A new theory of language suggests that people understand words by unconsciously simulating what they describe. Repeated exposure – and the simulation that comes with it – makes it easier to act.
Articles on Linguistics
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A small community of Afrikaners has been living in Argentina since the early 1900s. Linguistic research has found they’re like a time capsule, reflecting pronunciation and syntax from an earlier era.
What do you do when ‘no deal’ looks like a disaster? Stick another word in front of it. Problem solved.
At the Maningrida football Grand Final in 2015, commentary was recorded in nine languages. But elsewhere, the threat of language loss poses a serious risk to our nation’s cultural inheritance.
Lookalike and soundalike medication names are causing dangerous problems.
Changes in the way we pronounce certain sounds tell us a lot about our changing values.
Ever wonder where the words ‘sport’, ‘umpire’ and ‘drubbing’ come from? Here’s a short primer of sporting lingo ahead of the AFL and NRL Grand Finals.
No one is saying the tennis star wasn’t angry. But it’s worth asking whether you thought she was more angry because she is a woman.
Why our understanding of the relationship between ‘place’ and ‘language’ is crucial for social justice.
West African pidgins are unique, showing that they have come to stay no matter what some say or feel about them.
Analysing the words used to place blame or give evidence can change how we see a situation.
Probably the most famous ‘Welsh’ word, ‘cwtch’ is the perfect example of a dialect term.
The difference between freedom and bananas helps explain.
Interpreters’ notes are used as a short-term memory aid, not a full record of a discussion.
Concerns about non-English-speaking migrant populations leading to “parallel communities” are not well founded. Third-generation migrants are typically monolingual in English.
Viewers are taking to Twitter to display their prejudice about Islanders’ accents.
An unspoken class war has long been waged around the pronounciation of the letter “h” - is it haitch or aitch? Despite a snobbish leaning to the latter, haitch makes more sense.
The short answer is that the accent you have depends on the people you grew up with and the history of the place that you live in.
I analysed 15 million words written by major oil companies and found their usage of ‘climate change’ peaked a decade ago.
There have been many theories that try to explain where language came from. None prevailed or even came close to the position of the Darwinism theory in biology or the Big Bang theory in physics.
Top contributors
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Professor of Linguistics, Monash University
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Senior Lecturer in 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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Associate Professor in Linguistics, Macquarie University
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Associate Professor in Sociolinguistics, University of Cambridge
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Professor of Linguistics, University of York
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Professor of Linguistics, University of Nevada, Reno
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Senior Research Fellow of Linguistics, University of Colorado Boulder; Griffith University; University of New England
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Professor of Linguistics and English, Florida International University
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Associate Professor of Linguistics and Director of Language Lab, The University of Western Australia
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Professor of English Language and Literature, University of Oxford
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Francesco Perono Cacciafoco is a Friend of The Conversation.
Associate Professor in Linguistics, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
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Professor of Psychology, Cornell University
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Maïa Ponsonnet is a Friend of The Conversation.
Researcher, Linguistics, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
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Honorary Associate Professor in Writing, The University of Queensland