Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Euronews
Euronews
Cagla Uren

Tongue tied: Humans once spoke tens of thousands of languages, so what happened?

A new study has found that linguistic diversity in human history peaked much later than previously thought and then rapidly declined with the rise of empires.

According to the study, published in the journal Science, the languages spoken today are the legacy of the small number of tongues that survived a major 'language bottleneck' in the past.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.