Language
Father Reginald Foster Used Latin to Bring History Into the Present
Who speaks Latin these days? A surprisingly large number of people, thanks to the late friar, who died on Christmas Day at 81
The Ten Best Children's Books of 2020
These top titles deliver history lessons, wordplay and a musical romp through the animal kingdom
What the Survival of the Hawaiian Language Means to Those Who Speak It
A Smithsonian curator recalls his own experience learning the native tongue
The Inspiring Quest to Revive the Hawaiian Language
A determined couple and their children are sparking the renewal of a long-suppressed part of their ancestors' culture
Why Did Ancient Egyptian Scribes Use Lead-Based Ink?
A new study uncovers the science behind ancient writing traditions
Hypersensitive Profanity Filter Censors 'Bone' at Paleontology Conference
Moved online due to the pandemic, an automated content filter banned terms including "sexual," "pubic" and "stream"
Shakespeare's First Folio Is the Most Expensive Work of Literature Ever Auctioned
A rare edition of the 1623 volume of plays sold at Christie's for nearly $10 million
What Can Bonobos Teach Us About the Nature of Language?
A famed researcher's daring investigation into ape communication—and the backlash it has caused
Why Microsoft Word Now Considers Two Spaces After a Period an Error
Traditionalist "two-spacers" can still disable the function
How 'Social Distancing' Can Get Lost in Translation
Governments around the world grapple with how to deliver important guidelines on minimizing the spread of COVID-19
This Exhibit Asks You to Caption Photos of People Caught in Mid-Sentence
National Portrait Gallery exhibit features snapshots of Muhammad Ali, John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
Has This Boulder's Mysterious, Centuries-Old Inscription Finally Been Deciphered?
Two newly publicized translations suggest the message is a memorial to a man who died in the 1700s
Ancient Inscription Unveils the King Who May Have Toppled Midas
A newly discovered stone hints that a lost civilization defeated the ancient Turkish kingdom of Phrygia around the eighth century B.C.
Upcoming Planet Word Museum Celebrates Language—and Is Slated to Be Talk of the Town
The Washington, D.C.-based museum will open its doors on May 31
The Most Anticipated Museum Openings of 2020
Slated for this year are new institutions dedicated to ancient Egyptian, the Olympics, African American music and the Army
Viking Runestone May Trace Its Roots to Fear of Extreme Weather
Sweden’s Rök stone, raised by a father commemorating his recently deceased son, may contain allusions to an impending period of catastrophic cold
The Meanings Behind Words for Emotions Aren't Universal, Study Finds
Certain emotions may be universal. But the way humans describe their feelings, it seems, is not
Human Ancestors May Have Evolved the Physical Ability to Speak More Than 25 Million Years Ago
Though when primates developed the cognitive abilities for language remains a mystery
Elizabeth I's 'Idiosyncratic' Handwriting Identifies Her as the Scribe Behind a Long Overlooked Translation
The Tudor queen wrote in an "extremely distinctive, disjointed hand," says scholar John-Mark Philo
Babies May Understand Counting Before They Fully Understand Numbers
By tempting an adorable pool of subjects with toys, a new study found that infants associate counting with quantities
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