From “Ha!” to “LOL,” laughter in text can take on a number of forms and meanings.
'Laughter' via www.shutterstock.com
Shakespeare didn’t ‘lol,’ but he did ‘ha, ha, he.’
Boo if you dare.
Georg Hochmuth/EPA
Parlez-vous Eurovision? The contest may seem more monolingual than ever, but it remains a multicultural event.
Better said with an emoji?
TaylorHerring/flickr
Emojis are mainly used to enhance the meaning of words in texts – they won’t replace them altogether.
Elfdalian country.
A unique language spoken by 2,500 people in central Sweden will start being taught in preschool.
‘Standing up’ for something is viewed positively, while taking something ‘lying down’ has negative connotations.
chadinbr/flickr
In subtle (and not-so-subtle) ways, our language reflects societal attitudes.
Britain’s true colours.
Matthew Bechelli/shutterstock.com
Politicians should cut the language deficit for the sake of voters.
German speakers think more about their goals.
German speaking via FuzzBones/www.shutterstock.com
Bilinguals think differently depending on the language they’re operating in.
Linguist and mother ignoring Steven Pinker’s advice.
There’s nothing like raising an infant to help galvanise one of the greatest debates in modern linguistics.
Lest we forget is an expression with dignified origins, a rich history and a budding linguistic fossil.
E-Maxx
This Anzac Day the words “lest we forget” will often be spoken. It’s a usage that we don’t otherwise hear. Why do linguistic fossils such as “lest we forget” linger – and how do they help us remember the fallen?
Whichever language you speak, you are welcome.
Welcome via ivosar/www.shutterstock.com
Speaking more than one language isn’t just about getting better job propspects or superior brain power.
Does this represent the degeneration of language? Not quite.
from www.shutterstock.com
Don’t listen to the naysayers. New ways of communicating have created a wealth of new opportunities to harness – and study – language.
Young people from New Cross get to tell their own stories.
Shootstraight, via Vimeo
Given the chance to be creative, young people shine.
How do you talk about cancer?
Cancer by Shutterstock
How we talk about illness is an individual process but some want there to be a right and wrong way.
Map depicting the two major hypotheses of the spread of Indo-European languages (white arrows) and geographic distribution of the archaeological cultures described in the text.
Wolfgang Haak
Europe is famously tesselated, with different cultural and language groups clustering in different regions. But how did they all get there? And how are they related?
Migrants making their way through Calais. Get to the UK, and they might face a tough language test.
Gareth Fuller/PA Wire
Are tests to prove asylum seekers come from where they say they do impossible to do fairly?
From left to right. Mandarin employs a different part of the brain.
Chinese man via XiXinXing/Shutterstock
Language is traditionally associated with the left side of the brain. But Mandarin speakers are using the right side.
Not the popular choice.
LeafLanguages
There has been a 16% decline in the number of first degree language students since 2007.
We could all pay better attention to what comes out our mouth.
Emmanuel Szép
The Macquarie Dictionary last week named “mansplain” its word of the year for 2014. The Dictionary defines mansplain as: verb (t) Colloquial (humorous) (of a man) to explain (something) to a woman, in…
Literary translation has occurred for centuries (the Bible is a prime example). And with Nobel Prize winners like French author Patrick Modiano, it’s unlikely to disappear anytime soon.
Wikimedia Commons
I recently stumbled upon a post that describes the process of literary translation as “soul-crushing.” That’s news to me, and I’ve been engaged in literary translation for the better part of four decades…
No hablo español. And it doesn’t matter.
Skype via Gil C/Shutterstock
New technology has the habit of making certain professions redundant. Power looms put cotton workers out of job, leading to the rise of the Luddites. Word processors put an end to the typing pool. Now…