Every time we speak, we're improvising. "Humans possess a remarkable ability to talk about almost anything, sometimes putting ...

A new study suggests that language may rely less on complex grammar than previously thought. Every time we speak, we’re ...

When words fail them, creative writers imagine entirely new ones. Author Patti Callahan Henry examines fictional language, from the words of Tolkien to her own. Our editors and experts handpick every ...

The rapid growth (and partial retreat) of “they” and “them” has gotten a lot of attention in recent years, but English is ...

Among the myriad abilities that humans possess, which ones are uniquely human? Language has been a top candidate at least since Aristotle, who wrote that humanity was “the animal that has language.” ...

Language learning is often a daunting prospect. Many of us wish we had learned a language to a higher level at school. But even though adults of all ages can do well in acquiring a new language, ...

The African Next Voices project has started out with sites in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. Iuliia Anisimova/iStock Language is how we interact, ask for help, and hold meaning in community. We use ...