Language sciences

University of Cambridge linguists have pieced together the curious evolving history of the word 'not' across the languages of Europe. In doing so...

What is it about the human brain that makes language possible? Two evolutionary systems working together, say neuroscientists Professor William...

Scientists are developing a computer that can read vast amounts of scientific literature, make connections between facts and develop hypotheses.

English language testing, and the research that underpins it, has been elevated to a new level by the increasing global dominance of English, now used...

Unconscious learning could be the secret to speeding up learning a second language.

We are addicted to language. By way of proof, Andy Martin – lecturer in the Department of French and author of books on Napoleon, Bardot and surfing –...

Imagine a world in which there is no difference between blue and black or green and blue. A world where there are hundreds of different types of snow...

The curious bronze, knuckle-shaped object pictured is an ancient weight excavated from the east coast of Italy. The inscription scrawled along its...

Having just returned from a year spent documenting the language and culture of the remote Inughuit community of north-western Greenland, Dr Stephen...

Manuscripts written in Syriac, an ancient language of the Middle East, are peppered with mysterious dots. Among them is the vertical double dot or...