Language

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

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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

Researchers Want to Revive These 30 Antique English Words

The public can vote on their favorite from a list including hugger-mugger, rouzy-bouzy, nickum and sillytonian

Everyone sees them all, but we don’t all give them the same distinct names.

The World Has Millions of Colors. Why Do We Only Name a Few?

Cognitive scientists suggest that we name the colors of things we want to talk about

A page from a New England Primer printed in Massachusetts in 1811, with the text "Life and the Grave two different lessons give/Life shows us how to die, death how to live."

Children Used to Learn About Death and Damnation With Their ABCs

In 19th-century New England, the books that taught kids how to read had a Puritanical morbidity to them

Akkadian cuneiform script from the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery archives.

Brush up on Your Ancient Akkadian With New Online Dictionary

The dead language was once the dominant tongue in Mesopotamia

Saint Catherine's Monastery in Sinai, Egypt.

Lost Languages Discovered in One of the World's Oldest Continuously Run Libraries

The centuries-old texts were erased, and then written over, by monks at Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt

The German Language Adds 5,000 New Words

The latest edition of the Duden dictionary includes <i>tindern,</i> or online dating, and <i>postfaktisch</i>, meaning post-truth

Bepob Over Here Nitwit: Study Identifies the Funniest Words in the English Language

Participants rated 4,997 random words on how funny they were, with Booty, Booby, Egghead and Twerp making the top 12

An oracle bone description

Museum Offers $15,000 Per Character to Decipher Oracle Bone Script

The inscriptions offer detailed information about the Shang Dynasty, but researchers need help to read them

A wood engraving from the 19th century depicts a blind John Milton dictating his influential epic poem "Paradise Lost"

Why 'Paradise Lost' Is Translated So Much

New book shows the enduring power of the epic poem has made it spread across dozens of languages and hundreds of years

A red fox listening for prey under the snow in Yellowstone National Park. Noise can affect foxes and other animals that rely on their hearing when they hunt.

How Human Noise Ruins Parks for Animals and People

Even in America’s most pristine wildernesses, unwanted sound is changing landscapes

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