Words for “mother” begin with the letter M in many languages, but not all of them. The reason has to do with the physiology of infant vocalization. Among the first sounds babies make are bilabial sounds with an open vowel, the lips coming together...
The state of Idaho has a large community of Basque speakers. Their native tongue is what’s known as a language isolate, meaning one that is not historically connected to those around it. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Basque, A...
If someone’s been talking about you in English, then metaphorically speaking, your ears are burning. If they were talking about you in Modern Greek, it’s said that you must have been hiccupping. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
If you’re looking for dictionary recommendations, you’ve tuned to the right program! For comprehensive, desk-dwelling dictionaries, Grant likes the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 6th Edition, a two-volume set, and the brand-new American Heritage...
Many of the world’s languages apparently derived from a prehistoric common ancestor known as Indo-European. But since no one ever wrote down a word of it, how do we know what it was like?
