Romance languages

France’s Base-20 Math Problem

Why do the French say 'four-twenties' for 80? This linguistic quirk is a fascinating relic from a base-20 counting system…

3 months ago

The Walloon Language of Belgium

Belgium's linguistic landscape is famously divided, but beyond French and Dutch lies Walloon, a distinct Romance language with deep historical…

3 months ago

The Latin Echo in Spanish ‘ll’

Ever wonder why the Spanish word for 'rain' is *lluvia* when its Latin ancestor was *pluvia*? This transformation is no…

3 months ago

The Grammar of ‘Some’: The Partitive Article

Ever been baffled by French speakers saying *du pain* for "some bread" or Italians asking for *del vino*? This special…

3 months ago

The Sound of a Merger: Spain’s ‘Y’ vs ‘LL’

Explore "yeísmo", the fascinating linguistic phenomenon where the Spanish 'll' and 'y' sounds have merged into one. This post delves…

3 months ago

The Ghost in the Object: Spain’s Personal ‘a’

Ever wonder why Spanish speakers say "Veo a María" but "Veo la mesa"? This grammatical quirk, known as the "personal…

3 months ago

The RAE vs. ‘Todes’: A Language Standoff

A linguistic battle is raging across the Spanish-speaking world, pitting the prestigious Real Academia Española (RAE) against a powerful grassroots…

3 months ago

The Spanish That Crossed the Atlantic

Ever wonder why Spanish in Mexico sounds so different from Spanish in Madrid? The story begins not in the capital,…

3 months ago

Spain’s Secret Lexicon: The Influence of Caló

Ever wondered where cool Spanish slang words like 'currar' (to work) or 'molar' (to be cool) come from? The answer…

3 months ago

Leísmo, Laísmo, Loísmo: Spain’s Pronoun War

In the world of Spanish grammar, a quiet war rages on. The combatants are three tiny pronouns—le, la, and lo—and…

3 months ago

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