Learning spoken language
System learns to distinguish words’ phonetic components, without human annotation of training data.
Sabine Iatridou and Kai von Fintel named fellows of the Linguistics Society of America
Fellowship marks the highest honor in the field of linguistics.
How language gives your brain a break
Study: In dozens of languages, words that work together stay together.
3 Questions: Michel DeGraff on Haiti’s new policy for teaching in Kreyòl
MIT scholar, and advocate of native-language instruction, backs linguistic change.
Donca Steriade: Searching for the building blocks of language
The most comprehensive survey of rhyme ever made reveals a new possibility for one of the essential units of language.
The rapid rise of human language
New paper suggests people quickly started speaking in a now-familiar form.
Decoding the meaning of language
Linguist Kai von Fintel engages in research at the intersection of science and the humanities.
Could birdsong help us solve stuttering?
New CSAIL genomics work suggests vocalizing birds could tell us more about speech disorders.
How information moves between cultures
Networks that map strength of connections between languages predict global influence of their speakers.
Neuroscientists identify key role of language gene
Mutation that arose long ago may be key to humans’ unique ability to produce and understand speech.
A new leadership model for a new Haiti
Prime minister and cabinet members attend leadership workshop with MIT professors.
Essays in English yield information about other languages
Grammatical habits in written English reveal linguistic features of non-native speakers’ languages.
When it comes to numbers, culture counts
In a Bolivian rainforest society, children learn to count just like in the U.S., but on a delayed timetable.
Cold case: A linguistic mystery yields clues in Russian
MIT professor’s new book explains how the quirks of Russian numerals can tell us something deep about the universal properties of grammar.