Linguistic diversity on Earth is far more profound and fundamental than previously imagined. But it’s also crumbling fast At the heart of linguistics is a radical premise: all languages are equal.

Contrary to conventional thinking, it's never too late to learn a new language. Use these tips to get started. For more than two years, Dulcie Shoener of Milwaukee has done daily German lessons on her ...

If you want to learn the history of the Japanese language, you should know about two major era changesThe Meiji Restoration ...

Last year at a celebration of International Mother Language Day in Dhaka, Bangladesh, thousands attend a monument commemorating those killed during the Language Movement demonstrations of 1952. Mehedi ...

Wild chimpanzees alter the meaning of single calls when embedding them into diverse call combinations, mirroring linguistic operations in human language. Human language, however, allows an infinite ...

Language is a defining feature of humanity, and for centuries, philosophers and scientists have contemplated its true purpose. We use language to share information and exchange ideas—but is it more ...

Humans are storytelling beings. As far as we know, no other species has the capacity for language and ability to use it in endlessly creative ways. From our earliest days, we name and describe things.

There are many benefits to knowing more than one language. For example, it has been shown that aging adults who speak more than one language have less likelihood of developing dementia. Unfortunately, ...

Explore the Smithsonian Folklife Festival's "One World, Many Voices" program. Nearly half of the 7,000 languages spoken in the world are expected to vanish in the next 100 years. One of them is ...