In-Groups and Out-Groups When people think of the pronouns us, them, and you, they tend to think of basic conversations: did you go to the store? Do you want to come with us? While itโs true that many uses of these words crop up in everyday conversation, they hold more power than you might think. Studies repeatedly show that [...]
Understanding the Babble Hypothesis While the concept of the babble hypothesis has been around for decades, it was not until the late 2010s and early 2020s that the concept truly gained traction for further study. The babble hypothesis posits that when a group is missing a leader, the person who speaks the most is also the most likely to [...]
What does laughter sound like? If your answer is that it goes, โHahaha,โ then youโre very likely an English speaker (oh the horror). But why would that be the case? Doesnโt laughter sound the same across the world? Sure, in a certain way it does. Human beings always know when another person is laughing, regardless of their cultural or [...]
In the first part of this series, we looked at how wills originated as a social practice and legal provision. Weโll move on to something a little more lighthearted in this, the second installment in this series. Although wills are usually a somber matter, there are some that stand out for the way theyโre structured and the unique items [...]
Over 60% of the worldโs population now speaks two or more languages. One exciting area of linguistic science is the idea that polyglots (individuals who speak multiple languages) often feel that they have โmultiple personalitiesโ โ one per language. For example, a person who speaks both Spanish and English may feel or even come off as a different person to [...]
Birth certificates, passports, driving licenses, social security cards, and on and on. There is a seemingly endless stream of legal documents that one is obligated to create through their lifetime to prove their personhood, citizenship, and privileges. One document that holds special legal import not just while youโre alive, but even after, is your will and testament. As youโre [...]
Over two centuries ago, Paul Revere rode on horseback across the Massachusetts countryside declaring, โThe British are coming.โ That, of course, was a warning about an impending war. Today, the British are making an altogether different kind of incursion into the US: with their language. Thatโs the claim that Ben Yagoda makes in his latest book, Gobsmacked! The British [...]
Why Study Music and Speech Together? Researchers have long wondered how human language developed into the state in which it currently exists, and few considered how a cultureโs music might provide insight into its language as well. Music and speech are intrinsically linkedโboth as a means of communication and a manner of self-expression. Thus, researchers posited that discovering what [...]
Why Was the Deseret Alphabet Created? The Deseret alphabet was the brainchild of Brigham Young and his colleagues. Young, one of the foundational members of the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, sought to create an alternative to English so that adherents of Mormonism could separate themselves from their surrounding culture. In fact, it was Youngโs [...]
Non-verbal communication is a universal language that transcends spoken words, conveying emotions, thoughts, and intentions through gestures, facial expressions, and body language. While we may rely on speech to articulate ideas, much of what we communicate is expressed through non-verbal cues. These unspoken signals are powerful, yet their meanings often vary from culture to culture. What might be considered [...]
