Last year nearly 80, 000 requests were made for foreign language theory test voiceovers, or for interpreters.

BBC: Driving test translations and interpreters may face axe

Mr Quine developed a theory of language according to which truths of fact blend into truths of meaning, so that there is no absolute distinction between the two.

ECONOMIST: Willard Quine

"Silbo is interesting from the point of view of the theory of language because, since it is a very simple system, it can help us understand how languages in general are formed, " he says.

BBC: Silbo gomero: A whistling language revived

This research helped give rise to a theory that human language has its roots not in speech, but in hand gestures.

FORBES

Though no one has yet proved the case, it looks as though the evolution of language and the evolution of theory of mind might not only be two sides of the same coin, but might actually be different specialisations of the same basic structure.

ECONOMIST: As others see us | The

The book reviews the new theory carefully and in language accessible to the general reader, and then subjects it to a detailed empirical examination.

ECONOMIST: Economics Focus: Lock and key | The

But the reality is that many parts of the brain work together to produce speech and no single gene, region of the brain or theory can explain successful language-learning.

ECONOMIST: What makes some people learn language after language?

Neither Sapir nor Whorf formulated a definitive version of the hypothesis that bears their names, but in general the theory argues that the language we speak actually shapes our experience of reality.

NEWYORKER: Utopian for Beginners

He knows about the click language of whales, and has a theory about why the ship was attacked.

ECONOMIST: The cannibalism of the sea

The consultation paper "sets out proposals to remove or reduce the language support given to non-English speaking candidates taking theory and practical driving tests".

BBC: Driving test translations and interpreters may face axe