Mongolia is a place we all know to have a rich history, from being a largely nomadic people to having one of the most known empires in the world. Their empire lasted until the 17th century when they fell under…

I always thought that Korean was the only language that used the Hangul alphabet. However, this past month I have learned that such is not the case. The Hangul alphabet was created in 1444 during the reign of King Sejong,…

Discovering Mehri: A Unique South Arabian Language By Sahara Al-Madi Uncover the enchanting world of Mehri, one of the last surviving South Arabian languages, spoken in the misty mountains of Oman and Yemen. In the lush, mountainous region of Dhofar,…

Explore the captivating world of Amharic, Ethiopia’s official language, with over 32 million speakers globally. This article delves into the linguistic structure of Amharic, including its unique Ge’ez script, consonantal root system, and subject-object-verb (SOV) word order. Discover Amharic’s rich…

This month I decided to visit a place that I know very little about in my research and explore one of their many indigenous languages. Australia has more than 250 indigenous languages including 800 dialects. But today I am going…

Today, Filipino is the official national language of the Philippines, but it was not always that way. This month let’s learn about Tagalog, another major language in the island nation of the Philippines. First, a break-down of the name so…

Wolof is a member of the Niger-Congo language family in West Africa. Wolof is one of the six national languages of Senegal and is one of the most widely spoken languages in West Africa with upwards of ten million speakers….

Language, along with culture, can be a powerful tool for creating community among a people no matter how spread apart they might be. The Saami Language is spoken by the indigenous people in Nordic countries and is classified as a…

By Laura Standel The Silk Road had a giant impact worldwide as it was the main trade route from 130 B.C.E until 1453 C.E. It started in north-central China and ran all the way down to the Mediterranean Sea where…

By William Zhang History La Gomera, a volcanic island located in the Canary archipelago, is celebrated not only for its natural beauty, but also its unique whistled language known as Silbo Gomero. This language can be traced back to the…

By Sahara Al-Madi The Thai language and Korean language both have something in common. They both had their written systems established by a king!  The former King Ramkhamhaeng the Great who ruled the Sukhothai Kingdom from 1279-1298 initiated the Thai…

By Sahara Al-Madi There are over 85.5 million reported Cantonese/Yue speakers worldwide!(Eberhard, Simons & Fennig, 2022).  Cantonese is an important language to highlight as it represents a large population living within our global community who think, dream, and create just…

By Sahara Al-Madi E Ola Ka ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi Language endangerment is a serious concern for humanity. Sustaining the life of a language means supporting the life and culture of a community. It is necessary to support the longevity of Hawaiʻi through…

By Sahara Al-Madi This month we want to spotlight American Sign Language and express gratitude for the hard of hearing and deaf community. The World Health Organization reports that over 1.5 billion people globally live with hearing loss. This number…

By Sahara Al-Madi For December’s language of the month, I felt it was important to express appreciation for Kichwa/Quechua.  Kichwa is an agglutinative language with SOV word order that has been spoken in the Andes region of South America long…

For May’s language of the month, I wanted to spotlight a constructed language project that I feel demonstrates the Internet’s unmatched ability to refute the statement “I would love to do [X], but I don’t think anyone else would want…

By Will Boodon My favorite linguistics course in college was LING 450: Workshop in Applied Linguistics. Over the course of the semester we, a group of around 10, interviewed 3 native speakers of languages from around the world. We then…

With St Patrick’s Day a few weeks behind us and March drawing to a close, we felt it only fitting that we feature Irish as the language of the month. The story of the Irish language, much like that of…

Spain is a country with many different linguistic and cultural wonders. There are several different languages spoken in the country, one of which is Aragonese. This language is also known as Aragoieraz, Altoaragonés, Aragonés, Fabla Aragonesa, Patués, or High Aragonese….

The Niimíipuu (“The People”) or Nez Perce are a tribe in present day Idaho consisting of around 3,500 citizens. It is a federally recognized tribe by the United States government (Nez Perce, 2018). The Nez Perce were a nomadic people,…

Pipil is the only indigenous language spoken in El Salvador and is classified by UNSECO as a critically endangered language.

After 19 long months of being stuck in domestic travel, I was finally able to make it abroad last week. While I will not share my mother’s maiden name here, I can assure you the “ski” at the end of…

If you are following us on social media, you have seen that during my travels I do as much as possible to document indigenous languages throughout the world. While in some places information is scarce, I have noticed that a…

Earlier this month, a fellow member of the Museum team (Linda, our excellent artist for the Philogelos jokes project) shared an article with me about a metal band. While this may seem a bit odd to share between colleagues, this…