Language
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Politics
Where Did Our Strange Use of ‘Like’ Come From?
Some months ago, one of my readers sent me an invaluable cache of recordings of family members during therapy sessions…
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World
Writing in an Endangered Language to Honor, and Challenge, Traditions
In “How to Be a Good Savage,” Mikeas Sánchez’ poems help preserve her language, Zoque, and allow it to commingle…
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World
How Africans Are Changing French — One Joke, Rap and Book at a Time
More than 60 percent of French speakers now live in Africa. Despite growing resentment at France, Africans are contributing to…
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World
Hola! This Is Mayor Eric Adams, Making an A.I. Robocall
New York City is embracing artificial intelligence and using it to send robocalls featuring the mayor’s voice in many languages.
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World
A Patois Revival: Jamaica Weighs Language Change as Ties to Britain Fray
A push is underway to make Jamaica’s Patois an official language, on par with English, as the country weighs cutting…
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World
‘Our Language Is Dying’
The struggle to save Gagauz, a Turkic tongue used by dwindling numbers of people in an ethnic enclave of Moldova,…
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Politics
Is ‘Yo’ the Gender-Neutral Pronoun You’ve Been Looking For?
I am in the middle of writing a book on pronouns in English. My focus this time out is on…
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World
A Yiddish Haven Thrives in Australia
Australia has the largest proportion of Holocaust survivors of any country besides Israel. In Melbourne, some of their descendants are…
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World
Why Every Women’s World Cup City Has Two Names
A concerted effort to say Indigenous names correctly, and tell the stories behind them, will show up in stadiums in…
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World
‘Bursting Proud’: Ireland Cheers Paul Mescal for Embracing Irish Language
On the red carpet for the British Academy Film Awards, the Oscar-nominated actor gave an interview in Ireland’s national language.