Despite the vast diversity of human languages, specific grammatical patterns appear again and again. A new study reveals that around a third of the long-proposed "linguistic universals"—patterns ...

Researchers identify a specialized "satellite" language network in the cerebellum, offering new insights into how the brain processes communication and potential treatments for aphasia.

Humans speak more than 7,000 languages today. As different as they all seem, researchers argue in a new review that they all stem from a single linguistic family tree that emerged before our species ...

An international team proposes replacing Hockett’s feature checklist with a model of language as a dynamic, multimodal, and socially evolving system.

Geneticists have narrowed down the root of human language evolution after splicing our genes into mice to enhance their learning abilities. In the first study to investigate the cognitive effects of ...

Human language may seem messy and inefficient compared to the ultra-compact strings of ones and zeros used by computers—but our brains actually prefer it that way. New research reveals that while ...

Chimpanzees Asanti and Akuna vocalising. A new study shows that wild chimpanzees use a variety of call combinations to expand messaging. Humans are the only species on earth known to use language.