Example of recurrent change. Still images from video dictionary entries that illustrate the phonological pattern of thumb extension. Both signs are produced with four fingers extended, but the sign ...

The next step in the evolution of generative AI technology will rely on ‘world models’ to improve physical outcomes in the real world.

Computers need programming languages to function. That’s just a simple fact of life. However, these languages didn’t just spring up out of nowhere. They were developed by people for explicit purposes.

A new study shows that American Sign Language (ASL) is more linguistically complex than previously understood. In particular, research appearing in the June 2022 issue of the journal Language, ...

A study on Indo-European languages, using direct linguistic data, reconciles the two dominant hypotheses of where and how ...

THE rapid evolution of large language models has achieved grammatical correctness across major languages, yet this represents marketing inclusivity rather than true linguistic equality. While today’s ...

The human environment is a very social one. Family, friends, colleagues, strangers – they all provide a continuous stream of information that we need to track and make sense of. Who is dating whom?

"A long, long, long time ago, France was called Gaul and the French, the Gauls." Does this phrase ring a bell? Perhaps set to music and sung by the Belgian Annie Cordy (1928-2020) in 1978, it would ...

The loss of certain muscles in the human larynx may have helped give our species a voice, a new study suggests. By Oliver Whang Read this sentence aloud, if you’re able. As you do, a cascade of motion ...

Language is one of the few faculties that still seems to be uniquely human. Other animals, like chimpanzees and songbirds, have developed elaborate communication systems, but none appears to convey ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. It’s relatively easy to trace a written linguistic history—there ...

This research was supported by funding from: The National Center for Competence in Research "Evolving Language" (SNSF agreement number 51NF40_180888) Swiss National Science Foundation (project grant ...