How do you pronounce ‘Muslim’? What about ‘spiel’?
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How members of America’s two parties view the country – and its place in the world – might explain this phenomenon.
Roughly two children per class have developmental language disorder.
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New research suggests that the genetic variants that are associated with language are also associated with mental health problems.
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We live in a society in which inequality is deepening – in this context, our words can have real and pernicious effects.
Do nursing home staff know and respect your cultural background or language? Here’s why that’s important.
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Australia’s rich diversity is reflected in its older population. It’s time our nursing homes do the same.
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Here’s what parents should look out for if they are worried about their baby’s language development.
The Prime Minister’s inflammatory language in Parliament provoked outrage.
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Use of the words ‘traitor’, ‘surrender’ and ‘betrayal’ have increased inside parliament but everyone outside needs to watch their language too.
The signature pirate voice is from the West Country in south-west of England. But why West Country?
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We may no longer say ‘shiver me timbers’, but we still use plenty of pirate words for other things.
The RuPaul crew for Drag Race UK.
BBC Pictures
What started as a showcase for America’s drag queens is fast becoming a global sensation.
A document in Tengwar, the script of the Elvish languages invented by JRR Tolkien, Dozza, Italy.
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From Lord of the Rings to Game of Thrones, writers and linguists have invented an array of new languages.
Animal thought does not have the structure of human language.
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Can we really know what animals think? A philosopher argues that we can’t, not with any precision.
Reading and writing can prevent cognitive decline.
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As we get older, our eyesight may dim and our recall may falter. But our linguistic abilities don’t seem to erode.
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Some animals, like rats, learn linguistic patterns better than humans can.
It’s a simple word with a strange history.
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The word ‘OK’ has only been around for 180 years, but it’s become the most spoken word on the planet.
It doesn’t have to be all fun and games.
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Children as young as eight or nine could be taught in a more adult, analytical way.
Boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor engage in some verbal sparring prior to their 2017 bout.
AP Photo/John Locher
Whether it frustrates or motivates your opponent can depend on the situation.
Use it at your peril.
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The word ‘like’ has a grammar, and by looking at it, we can learn a lot about what ‘like’ means and what it contributes to someone’s speech.
What factors contribute to some places having many, while other places have few?
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Linguists have a lot of largely untested theories. Borrowing a tool from ecology, researchers built a model that didn’t look for one worldwide explanation.
It’s a linguistic battlefield out there.
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Each spin of the news cycle hits us with another ‘bombshell,’ while everything from free speech to race has been ‘weaponized.’ What’s the effect of being relentlessly exposed to metaphors of war?
In Wordslut, Amanda Montell deconstructs gendered language.
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The book promises to help reclaim language used against women, exploring the origins of gendered slurs. But its use of contemporary slang and lack of an index undermines its credibility.
Climate activists block the entrance to the Swiss bank UBS with a pile of coal in Basel, Switzerland earlier this summer. Climate protests are helping raise awareness about the ugliness of fossil fuels, and so too should the language we use.
(Georgios Kefalas/Keystone via AP)
If how we speak about the world we want to see is crucial in building support for climate change momentum, then what is visible and invisible, strange and normal, positive and negative, must change.