Related topics: language

Researchers foresee linguistic issues during space travel

It lacks the drama of a shape-shifting alien creature, but another threat looms over the prospect of generations-long, interstellar space travel: Explorers arriving on Xanadu could face problems communicating with previous ...

Linguist uses Internet to study how we say things

(PhysOrg.com) -- Mats Rooth, a Cornell linguist, will use software to study distinctions of prosody (rhythm, stress and intonation) in language by hunting for word patterns on the Internet.

Sign languages help us understand the nature of metaphors

A recent study of the use of metaphors in spoken language and various sign languages shows that certain types of metaphors are difficult to convey in sign language. The study, "Iconicity and metaphor: Constraints on metaphorical ...

Intel backs ultra-light laptops with new age controls

US chip giant Intel on Monday heralded a coming wave of affordable high-powered, thin laptops that could double as tablet computers and be controlled by gestures or spoken commands.

'Look at that!' -- ravens use gestures, too

Pointing and holding up objects in order to attract attention has so far only been observed in humans and our closest living relatives, the great apes. Simone Pika from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and Thomas ...

Computer scientist seeks the real meaning of language

Better be careful about telling a lie to Julia Hirschberg. The computer science professor, an expert in spoken language, examines what people unconsciously communicate through such things as intonation, accent and phrasing. ...

Dialect Detectives

(PhysOrg.com) -- Technology under development by Pedro Torres-Carrasquillo and his colleagues at Lincoln Laboratory may lead to a dialect identification system that compensates for a translator's inexperience with multiple ...

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