sound change

The ‘Dot That Died’: Hangul’s Lost Vowel

The Korean alphabet, Hangul, is praised for its scientific design, but it once held a secret: a lost vowel called…

6 days ago

How a Priest’s Lisp Changed a Language

The famous ‘th’ sound in Castilian Spanish is often attributed to a lisping king whose court mimicked his speech. This…

6 days ago

How a Fish Got Into the Telephone

Why is the Finnish word for 'fish' (kala) so similar to the Hungarian word (hal), despite being spoken 1,500km apart?…

6 days ago

How a Phoneme is Born

Language sounds are always in flux, but where do new ones come from? This article explores the fascinating linguistic process…

1 month ago

Grammatical Evaporation

Have you ever wondered why English grammar seems simpler than Latin or German? This phenomenon, known as grammatical evaporation, is…

1 month ago

The Sound of Size: Consonant Gradation in Finnish

Ever notice how Finnish words seem to change their consonants for no reason? This isn't random linguistic magic; it's a…

1 month ago

The Failed Phoneme: When a Sound Dies at Birth

Ever wonder why you can say 'cheese' with ease but stumble over the 'ch' in the Scottish 'loch'? This isn't…

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 Balto-Slavic Mystery: Are They Siblings or Cousins?

A Lithuanian and a Pole can't understand each other, so why do linguists insist their languages are close relatives? We…

1 month ago

The Sound That Changed Ancient Rome

How can a single sound shift the course of a civilization? This article explores Latin rhotacism, the fascinating process where…

5 months ago

This website uses cookies.