraesidentenstichwahlwiederholungsverschiebung</i> isn’t just a mouthful—it tells an annoying political story

Almost a whole page of the Dictionary of American Regional English is dedicated to "wampus," a Southern term for a variety of real creatures, such as a wild horse, and imagined ones, such as swamp wampuses and whistling wampuses.

Words from the Dictionary of American Regional English

After half a century of studying jib-jabbing, linguists have just finished the nation's most ambitious dictionary of regional dialects

The Great White Fleet of the United States Navy, 1907 -- We need a fleet of spacecraft to open “This New Ocean” of space

Let’s Argue About The Right Things

We seem to be in one of those periods in which basic reasons for doing what we do as a nation are called into question

Can a letter in your name truly affect your purchasing habits?

Does Your Last Name Affect Your Buying Habits?

Researchers claim that people with names at the end of the alphabet respond more quickly to purchasing opportunities

Marquee languages definitely serve their purposes. But when you learn a minority language, like Romansh or Sioux, you become a member of a select group.

Spoken Like a Native

Learning a minority language opens doors—and hearts

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