Creole languages form when children of pidgin speakers create a fully structured native language.

Some languages mark grammatical distinctions English lacks — such as whether the speaker knows something directly or by report.

There are approximately 7,000 languages spoken in the world — about half are expected to disappear by end of the century.

All human languages have nouns and verbs — but many lack adjectives, adverbs, or other categories found in English.

The word 'silly' originally meant 'blessed' in Old English — its meaning shifted dramatically over the centuries.

The word 'cereal' comes from Ceres, the Roman goddess of grain and harvest.

The word 'salary' comes from 'sal' (salt) — Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in salt.

Creole languages develop when children of pidgin speakers create a fully structured native language from a simplified trade tongue.

The word 'dinosaur' means 'terrible lizard' — coined by Richard Owen in 1842.