A study of hundreds of thousands of YouTube videos and podcasts reveals that AI isn’t just changing how we write, it’s subtly altering our spoken language too, raising new concerns about cultural homogenization and who controls the words we use.
Tag: linguistics
Miraña, spoken by just 170 people, is one of the indigenous languages that is in danger of disappearing in Colombia. Researchers and activists are working to save it from extinction.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, the language of authority has changed in Syria. Yet these new titles (“Emir,” “Branch Emir” or “Sheikh of the group”) do little for the core demands for which Syrians rose up: freedom, dignity and justice.
Profanity is a kind of national sport in Turkey. But it can also be risky business, sometimes leading to lawsuits or even death. One political scientist researching Turkey’s unique way of conjuring curse words explains what the country’s inventive slurs reveal about its fears and prejudices.
The author’s mother shares a name with the Democratic nominee for U.S. president. How our names are spoken in different countries and cultures has some surprising twists, even if Donald Trump’s weaponizing Kamala Harris’ name is pure bigotry and bullying.
Sunnis were historically resistant to have this sacred text translated from Arabic — but especially into Persian, the language of a nation sometimes viewed as reluctantly Muslim. What does that mean today under the Sharia law of the Islamic Republic.
‘Thirst trap’ and ‘edgelord’ were recently added to the dictionary – so why hasn’t ‘nibling’ made the cut?
The clear lack of words, in Hindi and other Indian vernaculars, to describe feminine reproductive organs, feminine hygiene or women’s reproductive rights, says a lot about a country plagued by violence against women and rampant rape culture.
Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine goes well beyond the battlefield. Russia is trying to destroy Ukrainian identity by imposing the Russian language in occupied areas, as a prime weapon in Moscow’s policy of “Russification.”
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A Very Neapolitan Kind Of Halloween
Instead of going trick-or-treating, our Naples-based psychiatrist asks herself a dialectal question.
The European Commission’s efforts to push for more inclusive language are important. But we should be careful and make sure we make room for differences.
There’s a fundamental flaw in the case being made against certain grammatically gendered nouns.
Recent studies from a French laboratory of linguistics reveal surprising aspects of human language that make it even more mysterious than it sounds.
The number of children studying in English in India increased 273% between 2003 and 2011. But there is also a push for Hindi over regional dialects. Child development should be the guide, not politics or status.
Researchers at the University Of Macerata used volunteers and online bots to help translated the 19th century children’s classic.
MEXICO CITY — Mexico is one of the world’s most linguistically diverse countries, but many of its indigenous tongues are in serious danger of extinction. And unless efforts are undertaken to preserve them, about 50 of those languages could disappear within the next 20 years, the Mexico City-based daily El Universal reports. There are a […]
Can we determine whether a certain writer actually penned a certain work? Using technological analysis, the answer is a reliable ‘yes.’
BEIJING — Both the Internet and China’s mighty role as manufactured goods exporter have given new prominence to the Chinese language around the world. Here are 5 expressions from China already on the road to being exported themselves. 1.) The Beijing Youth Daily recently reported that a new Chinese buzzword, tu-hao, could be be included […]
LA STAMPA (Italy) Worldcrunch VENICE– You no speeka the English? Well then, signori, you will not be welcome at Italy’s prestigious Ca’ Foscari and Bocconi universities. La Stampa reports that Ca” Foscari, a 145-year-old public university in Venice, and Bocconi, the private Milan business and economics university, are requiring that all students enrolling for the […]
The most alive of the dead languages is also getting a boost in some surprising corners outside the Vatican walls.
EL UNIVERSAL (Mexico) Worldcrunch MEXICO CITY – Linguistic experts have identified as many as 364 different dialects in modern Mexico, with at least 100 people speaking each linguistic variation. But this wealth of language diversity risks disappearing. Javier López Sánchez, director of the National Indigenous Languages Institute in Mexico (INALI), says that currently 64 dialects […]