Talking DNAIn India, People Who Speak the Same Language Have Similar DNA: Study A new study of India's genetic diversity flies in the face of previous, Euro-centric research that held the closer people live to each other, the more similar their genomes. By Devrupa Rakshit
Breathing Life Into LanguageUse of Regional Languages in Rajya Sabha Sessions Increased Five Hundred Percent in 2020 Regional languages serve as inalienable symbols of the rich multi-cultural character of the federal and democratic polity that India is. By Satviki Sanjay
Words of OutrageWhat This Year’s Protest Language Revealed About Societal Outrage In India Protest discourse reflects a longer-burning evolution in political rhetoric that has led to the match point of 2020. By Liesl Goecker
Pandemic Patois‘Blursday,’ ‘Covidiot,’ ‘Doomscrolling’ — How the Covid19 Pandemic Changed the English Language Forever The Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year exercise couldn’t pick just one, reflecting the upheaval of the Covid19 pandemic. By Rajvi Desai
Hang On Every WordDictionary.com Adds LGBTQIA+ Terms Such as ‘Deadname,’ ‘Biromantic’ in Biggest Update Ever “The work of a dictionary is more than just adding new words. It's an ongoing effort to ensure that how we define words reflects changes in language — and life,” a senior editor at Dictionary.com said. By Rajvi Desai
Combating Gender BiasLanguages With Greater Gender Biases Have Speakers With Greater Gender Biases: Study A study of 25 languages concluded that people’s implicit gender associations are strongly predicted by gender associations embedded in their languages. By Devrupa Rakshit
Say What?Why Indian Languages Are Among the Hardest to Lip‑Read Believe it or not, an abundance of moustaches is a factor. By Rajvi Desai
Shame Shame ShameFrom Unclean to Reclaimed: The Curious Journey of the Word ‘Slut’ We must be aware of how the word actually works to devalue women, if we want to try to reclaim it. By Aditi Murti
We The PeopleOxford Announces ‘Samvidhaan’ as Hindi Word of the Year 2019 “The year 2019 witnessed the Constitution of India, in a way, truly became a people’s document, given to the people by the people.” By Rajvi Desai
Speak My LanguageLinguists Declare the 2010s the Decade of the Pronoun "The personal expression of gender identity has become an increasing part of our shared discourse," the American Dialect Society said. By Rajvi Desai
When Words FailLáadan: The Fictional, Feminist Language Designed to Convey Unique Female Experiences Radiidin (noun): A day that is technically supposed to be a festive holiday but is actually a burden because of the sheer amount of work to be done alone. By Pallavi Prasad
Terms of EndearmentThe Psychology Behind Romantic Pet Names and Baby Talk It's Freudian, pumpkin. By Pallavi Prasad
Right To SpeechDisadvantaged Children More Likely to Have Language Problems Than Those With More Privilege Not addressing language development issues early could reduce opportunities and continue the cycle of poverty. By Aditi Murti
Animal FarmThe Revolutionary Origins of the Term ‘Male Chauvinist Pig’ The term is the brainchild of the feminist, communist, and civil rights movements of the 60s. By Pallavi Prasad
In Other WordsHow Multilingual People Use Several Languages All at Once People who speak more than one language fluently seem to have all languages active at all times, whether they are consciously being used or not. By Rajvi Desai
Words Of A FeatherThe Difference Between Sexism and Misogyny, and Why It Matters Sexism is an ideology to adopt; misogyny is a behavior to embrace when that ideology is threatened. By Pallavi Prasad
From ‘Cunt’ to ‘Careerwoman’: the Many Ways in Which Language Propagates Sexism Think before you speak. By Pallavi Prasad
Byte SizedKids’ Brains Absorb 1.5 MB of Data Just to Master a Native Language That's not even a decent pen drive, but it's bigger than you think. By Liesl Goecker
