Language

Start your visit with the discovery of language. What is language? How do we recognise it? How different species communicate? How do we produce sounds? … You will find the answers to these questions in this dedicated space, and don’t forget to test your knowledge before continuing your visit!

Key definitions

Linguistics

Everyone knows the definition of a word, of language …
But are you really sure? What is double articulation?

Definitions: Languages / Language / Speech
Double articulation
Prescription & description

Phonology / Discovering sounds

Do we all speak the same way? Do we produce the same sounds? How does our body produce sound?

Definitions: Phonetics & Phonology
Definition: Prosody
Acoustic phonetics
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
Series of movies with phonetic subtitles
Phonological systems of six languages
The various types of phones and the articulation zone
Tonal languages
Click languages
Whistled languages
Whispers

Playing with sounds / Phonology games

Test your ear with the quiz, extracts from soundtracks…

Languages spoken by foreigners
Languages spoken in regions
World languages (easy and advanced levels)
Regional languages
Accents

Language partners

Do we only communicate with our voice? Discover the different ways that we express ourselves: nonverbal communication, tone, voice, context …

Gestures
Images
Voice
Context
Practical science
Writing
Talking with your hands: The Italian example
Smilies
A dictionary of gestures

The semantics / Discovering the meaning of words

Analyse the nature of linguistic signs: the signified and the signifier, the concrete and the abstract. Discover the difference between what we mean and how we say it.

Onomatopoeia
Animal sounds
Notions: abstract & concrete
Definitions: metaphor & metonymy
Some concepts

Lexicology / Discovering words

Did you know that the word is an elusive concept around the world? Find out why. Jobs closely related to words. And when humans are replaced by machines: delve into the workings of machine translation.

Definition: the word
How does vocabulary expand?
Job focus: lexicographer
Job focus: translator
Job focus: interpreter
Job focus: audiovisual translator
Can you trust Google Translate? Some funny examples
Machine translation
Lost in translation: the case of “Spanish Mundolingua”
Translation & economy: the cost of translations for the European Parliament in Brussels

Grammar & syntax

Learn to dissect sentences. Discover their nature, structure and function. Grammar has never been so much fun!

Grouping languages by type
The shapes and types of languages
Syntax: an overview
Verb scrolls
Focus on syntax perception: Chomsky’s Tree
Focus on syntax perception: Tesnière’s Planets
Focus on syntax perception: the building blocks of a sentence