Language shapes thought — the Pirahã's lack of color words means they perceive fewer color distinctions.

Whistled languages, like Silbo Gomero in the Canary Islands, encode full speech and are UNESCO Heritage.

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

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

The world's shortest alphabet, Rotokas, has only 12 letters.

'Dreamt' is the only common English word that ends in 'mt'.

The printing press led to standardized spelling — before it, words were spelled however the writer chose.

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

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