Ancient proverbs can be helpful in adjusting our language and behavior in ways that can benefit every generation. They have become ancient because they work. One example: “A gentle answer turns away ...

Nigeria’s influential rights activists and educators, the late Tai Solarin expressed concern about the preference for colonial languages ...

Explore how language shapes behavior and impacts societal tensions through ancient proverbs and modern examples.

Emotions are good informants when paying attention to what feelings have noticed; but they can be bad masters when unhappy ...

Yodeling has been officially recognized by the UN as part of the world's intangible cultural heritage. SCOTT SIMON, HOST: We all know yodeling, right? Alpine men and women singing across verdant ...

A new study suggests that language may rely less on complex grammar than previously thought. Every time we speak, we’re ...

Every time we speak, we're improvising. "Humans possess a remarkable ability to talk about almost anything, sometimes putting ...

Is it possible to spot personality dysfunction from someone's everyday word use? My colleagues and I have conducted research that suggests you can, and often sooner than you might expect. Whether in a ...

Ph.D. candidate Yuchen Lian (LIACS) wants to understand why human languages look the way they do—and find inspiration to improve AI along the way. She defended her thesis on 12 December. "Languages ...

In a re-evaluation of Hockett's foundational features that have long dominated linguistic theory—concepts like "arbitrariness," "duality of patterning," and "displacement"—an international team of ...

In July 2025, Assembly Bill 377 was introduced before the Wisconsin State Assembly. This bill is aimed at making English the official language of the US state of Wisconsin, and allowing state agencies ...

Department of Foreign Languages, Qilu Normal University, Jinan, China. Driven by globalization, social media has become a key field for cross-cultural communication. Since 2019, the U.S. government, ...