Tamil is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world, with a literary history spanning over 2,000 years.

Apes can learn sign language.

The word 'silly' originally meant 'blessed' in Old English — its meaning shifted dramatically over the centuries.

Machu Picchu was never discovered by Spanish conquistadors — it was abandoned around 1572 and remained unknown to the outside world until 1911.

The United States has no official language — English is the dominant language but is not legally designated.

Many Native American languages contain single words that would require whole sentences to express in English.

The Basque language has no known relatives anywhere in the world — it is a true language isolate.

Languages evolve continuously — Shakespeare's English is dramatically different from today's just 400 years later.

Txting and internet slang follow consistent grammatical patterns — linguists study them as natural language change.