Languages Facts for Kids

The word "emoji" comes from Japanese — "e" means picture and "moji" means character.

Scientists use tongue twisters to study how the brain controls speech and language.

English has borrowed words from over 350 other languages, including "piano" from Italian and "safari" from Swahili.

Some African languages like Xhosa and Zulu use clicking sounds as regular consonants.

Latin is considered a dead language, but scientists still use it to name new species of animals and plants.

The "a" sound (as in "father") exists in nearly every language in the world.

A town in Wales has one of the longest place names: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, with 58 letters.

All babies around the world start babbling with the same sounds, no matter what language their parents speak.

Morse code, a system of dots and dashes representing letters, is still used today by ham radio operators and in emergencies.

The oldest known written language is Sumerian, which was carved into clay tablets over 5,000 years ago in ancient Iraq.