languages
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TIL a minority of the world’s languages are “ergative”—the object of a transitive verb & the subject of an intransitive verb are treated the same. For example: whereas in English we’d say “SHE likes HER” & “SHE walks”; in Basque (spoken in N. Spain/SW France), it’d be “SHE likes HER” but “HER walks”
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whatilearned
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TIL research suggests “huh?” is a universal syllable. It’s used to express confusion in at least 31 different languages, e.g. Icelandic, Dutch, Japanese, Hungarian, Lao, the Aboriginal Australian language Murriny Patha, Cha’palaa (spoken by 3k indigenous Ecuadorians), and of course, English.
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whatilearned
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TIL that voodoo is an official religion in Benin. Considered black magic, this ancient cult is known for sacrifices and mystical rituals. In Benin, instead of school, children are sent to voodoo convents, where they’re deprived of their names and forbidden to speak their native languages.
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whatilearned
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TIL The Yamnaya steppe horse culture of the Black and Caspian sea regions was a major driver of migrations into western Europe about 4,500 years ago. This migratory surge is now regarded as the most likely source of the vast family of Indo-European languages, spoken by half the world today.
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whatilearned
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