The World in Words
A podcast about languages and the people who speak them.
Latest Episodes
Arts, Culture & Media
The World in Words
May 26, 2016
No one knows where Japan's indigenous Ainu language, or the people who spoke it, came from. The language is not part of any known linguistic tree. Now, a dedicated group of Ainu and linguists from around the world are trying to unlock the language's secrets before it dies out.
Arts, Culture & Media
The World in Words
May 05, 2016
Dutch-born writer Gaston Dorren grew up speaking two languages, fell in love in a third, and added a fourth, fifth and sixth along the way. His book about Europe's many languages is called "Lingo."
Arts, Culture & Media
The World in Words
April 27, 2016
A small town in New Hampshire has a familiar name — Berlin — but with an odd pronunciation. A World in Words producer set out to figure out why.
Arts, Culture & Media
The World in Words
April 18, 2016
The Etruscans lived in central Italy more than 2500 years ago. They were "the teachers of our teachers," the Romans. Yet we still can't be sure where they came from. The key to unlocking the Etruscan enigma may lie in genetics and linguistics.
Arts, Culture & Media
The World in Words
April 05, 2016
If you want to upset French language purists, learn to speak Chiac. It's a dialect of Acadian French spoken in New Brunswick that borrows liberally from English. Even as other North American dialects and languages are vanishing, Chiac seems to be sticking around.
