Historical Linguistics

The Social Meaning of H-Dropping

H-dropping, the act of saying "'ouse" instead of "house", is far more than a simple pronunciation quirk. This feature of…

1 month ago

Why Korean and Japanese Share Grammar

Are Korean and Japanese related languages? While they feel incredibly similar to learners, the answer from linguists is "no." This…

1 month ago

The Ghost Phonemes of Irish

Why does the "s" in the Irish word "sláinte" sound like an "sh"? The answer lies in slender and broad…

1 month ago

The World’s Quietest Shift: The Great Silence of French

Move beyond the Great Vowel Shift and explore French's "Great Silence"—the massive, historical loss of final consonants. This single change…

1 month ago

The Fossilized Question: Grammaticalization of Verbs

When you ask, "Do you speak English?", what is the word 'do' really doing? This seemingly simple word is actually…

1 month ago

The Tyranny of the Alphabet: How We Order Knowledge

Alphabetical order feels as natural as breathing, but this rigid system is a historical accident that silently shapes how we…

1 month ago

The Uralic Enigma: A Lost Siberian Homeland

Ever wondered why Finnish and Hungarian sound nothing like their European neighbors? These languages are part of the Uralic family,…

1 month ago

The Typist’s Ghost: How QWERTY Shaped E-Language

The QWERTY keyboard is more than just a layout; it's a 150-year-old ghost haunting our digital communication. From common typos…

1 month ago

Linguistic Landmines: The World of Contronyms

Have you ever noticed that a single word can mean its own opposite? These linguistic curiosities, called contronyms, are words…

1 month ago

The Men Who Invented an Alphabet: Cyril & Methodius

Did you know the Cyrillic alphabet wasn't invented by a man named Cyril, or even by a Russian? The script…

1 month ago

This website uses cookies.