The Tonal languages of Africa and Asia use pitch to distinguish meaning — Mandarin has 4 tones; Cantonese has 6–9.

The alphabet is a Greek invention — the Greeks added vowels to the Phoenician consonant alphabet around 800 BC.

There are no true synonyms — words with similar meanings always differ in connotation or register.

The average educated English speaker knows about 40,000–50,000 words but uses only 5,000–10,000 in everyday speech.

English borrowed about 30% of its vocabulary from French, primarily after the Norman Conquest of 1066.

Shakespeare's works have been translated into over 100 languages and are performed more than any other playwright.

Some languages have no word for 'left' or 'right' — speakers of Guugu Yimithirr in Australia use cardinal directions instead.

The longest palindrome in English is a sentence: 'A man, a plan, a canal: Panama.'

Sign languages are complete, natural languages with their own grammar — they are not universal and vary by country.