All articles tagged with #linguistics
Adam Aaronson’s New York Times crossword showcases an EG theme: every theme entry is a two-word phrase with the first word starting with E and the second with G (e.g., ETHNIC GROUP, ENDOCRINE GLAND). The clues and syntax—such as “e.g.” and “for one”—signal the gimmick, but there’s no revealer; solvers discover the pattern gradually while the piece also reflects on language, culture, and the constructor’s anecdotes.
The article examines why vintage words like “yap” and “skedaddle” are resurging in today’s talk, arguing that old terms are primed by media and memories and then spread through social networks led by influential youth. This “team sport” of language change means terms rise when a core group adopts them, diffuse through broader networks, and eventually fade, with some retro words enduring longer than others.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press conference quip about Donald Trump’s move to control permits in wildfire-hit LA drew quick scrutiny over a supposed French expression. Linguists couldn’t identify a standard idiom, and Newsom’s aide initially suggested it was just a Foreign-language flourish. A spokesperson later said the line quotes Guillaume Apollinaire’s WWI-era poem “Aussi bien que les cigales” (As well as the cicadas), a memory rather than a recognized saying. The episode underscores how language quirks can go viral and spark debate in politics.
A Nature Human Behaviour study argues the mind may represent language with flat, linear building blocks rather than complex hierarchical grammar. Experiments (eye-tracking and phone conversations) show common word-class sequences can be primed, including nonconstituent phrases like “in the middle of the,” suggesting language uses simpler patterns than traditionally believed and that the gap between human language and animal communication could be smaller than thought.
A border collie named Basket, living on the Upper West Side, is featured in the New York Times for her exceptional language learning abilities, recognizing over 150 toys by name and demonstrating intelligence comparable to a 1.5-year-old human, highlighting the bond and mental stimulation between her and her owner, Elle Baumgartel-Austin.
Many ancient writing systems, such as Epi-Olmec, Indus Valley, Rongorongo, Linear A, and others, remain undeciphered due to limited texts and lack of a Rosetta Stone-like key. While AI offers some assistance, its effectiveness is limited by the small amount of available data, and deciphering these scripts continues to be a challenging puzzle that offers insights into lost civilizations.
Canadian language experts have urged Prime Minister Mark Carney to use Canadian spelling in official documents instead of British spellings, emphasizing that Canadian English reflects national identity and history. The letter highlights the importance of maintaining Canadian linguistic distinctions, especially in government communications, and questions recent deviations from this standard. The issue is compounded by Carney's UK experience, which may influence his language choices.
A recent study challenges the notion that AI language models lack sophisticated reasoning abilities, demonstrating that at least one model can analyze language with human-like proficiency, including diagramming sentences and handling recursion, which has significant implications for understanding AI's capabilities in linguistic reasoning.
Dictionary.com has named '67' as its 2025 Word of the Year, highlighting its role as a social signal and expression of absurdity among youth, with origins linked to music, sports, and internet culture, reflecting rapid linguistic evolution.
Cambridge Dictionary has added 6,000 new words, including internet slang like skibidi, tradwife, and delulu, reflecting the evolving influence of internet culture on language, with a focus on words' staying power rather than popularity.
Thirteen-year-old Faizan Zaki from Dallas won the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee by spelling 'éclaircissement,' marking a remarkable comeback after finishing second last year. The event celebrated its 100th anniversary, featuring contestants from all over the U.S. and several other countries, with a rich history and evolving word list.
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute discovered a universal word, akin to "huh?", used globally to signal misunderstanding in conversations. This monosyllabic word, found in 31 languages, shares phonetic traits like interrogative intonation and a glottal stop, challenging the linguistic principle of arbitrariness. The phenomenon is explained by evolutionary convergence, where languages independently developed this tool to manage conversational misunderstandings. This discovery has implications for fields like cognitive science and language teaching, highlighting the shared aspects of human communication.
Zipf's Law, a statistical principle where word frequency inversely correlates with its rank, applies to nearly all languages, including undeciphered ones like the Voynich Manuscript. Despite its widespread occurrence, the reason behind this pattern remains unclear, with theories ranging from cognitive efficiency to language evolution. The law suggests a surprising predictability in human language use, challenging notions of linguistic unpredictability.
A study from MIT reveals that toddlers use grammatical focus cues, such as emphasis in speech, to learn new words, challenging the previous belief that children rely on mutual exclusivity to assign meanings. Experiments with 106 children showed that when a word was emphasized, children were more likely to associate it with a new object. This finding highlights the sophisticated linguistic abilities of young children and suggests that they leverage existing grammatical knowledge to acquire new vocabulary.
A study from the University of Birmingham reveals a strong cross-cultural association between the trilled R sound and rough textures or jagged shapes, and the L sound with smooth textures or straight lines. This pattern was observed in 94% of participants for the R sound and 84% for the L sound across 28 languages, surpassing the bouba/kiki effect in consistency. The findings suggest these sound-symbolic associations may have influenced language evolution, making trilled R sounds common despite their articulation difficulty.