We’re celebrating 180 years of Scientific American. Explore our legacy of discovery and look ahead to the future. Since at least the 17th century, science has struggled with words. Francis Bacon, ...

These four sounds are missing from some of the seven words you can never say on television, and the pattern prevails in other languages too, researchers say. By Elizabeth Preston “Holy motherforking ...

An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt. Impact Link The English language is, indeed, a quirky one: it's notoriously difficult to learn, and often words have more than one meaning. Some of these ...

How can one teach language to a chimpanzee who is unable to produce the basic sounds of spoken language (phonemes)? Extensive research has shown they can’t. Two approaches, each using a visual ...

Social media neologisms are assimilating into our language and sharpening our evolving human communication. The Millennial generation is passing, making way for Gen Z, the new generation composed of ...