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Linguistics – Analysis and Comment
On International Mother Language Day, Canadians can celebrate multilingual heritage by recognizing flexible uses of languages.
Accents differ depending on where we’re from, even in the same country.
Irony is a slippery concept. Sometimes it’s used in speech, other times it’s used to describe a situation – oh, and it can also characterize an attitude. Is its versatility its downfall?
African American Vernacular English is part and parcel of Black identity. Its distinctive linguistic features are — wrongly — denigrated.
The unpleasant ‘Happy Brexit Day’ poster misses the fact that the vast majority of people in the UK recognise the benefits of multilingualism.
People still find ways to express old ways of speaking in a new language, so that language does not fundamentally alter their cultural identity.
Compared to other politicians who tend to be indirect and evasive, Nkrumah was direct, explicit and assertive.
Pronouns rarely, if ever, change. Then along came the gender nonbinary ‘they,’ which was just anointed ‘word of the decade.’
A new study analyzes the language in nearly 680,000 pet adoption ads.
As the year winds down, we’ll get you up to speed. Plus, there’s no better way to kill a trend than to bring it up at the dinner table in front of your kids.
Researchers say it’s time to finally discard a decades-old theory about the origins of human language – and revise the date when human ancestors likely were able to make certain speech noises.
One side wants to ‘get Brexit done’ while the other shouts the ‘NHS is not for sale!’. What does it all really mean?
‘Greengrocer’s’ may be in mourning, but the rest of us can sigh with relief.
There is a negative feel to many of the shortlisted contenders for The Macquarie Dictionary’s Word of the Year.
The history of the Latin phrase at the centre of the impeachment investigation into Donald Trump.
Behind the magical tale is a deep layer of linguistic meaning.
Non-native speakers often face an uphill struggle to be heard and taken seriously.
How members of America’s two parties view the country – and its place in the world – might explain this phenomenon.
Some people claim it’s already been passed. But Alan Turing’s test of whether artificial intelligence can act like a human remains an important benchmark for our species.
Use of the words ‘traitor’, ‘surrender’ and ‘betrayal’ have increased inside parliament but everyone outside needs to watch their language too.
The AFL Grand Final is more than a physical contest between professional athletes: it is a day we collectively make meaning, and create culture.
We may no longer say ‘shiver me timbers’, but we still use plenty of pirate words for other things.
As we get older, our eyesight may dim and our recall may falter. But our linguistic abilities don’t seem to erode.
Some animals, like rats, learn linguistic patterns better than humans can.