“How forensic linguists use grammar, syntax and vocabulary to help crack cold cases.”
Linguistics
Posted inEditor's Pick
Typos, Tricks and Misprints
“Why is English spelling so weird and unpredictable? Don’t blame the mix of languages; look to quirks of timing and technology.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Strange Persistence of First Languages
“Spurred by my father’s death, I returned to the Czech Republic hoping to reconnect to him. In doing so, I also reconnected with my native tongue, and with parts of my identity that I had long ignored.”
Posted inHighlight, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes, Science & Nature
The Adaptation of Language Evolution
Language has always changed, but the introduction of technology means it is adapting in ways we have never experienced before.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Will Podcasts and Video Journalism Make Our Syntax Less Rich?
The days of the long, sinuous, multi-clause sentence might be numbered.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Rise and Fall of the English Sentence
Writing has made our syntax richer and more complex — and also increasingly distinct from spoken language.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Shakespeare’s Genius Is Nonsense
Literary critics and cognitive scientists are finding common ground through the study of Shakespeare’s revolutionary use of language.
Posted inEditor's Pick
‘Fuck’-ing Around
The history of swearing is more than just an evolution of social mores — it’s also a politically charged narrative at the “intersection of anger and gaiety.”
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The Mechanics of a ‘California Accent’
Regional dialects in English are largely informed by the particular way people in different geographic areas make their vowel sounds. Consonants can inform the sounds of vowels, but are largely static; going from an “F” sound to a “T” sound is a huge leap, whereas vowels are a little bit fluid, bleeding into each other. […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The Linguistic Morphology of Reaction GIFs
From visual emojis depicting simple emotional states, it’s a short step to the more dynamic emotion or reaction gifs, used by certain internet subcultures to respond or react in playful ways to an online discussion. These are gif images, often originating from internet memes, that depict elements of body language that can be too complex for an emoticon to describe. Essentially, it’s an innovative way for speakers to convey a sense of gesture on the internet.