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Linguistics should not stop worrying about languages other than English: A commentary on Futrell and Mahowald

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2026

Bjarki Ármannsson Open the ORCID record for Bjarki Ármannsson [Opens in a new window] ,
Iris Edda Nowenstein Open the ORCID record for Iris Edda Nowenstein [Opens in a new window]  and
Einar Freyr Sigurðsson Open the ORCID record for Einar Freyr Sigurðsson [Opens in a new window]
Bjarki Ármannsson*
Affiliation:
The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, Iceland bjarki.armannsson@arnastofnun.is einar.freyr.sigurdsson@arnastofnun.is University of Iceland, Iceland irisen@hi.is
Iris Edda Nowenstein
Affiliation:
University of Iceland, Iceland irisen@hi.is
Einar Freyr Sigurðsson
Affiliation:
The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, Iceland bjarki.armannsson@arnastofnun.is einar.freyr.sigurdsson@arnastofnun.is
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

Futrell and Mahowald’s assumptions about parallels between language models and human language are primarily based on LMs’ performance in English. In our commentary, we discuss how this impacts some of their key takeaways and highlight LM shortcomings in languages other than English (specifically, Icelandic), which are only alluded to in the target article.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 49 , 2026 , e200
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press

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