Dogs understand what certain words stand for, according to researchers who monitored the brain activity of willing pooches while they were shown balls, slippers, leashes…
View More Dogs can understand the meaning of nouns, new research findsTag: Language
Hallucinate, AI, authenticity: dictionaries’ words of the year make our biggest fears clear
The moment we’ve all breathlessly waited for is finally here: dictionaries are announcing their words of the year. Last week, the US’s most esteemed lexicon,…
View More Hallucinate, AI, authenticity: dictionaries’ words of the year make our biggest fears clearLanguage barrier: why even Harry has stopped speaking the king’s English
Name: The king’s English. Age: The first citation dates back to 1553. Appearance: Fast vanishing. What is? The king’s English. Is he now? Sorry? For…
View More Language barrier: why even Harry has stopped speaking the king’s EnglishHow thinking in a foreign language improves decision-making
As Vladimir Nabokov revised his autobiography, Speak, Memory, he found himself in a strange psychological state. He had first written the book in English, published…
View More How thinking in a foreign language improves decision-makingThe ultimate swearword: an algorithm has come up with the ‘best’ expletive ever. It is certainly a surprise
Name: The ultimate swearword. Age: Ber! Mind your own business. Sorry, age is just the way we normally start things around here. “Ber”, though, what…
View More The ultimate swearword: an algorithm has come up with the ‘best’ expletive ever. It is certainly a surpriseTalking to babies may help shape brain structure, research finds
The amount of adult speech children are exposed to in their early years may help to shape the structure of their brains, researchers say. Studies…
View More Talking to babies may help shape brain structure, research findsOldest known sentence written in first alphabet discovered – on a head-lice comb
It’s a simple sentence that captures the hopes and fears of modern-day parents as much as the bronze age Canaanite who owned the doubled-edged ivory…
View More Oldest known sentence written in first alphabet discovered – on a head-lice combBritain’s multilingual children: ‘We speak whatever language gets the job done’
For many three-year-olds growing up in the UK, it’s challenging enough to learn and master one language, usually English. Yet there’s another rising demographic of…
View More Britain’s multilingual children: ‘We speak whatever language gets the job done’How quirk of primate evolution gave humans the voice apes lack
Scientists have identified evolutionary modifications in the voice box distinguishing people from other primates that may underpin a capability indispensable to humankind: speaking. Researchers said…
View More How quirk of primate evolution gave humans the voice apes lack‘Can you hear me now?’ Study reveals why voices are raised on video calls
From frozen screens to the oblivious person on mute, the trials and tribulations of video calls became familiar challenges as the pandemic forced workers to…
View More ‘Can you hear me now?’ Study reveals why voices are raised on video calls