The average person knows between 20,000 and 35,000 words in their native language.

The Phoenician alphabet had 22 letters — all consonants — and became the ancestor of most Western alphabets.

Noam Chomsky proposed humans have an innate 'universal grammar' — a built-in capacity for language.

Linguistic relativity experiments show speakers of languages with more color words distinguish shades faster.

The first novel ever written in English is generally considered to be 'Robinson Crusoe' by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719.

Aztec markets like Tlatelolco impressed Spanish conquistadors — they rivaled the best markets in Europe.

Body language can communicate emotions without spoken words.

The word 'nice' once meant 'foolish' in English — its meaning gradually softened over centuries.

The longest word in English, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, was invented to be the longest word.