The latest edition of the official dictionary of the Swedish language contains a new pronoun among its 13,000 new words — hen, to go along with he (han) and she (hon).
When NPR correspondents report about that group, they try to make it clear that it is not a "state" in the standard sense of that word. This month's "Word Matters" conversation explains why.
New York City is home to more than 700 languages, including distinct "New Yorker" accents. A new exhibit examines how changes in the city's population are contributing to their decline.
Tiny Boonville, Calif., is known for a few things. Its wineries, its tight-knit community, and its very own language. Boontling was created in the late 1800s as a way to gossip covertly.
In a year filled with gripping health stories, here are the ones that were the most popular with Shots readers. Think beauty pageant queens, pronouns and Ebola.
Andrea is 10, and she speaks three languages: English, Spanish, and a dialect of Guatemalan. At least, that's what she thinks. Andrea speaks none of those languages fluently, even after years in her school's English-only immersion program. Why doesn't it work for her? And what can we do better? Fronteras reporter Devin Browne spent five years following Andrea, and reports on the ups and downs of an education tactic seen first-hand through a child's eyes.
Stanford and UC Berkeley linguist and author Geoffrey Nunberg discusses language and politicians: his new book is Talking Right: How Conservatives Turned Liberalism into a Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo-Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Loving, Left-Wing Freak Show .
