The language that you speak may affect your approach to climate change.
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Research suggests that speakers of “present-tensed” languages such as German and Finnish - in which the future can be describe in the present tense - are more likely to support stronger climate policies.
The fight over gendered language may seem frivolous but speaking a heavily gendered language may highlight gender distinctions and lead to discrimination.
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We could expect a change in language to decrease gender disparities across a host of measures, including wages, educational attainment, and leadership positions in corporate and political life.
What can a modern-day Creole language tell us about its first speakers in the 1600s?
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New research suggests that hints left in Creole languages can identify where the original speakers came from – even hundreds of years after they migrated and mixed together.
The use of the term pelakor in isolation reveals people’s tendency to blame only the woman in an affair, though it obviously takes two to tango.
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Recently, many Indonesians have been bombarded with stories about the “pelakor”, a term popularly used to refer to a woman who is perceived as responsible for ruining a couple’s marriage).
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Ursula le Guin gave us an anarchist society on another world; we brought it back to Earth.
Hosting sporting events to spark an interest in language and culture is known as ‘soft diplomacy’.
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For South Korea, hosting the Winter Olympics is a great opportunity to engage the world with Korean language and culture.
There’s no reason Africa shouldn’t be at the centre of global knowledge production.
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Africa’s current situation has a parallel in European history - the Reformation and the changes it wrought in terms of language exceptionalism.
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Does the heart really have cockles or heartstrings? An anatomist clears up some misconceptions…and lends credence to others.
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The shithole countries comment was a landmark moment. This US president has given up even trying to hide his prejudice.
A grand monument to love.
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A loving relationship may be a unique mix of different ‘flavours’ of love.
Aussie slang such as ‘budgie’, ‘greenie’, ‘pollie’, ‘surfie’, and even ‘mozzie’ are now also making appearances in global English.
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Every few years there’s a furphy that our beloved ‘Strine’ slang is doing a Harold Holt – but in fact Aussies are still slinging true-blue slang.
Political arguments against high Latino immigration into the U.S. often play on fears that Spanish is pushing out English in American society. It’s not.
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Spanish is not overtaking English in the US, despite political fearmongering. In fact, due to the ‘three-generation pattern,’ Spanish speaking in immigrant families tends to decline over time.
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How you use the word ‘shithole’ depends on your gender, which paints Trump’s latest misstep as yet another case of toxic masculinity.
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It has long been known that colour and emotion are linked – so could colour could be used as a language to express how we feel?
A teacher from the Arab town of Kabul gives an Arabic class to Israeli schoolchildren.
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We underestimate the power of language to divide and to bring people closer together, scholars say.
A day after Donald Trump met with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, he told lawmakers the U.S. should have more immigrants from places like Norway and not “shithole” countries like Haiti.
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Donald Trump’s language has disturbing similarities to the words and verbal tactics used by fascists, including his cries of “fake news” and his obsessive exaggerations about his achievements.
Let me guess where you’re from.
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The world is becoming increasingly connected, but local accents still define who we are.
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Perception of truth and lies changes between languages for bilingual speakers.
Statues like these - here Paul Kruger at Pretoria’s Church Square - are a reminder of a time when Afrikaners were the ruling class in South Africa.
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Afrikaners in post-apartheid South Africa struggle with a historical sense of inferiority that reinforces their whiteness.
In cities and countries around the world, drivers use a range of hand signals to communicate with other drivers.
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A sociolinguist wonders if they’ll ever be able to interpret the waves, high beams and middle fingers of human drivers.