What’s in a swear? The world’s filthiest words typically refer to something vulgar or taboo, for one. But there’s something else swears across the world’s languages have in common. They’re all missing ...

When speakers of different languages meet, their words, sounds and even grammatical structures mingle in surprising ways.

In 1886, the British archaeologist Arthur Evans came across an ancient stone bearing a curious set of inscriptions in an unknown language. The stone came from the Mediterranean island of Crete, and ...

Ryan McKay receives funding from the NOMIS Foundation. Shiri Lev-Ari does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, ...

Languages around the world have words for ‘this’ and ‘that’ according to new research from an international team, led by the University of East Anglia. Researchers studied more than 1,000 speakers of ...

Is the meaning of love truly universal? It might depend on the language you speak, a new study finds. Scientists who searched out semantic patterns in nearly 2,500 languages from all over the world ...

Carmen Álvarez-Mayo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations ...