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Why do kids call their parents ‘Mama’

October 03, 2021

why do almost all kids use the same name for their parents? why is it we refer to our parents in this way? Where did it come from and perhaps, more curiously, is there any culture that forgoes this seemingly universal nickname custom for parental figures? All around the world, the words for “mom" are almost the same. Other words aren’t nearly as similar. Take “dog,” for example. In French, “dog” is “chien”; in Dutch, it is “hond”; and in Hungarian, it is “kutya.” But if you needed to get your mother’s attention in France, the Netherlands or Hungary, you’d call “Maman,” “Mama” or “Mamma.” What names do children have for parents in different languages? The names for mothers and fathers are remarkably similar around the world. Chinese - Mama. Zulu - Umama. Arabic - um. Swedish - Mamma. Hungarian - Mamma. Swahili - Mama. Hindi - Mam. Afrikaans - Ma. Ancient Egyptian - Mut. Welsh - Mam. Quechua - Mama. Maori - Mama. As you can clearly see from this list, there’s a very pecu

Did you know; Coronavirus led to an explosion of new words and phrases

October 02, 2021

As the world comes to grips with the “new normal” coronavirus has wrought on our towns, cities and communities, society faces the challenge of figuring out how to talk about the impact the virus is having on our everyday lives. Coronavirus led to an explosion of new words and phrases, both in English and in other languages. This new vocabulary helps us make sense of the changes that have suddenly become part of our everyday lives. Established terms such as “self-isolating”, “pandemic”, “quarantine”, “lockdown” and “key workers” have increased in use, while coronavirus/COVID-19 neologisms are being coined quicker than ever. These include “covidiot” (someone ignoring public health advice), “covideo party”(online parties via Zoom or Skype), and “covexit” (the strategy for exiting lockdown), while coronavirus has acquired new descriptors – including “the ‘rona” and “Miley Cyrus” (Cockney rhyming slang). Other terms deal with the material changes in our everyday lives, from “Blursday” (

Forensic linguists explore how emojis can be used as evidence in court

October 02, 2021

Emojis have become ubiquitous in text communication – messages are peppered with smiley faces, hearts and other graphic icons. They were first drawn by graphic designer Shigetaka Kurita, and generated by a Japanese communications firm called NTT DoCoMo in the late 1990s. Now they’re everywhere. But would you be quite so quick to insert an emoji into a message if you thought it might be interpreted as a threat or might offend the receiver? What if that smiley face could land you in court? Or bind you legally to a contract you never formally signed? There’s a growing body of case law from around the world – including the United Kingdom, New Zealand and France – where courts have been called on to interpret emojis as evidence. This, in turn, has seen a rise in academic literature on the subject. That includes research in the field of forensic linguistics, which we both study. The phrase “forensic linguistics” was first recorded in 1968 by professor of linguistics Jan Svartvik, who wa

Forensic linguists can make or break a court case. So who are they and what do they do?

October 01, 2021

If you’re an avid viewer of crime shows, you’ve probably come across cases in which an expert, often a psychologist, is called in to help solve a crime using their language analysis skills. However, in real life it’s the job of forensic linguists to provide such evidence in courts, around the world. Forensic linguists can provide expert opinion on a variety of language-related dilemmas, including unattributed voice recordings, false confessions, trademark disputes and, of course, a fair share of threatening letters. But what do we look for when doing this reatening letters. But what do we look for when doing this? Disinformation is dangerous. We fight it with facts and expertise About us Reading between the lines (and everything else) Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Thus, linguists are uniquely placed to provide expert opinions on how language is used. Linguists study: grammatical structures, wherein changes in punctuation patterns between texts can signal di