It appears that the rhythms of your brain waves get in sync with the speech patterns of the person you’re conversing with. Videoconferencing throws off that syncing process.
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Linguistics – Analysis and Comment
No one is forcing people to use “iel” with a gun to their head. But paradoxically, by making the pronoun the focus of attention, critics are inevitably making it more popular.
As many as two-thirds of couples do it.
New research shows that increasing exposure to foreign accents makes it easier to process - and that can reduce bias which is not based on negative perceptions or prejudice.
Babylonians were quite formal in their written records, so working out how to be chatty in their long-dead language was an exciting challenge.
As political parties spar, insults and catchphrases are adopted, appropriated and reappropriated in a dizzying verbal arms race.
Reconstructed vocabulary sheds light on cultural items and people’s habitats, including the spread of ideas and the importance of certain concepts.
National Cliche Day is Nov. 3. So what makes a cliche a cliche? And why do we find ourselves rolling our eyes when we hear certain ones?
This Sunday marks the start of Tokelau Language Week, recognising how an endangered tongue survives in a culture dominated by English.
It’s one of the most common expressions used in French but also one of the most controversial. A linguist explains why “pas de souci” is no mere English import.
More than cliches for lazy journalists, ‘snowclones’ are creative devices that have helped people digest the shock of the pandemic a little better.
Vocal imitation is a key part of how humans learn to speak. New research shows that bats babble to learn and use baby talk to teach, just like people do.
An extensive study is underway to catalogue Australian slang, its origins, and why it is such an important part of our language.
People tell tales to explain what they see – centuries later, scientists try to map handed-down myths onto real geological events.
The winners of Britain’s Funniest Class contest show us that kids can be funny. But how early can they do it on purpose?
Recent research on Danish shows that not only is it hard for Danish children to learn their mother tongue, but adult Danes use their native language differently than speakers of other languages.
Bothered by ‘expresso’? An expert on speech and language explains why you shouldn’t correct mispronunciations.
Mzilikazi Khumalo was a brilliant linguist with a stellar career in music. These achievements are extraordinary considering the obstacles he faced throughout his career.
To more effectively communicate about climate change online, follow these simple rules
Experts disagree on what makes someone truly bilingual, and how the human brain accesses multiple languages.
With so much recent focus on how women are treated, we need to look first at how we use language. And for a long time, it has been used to belittle and silence women.
Australian Indigenous languages use a fascinating array of expressions drawing on body parts to describe emotions. Here is a guide to some of the most intriguing ones.
In American Sign Language, some words rhyme, some look like what they mean and some are used more often than others. A new database of these features paves a pathway for ASL research.
A young reader asks: How are languages formed?
Morrison is long-winded on questions he wants to answer; curt on the one’s he does not. But now, he is coming up against a rising tide of anger.