language

Gadgets

Is “Nerdic” Really the Fastest Growing Language?

12:30AM Gizmodo US Edition | According to Pixmania.com’s research, the speedy growth of consumer electronics and associated buzzwords and acronyms has created the “fastest growing language” in Europe. The study says it’s more widely spoken than any single European language and is used by all ages. More words get added to it each year than are added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Hmmmm. What exactly is this “nerdic”? Read on for what the study suggests are the top ten words/phrases… and why we think it’s all rubbish. More »

Computer Learns Baby Talk, Pacifies Programmers

1:14AM jenneth | Stanford researchers have developed a program that can, at a most basic level, learn language. In studying whether the brain is hard-wired with preset sounds or if it acquires the basics of speech dynamically, a computer program was designed to learn speech. After listening to hours of Japanese and English mother-to-baby talk, the computer was able to learn the basic vowel sounds just as a baby. The computer performed so well that its accuracy was measured between 80-90%, depending on the software architecture (and whether it was “nappie time”). More »