As almost everyone knows, sequoia is the name given to a giant tree typical of California’s Sierra Nevada that can exceed one hundred meters in height and ten meters in diameter. However, one of its greatest curiosities is historical: its name, given in 1847 by Austrian botanist Stephan Endlicher, is likely a tribute to the […]
Language
Posted inCulture, Science
Human Language Emerged 135,000 Years Ago as a Private System Within Thought, According to a Genetic Study
Human language is one of the most distinctive capabilities of our species, yet its origin remains an unresolved mystery. A recent genetic analysis suggests that the linguistic ability of human beings was already present at least 135,000 years ago, although its use in social contexts may have emerged around 100,000 years ago. The study, published […]
Posted inScience
The Genetic Discovery That Could Explain the Origin of Human Language: A Protein That Modifies Vocalization
The mystery surrounding the origins of human language continues to intrigue the scientific community. The ability to communicate with a complex language distinguishes us from other animal species, and so far, there is no conclusive evidence that Neanderthals or other hominins could develop this skill with the same sophistication as Homo sapiens. While there are […]
Posted inModern Era
Juggernaut, the origin of the word that defines a destructive, uncontrollable, and unstoppable force
To define the plague that devastates the world in her novel The Last Man, Mary Shelley (also the author of Frankenstein) writes: Like Juggernaut, it proceeds crushing the being of all who stand in the high road of life. The term Juggernaut is also used by Robert Louis Stevenson in The Strange Case of Dr. […]
Posted inScience
Study explains why laws are written in an incomprehensible style
A recent study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has shed light on why legal documents are often written in a style that is notoriously difficult to understand, even for lawyers. The study suggests that this complex and convoluted language, often referred to as “legalese”, serves a purpose similar to that of ancient magical […]
Posted inScience
Chimpanzees Have the Ability to Speak Like Humans, According to an Experiment
A recent study published in the journal Scientific Reports has revealed surprising findings that challenge prevailing theories about the evolution of human speech. This work, conducted by Axel G. Ekström and collaborators, analyzes historical recordings of two enculturated chimpanzees who managed to produce the word mama. The results of this study suggest that chimpanzees possess […]
Posted inScience
Researchers Discover Gestures and Sounds Elephants Use to Greet Each Other When Reuniting, With Traits Previously Believed Unique to Human Language
Elephants are extraordinary animals, known for their complex social interactions and sophisticated communication system. A recent study published in Nature Communications has revealed new and significant findings about how elephants use multimodal signals to communicate during greeting rituals between individuals reuniting. The study, led by researchers from the University of Vienna, focused on observing and […]
Posted inScience
First Evidence that Parrots Not Only Talk but also Have Different Dialects According to Their City of Residence
Over the past 50 years since monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) first arrived in Europe from South America, the invasive species has spread throughout the continent and developed distinct dialects that vary between countries and even cities, according to a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institutes of Animal Behavior in Konstanz and Human Evolution […]
Posted inScience
Researchers Uncover Elephants Giving Each Other Unique Names, a Trait Previously Exclusive to Humans
The use of proper names to refer to other individuals is a universal feature of human language. However, few similar examples are found in other species. While dolphins and parrots address others by imitating their calls, human names do not imitate the sounds that people typically make. Researchers in Animal Behavior studied the vocal communications […]
Posted inModern Era
North American Plains Sign Language, older than European and Ottoman Sign Languages
We often see in Westerns how Indians manage to communicate with each other or with the white man through a series of hand gestures, sometimes accompanied by a phonetic transcription with the infinitive cliché introduced by Fenimore Cooper in his novel The Last of the Mohicans. Such a transcription should be unnecessary, although it is […]
