linguistics

Yes or No

When an American says 'sure' to a Brit, does it mean yes or no?

When American Lynne Murphy says "sure" to her British husband, he thinks she means "not really."

When an American says 'sure' to a Brit, does it mean yes or no?
Scientist Joshua Miele demonstrates a virtual wireless Braille keyboard attached as an input device to an Android phone.

Will blind people use Braille in the future?

Will blind people use Braille in the future?
Aino and Jean Sibelius flanking a letter written by Jean to Aino.

The correspondence of Jean Sibelius and his wife Aino is a bilingual love story

The correspondence of Jean Sibelius and his wife Aino is a bilingual love story
A supporter of the anti-Muslim group PEGIDA in Dresden, Germany.

One simple word defines Germans, but Germans don't agree on what it means

One simple word defines Germans, but Germans don't agree on what it means
Screenshot from a parody video made by Christian singer Micah Tyler.

'What a total God shot!' Understand that? Then you speak Christianese.

'What a total God shot!' Understand that? Then you speak Christianese.
Kenyan language activist Kennedy Bosire has co-edited an online dictionary of his mother tongue, Ekegusii, also know as Kisii.

American soft power has helped this Kenyan man's efforts to ensure a future for his mother tongue

Ekegusii is spoken by about two million Kenyans but has been losing ground to Swahili and English. Now it is taught in some schools, thanks to local language activists assisted by American linguists.

American soft power has helped this Kenyan man's efforts to ensure a future for his mother tongue
Students Andries Jacobi, Nienke Kooi and Fardau de Vries attend a trilingual (Dutch, Frisian, English) public school in Koudum in the Dutch province of Friesland.

The first cousin of the English language is alive and well in the Netherlands

You may have never heard of Frisian. But it is spoken by more than 300,000 people, and its revitalization is a model for other small, struggling languages.

The first cousin of the English language is alive and well in the Netherlands

Olivier Had It Wrong: Shakespeare’s Original Pronunciation

What if Hamlet didn’t sound like a proper English bloke, but more like someone from the American South?

Olivier Had It Wrong: Shakespeare’s Original Pronunciation

How Shakespeare Came Alive for Me — and Stays Alive Today

Shakespeare shouldn’t be lost on anyone, but how much should the text be changed?

How Shakespeare Came Alive for Me — and Stays Alive Today
Lakota

The Standing Rock Sioux are also fighting for their language

Standing Rock is more than a movement for clean water rights. It's also where the Lakota language is re-inventing itself.

The Standing Rock Sioux are also fighting for their language
Kimberly Medina, 19, votes during the U.S. presidential primary election at Gates Street Elementary School in Los Angeles, California, on  June 7, 2016. Californians will vote Nov. 8 on a ballot measure that seeks to overturn a ban on bilingual education.

Should kids be learning in more than one language? Californians just decided "yes."

We know much more about bilingualism now than we did 18 years ago, when Californians voted to ban bilingual education. So what does the research tell us?

Should kids be learning in more than one language? Californians just decided "yes."
Laguna tribal members Jenni Monet and her grandmother June Sarracino.

How do you revive a language if tribal elders don't want you to?

The Keres language, spoken by the Laguna Pueblo of New Mexico, is dying. When younger tribal members tried to revive it, they were blocked by elders fearful that spiritual essence of the language would be lost.

How do you revive a language if tribal elders don't want you to?
Myaamia Chief Doug Lankford (right), linguist David Costa (center), and Myaamia Center director Daryl Baldwin (left), watching a traditional Stomp Dance in Oxford, Ohio.

How the Miami Tribe got its language back

What happens when the last native speaker of a language has died? Is that language "dead" or just "sleeping?" And can it be woken up again?

How the Miami Tribe got its language back
Anne Jimmie grew up speaking Ktunaxa, only to lose much of the language when she was removed from her family and placed in a boarding school. In 2006, the Canadian government compensated Jimmie and about 80,000 other First Nations people as part of a clas

A new generation of Canadians are learning this language, and not all of them are tribal members

Many Ktunaxa lost their native tongue when they were sent to church-run boarding schools. Now the Ktunaxa language is making a modest comeback at a local school where both First Nations and white students study it.

A new generation of Canadians are learning this language, and not all of them are tribal members
Third-grader Haveo Maka'imoku with her brother. Haveo learns entirely in Hawaiian at a school in Hilo, Hawaii. At home, she speaks Hawaiian with mother, who attended one of the first Hawaiian language pre-schools founded in the 1980s.

The World in Words live: From Ainu to Zaza

Listen to The World in Words' live performance at the New York Public Library, with stories on how language activists around the world are trying to revive their mother tongues.

The World in Words live: From Ainu to Zaza