Where did our language start?

1233. This week, we talk to Laura Spinney, author of "Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global." We look at how linguists reconstruct a language no one wrote down and why the ancient word for "wheel" is still debated. Then we look at how ancient DNA pointed to nomadic herders ...  Show more

1232. This week, we look at four ordinary words — "hippocampus," "chimera," "behemoth," and "gargantuan" — that all started as the names of monsters. Then, we look at where sailors got the phrase "graveyard watch" and at the difference between a graveyard and a cemetery.The monst ...  Show more

From the steppes of prehistoric Eurasia to the languages we speak today, the story of Indo-European is one of ancient roots and global impact. But what exactly is Indo-European? Who spoke it? And how did a single language family come to dominate nearly half the world?

Where did language come from? Is it possible to know without traveling back in time? And how do babies learn to speak? Plus: We’ll hear how the word “silly” has evolved over the last several hundred years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Neil and Georgina discuss where the English language we use today really comes from.