Translation has an impact on our lives every day — and it has for centuries. Linguist and translator David Bellos explores the origins of translation.
There's a growing body of English literature that isn't written in standard English at all, but rather different dialects and vernaculars. So when does a vernacular language become a language of its own?
Some words, we often say, just can't be translated into another language. Michael Wood, one of the editors of the "Dictionary of Untranslatables," says that's just not true — you can translate anything. But even "untranslatable" itself is a word with many meanings.
It's Nobel Prize season. While scientists throughout the world will be awarded this prestigious prize, there's a good chance all of their research was written up in English. Michael Gordin, a professor of the history of science at Princeton, wrote a new book, "Scientific Babel" that explores the intersection of the history of language and science.
We take simultaneous interpretation for granted today, watching world leaders at the UN and other organizations listen to speeches being translated in real time. But there was a time not too long ago when even the thought of someone instantly translating speech was impossible.
Why does an entrée mean a different part of the meal in America and England? How did tea and chai become universal terms? Linguist Dan Jurafsky, author of the new book The Language of Food, talks about how the grammar of food affects us every time we sit down to a meal.