Exploring Language Researchers used to think that grammar and vocabulary were the only things needed to carry on a conversation. But over the last two decades, a much more complex picture of language has emerged. It turns out that words and sentences are just the tip of a huge linguistic iceberg.

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Exploring Language

New research into why language is all about what we don't say.

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The Inner World of Ripley the Robot

July 10, 2006 • Plenty of computers know thousands of words and complex rules of grammar. But they're dismal communicators. So a group of scientists at MIT is trying a different approach: They're creating robots that learn what words mean the same way humans do.

The Inner World of Ripley the Robot

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Do You Understand Me, My Pet?

July 8, 2006 • Any dog lover will tell you that dogs respond to human behavior, often with loyalty and unconditional love. But do dogs really understand us?

Autism Reveals Social Roots of Language

July 9, 2006 • Like many people with autism, Temple Grandin struggles with language and also with personal relationships. Scientists say that's probably not a coincidence, as research increasingly suggests that language depends as much on social skills as grammar.

Autism Reveals Social Roots of Language

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Rare Disorder Offers Fresh Insight into Language

July 10, 2006 • Unlike autism, people with Williams Syndrome are very talkative and outgoing. They're described as "overfriendly." But while they love to talk, they often end up missing the point in a conversation. Scientists say the disorder illustrates the social roots of why we talk.

Q&A: Temple Grandin on Autism & Language

July 9, 2006 • Autistic people can be isolated, Temple Grandin says, not only because they have difficulty making a connection with so-called "normal" people, but because normal people find it difficult to put themselves in an autistic person's shoes and see the world from their perspective.

A Voluble Visit with Two Talking Apes

July 8, 2006 • Bonobo chimpanzees Kanzi and Panbanisha understand thousands of words. With the help of a keypad, they use sentences, talk on the phone, and gossip. They are challenging the idea that language is unique to humans.

A Voluble Visit with Two Talking Apes

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Living with Nyota the Bonobo

July 8, 2006 • Eight years ago, ethnographer Bill Fields became a single parent -- to a bonobo. Fields has a theory that Nyota's integrated upbringing -- which includes trips to Dairy Queen -- will give him the most sophisticated grasp of human language ever seen in a bonobo.

Timeline: Evolution of Human Language Research

July 7, 2006 • Human language research has come a long way since philosophers of the 1700s started thinking about communication. But scientists and scholars still pose many questions about the origins of language and how humans acquire speech.