Researchers point to “intonation units,” or IUs, as the hidden scaffolding of human conversation. These are stretches of ...

A strange mathematical rule organizes the words of all human languages. A recent study reveals that birds also seem to follow ...

The animals’ complex songs share structural patterns with human language that may make them easier for whales to learn, a new study suggests. By Emily Anthes The English language is full of wonderful ...

For all the world’s linguistic diversity, human languages still obey certain universal patterns. These run deeper than grammar and syntax; they’re rooted in statistical laws that predict how ...

Most people learn to count and do basic arithmetic at a young age and don’t give these skills a second thought. But numerosity or numeracy, the ability to think about and use numbers, is more than a ...

Social singing and dance are often assumed to be hard-wired into the human condition; studies have supported the conclusion that these are common across cultures. But new research from a University of ...

It’s often said music is the universal language of humanity. Now a 12-year-old Houston boy is putting that to the test among an unlikely audience — man’s best friend. Yuvi Agarwal started playing ...