The full stop, which comes from Greek punctuation (标点符号), is usually used to express the end of a sentence but now it frightens young people when used in social media communication as a sign of anger.

According to experts, youngsters used to communicating electronically break up their thoughts by sending each one as a separate message, rather than using a full stop, which they use only to signal they are annoyed. Some have said the full stop is redundant when used in texting because the message is ended just by sending it. “If you send a text message without a full stop, it’s already obvious that you’ve concluded the message.”

Owen McArdle from Cambridge University told the newspaper: “I’m not sure I agree about emails. I guess it depends how formal they are. But full stops are very much the exception in youngsters’ instant messages, and have a new role in expressing anger.”

In 2015, a study from Binghamton University in New York suggested that people who finish messages with full stops are considered insincere. The study involved 126 undergraduates and the researchers found that text messages ending in the most final of punctuation marks-eg “lol.”, “let’s go to Nando’s.”-were considered being less sincere. Unusually, texts ending in an exclamation point-“lmao!”, “what body part even is that? I hope it’s your arm!” -are thought heartfelt.

Research leader Celia Klin said at the time: “When speaking, people easily convey social and emotional information with eye gaze, facial expressions, tone of voice, pauses and so on. People obviously can’t use these when they are texting. Thus, it makes sense that texters rely on what they have available to them-special signs, deliberate misspellings that imitate (模仿) speech sounds and, according to our data, punctuation.”

A map on social media shows “languages where the word for ‘mother/mom’ takes an m-sound”. Scores of countries are shaded red.

The word mama does not sound like a mother, but it does show one feature of language: the fact that some sounds are more widespread than others around the world. A few consonants (辅音), such as b, m, p, t, d and k, show up far more frequently, in nearly every spoken language in the world. That is almost certainly because they are easy to make.

A baby vocalising (发声) will, at first, make a sound like “ah”, which requires little in the way of control over the mouth. If they briefly close their mouth and continue vocalising, air will come out of their nose, thus making the m-sound that is used in “mother” around the world.

Though the “mamas” bear the most obvious similarity, the “papas” have striking commonalities (共性), too. Babies can easily stop their breath when they close their lips. This produces a b-or a p-sound. It is surely for this reason that so many names for “father” use these consonants: papa in English, abb in Arabic and baba in Chinese. T- and d-sounds are similarly basic, involving a simple press of the tongue against the teeth: hence daddy, tatay (Tagalog) or tayta (Quechua).

Father and mother are, therefore, an oddity. F-is not especially easy to make; th-sounds are even harder. English, Greek and Spanish are unusual in having them, and French-, German- and Italian-speakers struggle very much with them, often using related consonants instead. Children may struggle with th-sounds when they are five, or older still in many cases.

This helps solve the mystery of why, despite parents being formally known as “mother” and “father”, so few children call them that. Few parents will insist on children using the proper term to refer to them, especially if it means waiting until a child is seven and can pronounce it.

For centuries, Garifuna(加里富纳的) people, also known as Garinagu in their native language, have kept the culture’s oral history alive through their ancestors’ native language. But decades of modernization, casual native-language training in Garifuna schools, intermarriage between cultures, and the lack of consideration of language transmission by young people, collectively led to Garifuna being listed on the UNESCO Atlas of Endangered Languages in 2001.

The threat of language extinction isn’t new. Some linguists estimate a language dies every two weeks. But there are ways to save at-risk languages as well. The key is that the language needs to be thought of less as preserved, but indeed part of their present and future. “Modern Garifuna people need the actual language to grasp their ancestors’ past. Without language, culture will never be whole. If you’re losing your language, you’re losing your roots, which will dismantle all the ancestors have worked on,” Alvin Laredo, a Garifuna tour guide, says.

Elements of the Garifuna culture include music, dance and language. In 2001, Garifuna musicians and cultural activists created a plan: Create irresistible songs sung entirely in Garifuna to call on young Garinagu to accept the culture and learn the language. Palacio, a leader in the cultural renaissance, gathered Garifuna musicians across Central America to form the Garifuna Collective band in 2007. Multiple world performances and international music awards later, the band put Garifuna on the international map and lit a cultural flame for Garifuna worldwide. Another set of musicians was inspired by Palacio’s message. They helped elementary and high schools in Belize teach the Garifuna culture and language through music.

The Garifuna language revival does have a new and welcome boost(推动力): Belize’s Garifuna Tourism Trail, which formally launched in March 2022. Of course, tourism alone won’t save a language, but tourism can provide one effective language-retention (语言保持) motivation: income. More economic opportunities and pride in their cultural identity could help motivate young Garinagu to continue learning the language.

Will these ways save the Garifuna language? Time will tell. This kind of revival is a long, multi-generational road.