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Linguistics

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The Semantics Behind Customer Service

By Emily Walker
January 29, 2026 03:00 PM
Professors Matt Baker and Brett Hashimoto’s award-winning research dissects the language of online reviews.
4 Min Read
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The Power of Pronunciation

By Emma Mafi
January 15, 2026 03:00 PM
Every region has unique dialect variations distinguishing it from surrounding states and even counties. Undergrad Hallie Davidson researched this phenomenon and looked at two variations from her home state of Utah.
2 Min Read
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Editing in the Age of AI

By Emma Lindorf
January 13, 2026 03:00 PM
How will the rapid advancement of AI impact writers and editors? BYU linguistics professors offer their insight on this unique challenge.
3 Min Read
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ASL: A Language Ready for Translation

By Emma Mafi
December 11, 2025 03:00 PM
Graduate student Nathan Browne dedicated his thesis to creating an AI model that translates ASL by looking at eyebrows. Now, he hopes his findings can shine a light on similar technologies to come.
2 Min Read
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Context—The Crux of Comprehension

By Emma Mafi
October 15, 2025 09:00 AM
Graduate student Alyssa Crezee studied sentence processing with the hopes of contributing to one field that’s too often forgotten: autism research.
2 Min Read
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Duane Dougal

Adjunct Faculty
Linguistics
dkdougal@byu.edu
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US Law Codes: Decoded

By Emma Mafi
September 24, 2025 12:00 PM
US law codes, the official compilation of federal laws, are notorious for being complex. A recent study offers insights into why law codes are so difficult to understand—and why that may not be a good thing.
3 Min Read
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What Your Danish Says About You

By Emma Mafi
August 08, 2025 12:00 PM
Every language has accents, and they just might reveal more about you than you think.
2 Min Read
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Language that Lifts

By Emma Mafi
July 24, 2025 09:00 AM
Who makes language rules: Rulebooks or the people who use the language? When it comes to gendered language rules, people seem the likely culprit.
3 Min Read
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Excel at Editing with TrackEDT

By Emma Mafi
July 23, 2025 12:00 PM
A push for more research in the editing world led a group of professors and students to make TrackEDT: a tool that can change the entire editing field.
2 Min Read
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The Radical Process of Learning Chinese

By Emma Mafi
June 24, 2025 03:00 PM
Chinese is one of the most difficult languages to study, mainly because it uses thousands of characters. However, research shows that breaking characters into bite-sized pieces—known as radicals—may help.
3 Min Read
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Eve Okura Koller

Assistant Professor
Linguistics
eve.koller@byu.edu
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Utah: The Ultimate Trendsetter

By Emma Mafi
May 29, 2025 03:00 PM
NPR recently highlighted linguistics professor Dallin D. Oaks’s research on Utah name trends—something he believes is impacted by both politics and nature.
1 Min Read
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Mindful Mistakes

By Emma Mafi
April 25, 2025 12:00 PM
Mindfulness techniques have been shown to improve mental health, but they can do much more when used in the classroom.
3 Min Read
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A Calamitous Misinterpretation

By Joshua J. Perkey
April 18, 2025 10:36 AM
Misconstruing the meaning of a word can have devastating results—as evidenced by what happened to Chris Rogers and his lost Fulbright Fellowship.
3 Min Read
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Good Grief: The Language of Charlie Brown

By Emma Mafi
April 03, 2025 12:00 PM
Seventy-five years after the Peanuts comic’s initial release, Charles Schulz’s daughter offers insight on the linguistics behind the characters’ humor.
3 Min Read
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Rate My Rant

By Emma Mafi
March 21, 2025 09:00 AM
Students from across campus joined together to share their passion for their studies through short rants on anything and everything linguistics.
2 Min Read
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Ben McMurry

ELC Program Coordinator
Linguistics
ben_mcmurry@byu.edu
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