Language & Communication Writing Systems
Language & Communication
How humans encode and share meaning — from etymology to writing systems.
Language & Communication Languages
Esperanto was invented by one eye doctor to be a neutral world language
Language & Communication Linguistics
Across languages, basic color words appear in a near-universal order — and red comes first after black and white
Language & Communication Linguistics
Pirahã, an Amazonian language, appears to have no exact numbers
Language & Communication Media & Communication
The QWERTY keyboard was designed for a machine that no longer exists
Language & Communication Media & Communication
The @ symbol has wildly different names — many of them animals
Language & Communication Etymology
The word "avocado" comes from a Nahuatl word that also meant "testicle"
Language & Communication Linguistics
There is a language with no words for left and right — only north and south
Language & Communication Languages
Two deaf communities spontaneously invented brand-new sign languages from scratch
Language & Communication Linguistics
The window to learn a language's grammar stays open until about 17
Language & Communication Languages
English has the most speakers, but Chinese has the most native speakers
Language & Communication Media & Communication
The first text message ever sent read: Merry Christmas
Language & Communication Media & Communication
The first radio signal across the Atlantic was a single letter S
Language & Communication Media & Communication
The first telegraph message asked: What hath God wrought?
Language & Communication Media & Communication
The oldest surviving photograph took hours of sunlight to make
Language & Communication Etymology
"Salary" comes from the Latin word for salt — but Roman soldiers weren't paid in it
Language & Communication Linguistics
Sign languages aren't English on the hands — they have their own grammar
◆ On this day
On this day in Language & Communication
25 Jan 1915
Language & Communication Media & Communication
The first transcontinental phone call is made in the U.S.
23 Mar 1839
14 Apr 1828
Language & Communication Languages
Noah Webster published his American Dictionary of the English Language
1 Jun 1980
10 Jun 1909
10 Jul 1962
Language & Communication Media & Communication
Telstar, the first communications satellite, launched
30 Aug 1963
18 Sep 1851
25 Sep 1690
Language & Communication Media & Communication
America's first multi-page newspaper lasted one issue
27 Sep 1822
5 Oct 1947
18 Oct 1922
