Language

In parts of Sweden and Finland, the practice of changing your surname to make it sound more learned goes back to the 1600s

A new book of bizarre phrases in European languages aims to counter a rising tide of nationalism

The Dutch language survived in North America for many decades after the English had taken control of the formerly Dutch-controlled area

The official titles of our feathered friends have been replaced throughout history with affectionate nicknames that a child might use

The translations of familiar film and book titles into different languages can be fascinating, comical and often downright bizarre

This Danish colloquialism for menstruation is just one of countless slang terms and phrases – often demeaning – that apply to women

From ‘crispbread phoners’ to ‘Cheryl Coles’, many of the latest slang terms around the world have been coined by technology and global events

A tour of British and European slang of the past begins with old terms for drinking too much.. and feeling the effects afterwards

How direct contact with Welsh and Gaelic speakers left its mark on the migrant tribes who moved into what is now Germany

The linguistic makeup of the British Isles was partly determined by three battles – in Yorkshire, Builth Wells and Culloden

English had been rooted in the northern hemisphere for centuries – until the transportation of convicts in the 1700s

The Angles and the Saxons came to these shores across the North Sea and gave their names to the different areas they settled in

The world does not speak Esperanto. But the continent’s neutral language gives you the key to polyglot Europe

If your name becomes an adjective, you will achieve immortality; but beware, it may not be the kind that you want

Discriminating against people on the basis of how they speak is very common, despite the push for diversity in other areas

The language can be found in some unexpected places, none more so than medieval “New England” on the Crimean peninsula

The standard form of English used in the media contains a number of grammatical oddities not found in other dialects of the language

Communities can switch language – like the Irish who gradually gave up Gaelic for English – but they retain parts of the old one, too

The term used to describe those typically offensive to religious or racial groups is thrown around too often in contemporary societies

The journalist Simon Jenkins claims the Celtic tribe and language did not exist. He is wrong – as Julius Caesar could have told him...

As Portugal sailed the world’s seas in the 15th and 16th centuries, its language spread globally – nowhere further than Macao

Today only the Hebridean islands remain strongholds of a language that was once dominant across almost all of Scotland

How a simple linguistic mistake linked a nymph from Greek mythology to the music genre that originated in the Caribbean

The English spoken by lesser-known white West Indians shows significant linguistic differences from that spoken by black West Indians

They endured the civil war, persecution and Franco, but the Basques are still singing

The Americans call it zee, but it is not the only letter pronounced differently in certain parts of the English- speaking world

Why do we have words that sound the same but are spelt differently? Because, in Old English, they sounded different too

History is repeating itself in Italy – and not in a good way

The Breton language of northern France does not derive from Gaulish – it has its roots in migration from Devon and Cornwall

Christianity may have driven out the old religion, but old English speakers still kept part of its language intact

Most modern European languages are thought to have originally come from one area of the vast Eurasian Steppe

Look closely at the suffix -less and you’ll find it often attached to words like reck and ruth that have ceased to exist