Etymology - LingoDigest

The Ultimate Ancestor: How Linguists Reconstructed the Proto-Indo-European Language

6 min read

Imagine a language that vanished over 5,000 years ago, leaving behind no written records. This is Proto-Indo-European (PIE), the mysterious ancestor of English, Russian, Hindi, and hundreds of other tongues. Join us on a linguistic detective story to uncover how scholars used the “comparative method” to reconstruct this lost language and the world of the people who spoke it.

History Etymology Philosophy Politics

A Word to Name the Unspeakable: Raphael Lemkin and the Creation of “Genocide”

5 min read

Discover the powerful story of Raphael Lemkin, the Polish-Jewish lawyer who witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust and created a new word to name the unspeakable. By combining the Greek root *genos* (race/tribe) with the Latin suffix *-cide* (killing), he forged “genocide,” a term that would fundamentally shape international law and our ability to confront humanity’s darkest acts.

French History Etymology Writing

The History of the French Circumflex

4 min read

The French language, renowned for its fluidity and musicality, is adorned with a variety of diacritical marks that contribute to its phonetic, etymological, and aesthetic [Read More…]

Etymology English

English Words of Suprising Origin – Part III

4 min read

This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series English Word Origins

Our linguistic odyssey continues as we venture further into the intriguing world of English loan words. We are constantly reminded of the fluidity of language [Read More…]

Etymology English

English Words of Suprising Origin – Part II

4 min read

This entry is part 2 of 3 in the series English Word Origins

Our exploration of English loan words continues as we delve deeper into the richness of etymology, taking an engaging linguistic journey across the globe. These [Read More…]

Uncategorized English Etymology

English Words of Suprising Origin – Part I

4 min read

This entry is part 1 of 3 in the series English Word Origins

The English language is a kaleidoscope of cultural influence, where words from different corners of the world have found a home. With its global reach, [Read More…]

History Linguistics English Etymology

The Great Vowel Shift: How it Transformed the English Language

5 min read

The Great Vowel Shift, a term coined by the Danish linguist Otto Jespersen, is a pivotal moment in the annals of English language history. This [Read More…]

Etymology Linguistics English Literature

Polysemy in English: The Complexity of Word Meanings

5 min read

Language is a fascinating and complex system of communication that is as diverse as the human race itself. It serves as a window into the [Read More…]

Pronunciation Linguistics English Etymology Spelling

Why Are Many English Words Spelled Differently Than They Are Pronounced?

5 min read

English is a peculiar language in many ways, and one of its most baffling features is the inconsistency between pronunciation and spelling. It often leaves [Read More…]

History Arabic Portuguese Etymology Australian Aboriginal Languages

Language Stories: The Great Emu War of Languages

5 min read

This entry is part 2 of 6 in the series Language Stories

Among the myriad anecdotes about languages, none encapsulates the eccentricity and wonder of linguistic evolution quite like the story of the word “emu”. A fascinating [Read More…]