A linguistic island experiment
Derek Bickerton is a linguist who had a wild idea for a linguistic experiment. He dreamed of placing six families that spoke six different languages on an uninhabited island for three years, in an attempt to create new Creole language. And he almost got the funding for it. The World’s Patrick Cox tells the story.
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.