New study suggests ancient campfires may have encouraged our ancestors to develop language.
Articles on Language
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Many Americans associate Yiddish strictly with Eastern Europe. But its horizons are much broader than that, especially amid today’s revival.
Saying ‘sorry’ to someone in authority evokes more guilt and shame in your first language.
Terms that are direct analogs to sexual intercourse are widely used to describe connector ends, but the language is evolving away from those problematic words.
There’s no single giveaway. But there are patterns.
Language loss is often a reluctant choice made to escape violence, not a willing choice made to gain benefits.
‘Who’s a good boy? Yes, you are!’
From pidgins to Tolkien and Esperanto, humans have created entirely new languages for many different reasons.
Translation is only part of the challenge for multinational companies. Words, slogans and symbols can take on entirely different meanings across cultures.
Home languages can help children learn English and become stronger readers.
Listen to the The Conversation’s Curious Kids podcast to hear anthropologist April Nowell explain the origins of language.
Spoonerisms can be silly and make you laugh. But linguists see something more: a rare glimpse of how the mind plans speech before we even open our mouths.
Language that fails to explicitly name women has historically excluded them. And that exclusion is an active, reversible mechanism that’s now resurfacing.
AI-powered translation tools are certainly impressive. But there is an important frontier for translation technology, one AI might never be able to breach: the poem.
Adults need to guide kids’ interactions with AI, and teach the difference between talking to a machine and a human.
The way African language courses are offered at South African universities keeps social divisions in place.
Federal protections promise a fair trial in a language you understand, but for millions who speak lesser-known languages, courts can’t keep that promise.
A linguistic expert explains the techniques Enron traders used to build and retain trust in their criminal strategies.
In 1866, the topic became so controversial that the Société de Linguistique de Paris banned discussions about language origins altogether.
‘Soccer’ originated as a slang term in the 1880s and continues to be used around the world today. So why are some people squeamish about the term?
Top contributors
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Senior Lecturer in Linguistics, Monash University
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Professor of Linguistics, Monash University
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Roger J. Kreuz is a Friend of The Conversation.
Associate Dean and Feinstone Interdisciplinary Research Professor, University of Memphis
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Honorary Associate Professor in Writing, The University of Queensland
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Professor of Linguistics, University of York
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Professor of English Language and Literature, University of Oxford
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Associate Professor in Linguistics, Macquarie University
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Professor of African Language Studies, University of the Western Cape
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Senior Research Fellow of Linguistics, University of Colorado Boulder; Griffith University; University of New England
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Associate Professor of Linguistics and Director of Language Lab, The University of Western Australia
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Associate professor, Universidad Nebrija; UCL
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Associate Professor in Language, Literacy and TESL, University of Canberra
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Postdoctoral research fellow (Forensic Linguistics/ Language and Law), University of the Western Cape
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Professor of Linguistics and English, Florida International University
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Director, Office of Scholarly Communication and Publishing, University of Pittsburgh