The Case of the Missing ‘Is’ in Russian
In Russian, "My brother is a doctor" becomes "Мой брат – врач" (My brother – doctor). This isn't a mistake or slang; it's a fundamental feature of the language rooted…
Languages of the World
The Amharic ‘And’: A Verb’s Best Friend
In English, we connect actions with a simple 'and.' But in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, this conjunction is masterfully baked directly into the verb itself. This feature, common…
Forgetting the Subject: The Case of Pro-Drop in Italian
Ever wonder why an Italian speaker says "Vado al cinema" instead of "Io vado al cinema"? This linguistic magic trick is called "pro-drop", a feature where rich verb endings allow…
Why Icelandic Creates New Words, Not Borrows Them
While English readily borrows words, Icelandic takes a different path, deliberately creating new terms from its Old Norse roots. This practice, known as linguistic purism, gives us poetic words like…
How Persian Lost Its Gender
Modern Persian, or Farsi, is famously gender-neutral, but its ancestor, Old Persian, was not. This post explores the fascinating linguistic journey of how Persian shed its masculine, feminine, and neuter…
Speaking Up, Speaking Down: Java’s Speech Levels
In the Javanese language, 'please' and 'thank you' are just the beginning. The entire vocabulary—from pronouns to verbs—changes based on who you're speaking to, a system known as speech levels.…
Why Korean Uses Two Number Systems
Ordering coffee in Seoul? You'll need one set of numbers. Telling the time? You'll need another. This might seem confusing, but Korea’s dual number system is a living linguistic fossil,…
The Georgian Verb: A Sentence in One Word
Ever wondered if you could fit an entire sentence into a single word? In the ancient and beautiful Georgian language, this isn't a hypothetical question—it's the very foundation of its…
Why Is ‘An’ Used Before Vowels?
Why do we say 'an apple' but 'a pear'? This fundamental rule is about more than just grammar; it's a clever linguistic fix designed for our mouths and ears. We…
What Is a Phrasal Verb?
Phrasal verbs like "run into" and "give up" are a cornerstone of natural English, yet they often frustrate learners. This post demystifies these essential phrases, exploring their verb-plus-particle structure and…
Why is ‘You Guys’ a Pronoun Now?
Ever wonder how 'you guys' became the go-to way to address a group, even a group of women? This phrase isn't just slang; it's a fascinating example of language evolving…
How Does Stress Change a Word’s Meaning in English?
What's the difference between 'a rebel' and 'to rebel'? Just a tiny shift in emphasis. This seemingly small detail, known as lexical stress, is a powerful tool in English that…
What Is a ‘Construct State’ in Hebrew and Arabic?
In English, we say 'the king's house', but what if you could fuse the words into a single concept like 'house-king'? This is the 'construct state', a core grammatical feature…
When Did English Lose Its Grammatical Gender?
Old English once had a complex system of masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns, much like modern German. This all changed due to centuries of intense contact with Old Norse-speaking Vikings,…
The Sound of Old English: How Was Beowulf Spoken?
We can read the words of Beowulf, but what did this ancient ancestor of English actually sound like? By using linguistic reconstruction, we can uncover the lost phonetics of Old…
The Invisible Plural: Zero-Marking in Language
One sheep, two sheep. One fish, two fish. Ever wonder why some English nouns refuse to add an '-s' for their plural? This linguistic quirk, known as zero-marking, isn't a…
Why Are There So Many Words for Snow in Sámi?
The old "Eskimo words for snow" trope is a well-known but misleading linguistic myth. A far more accurate and fascinating example comes from the Sámi languages of northern Scandinavia, whose…
How Do New Signs Get Created in ASL?
American Sign Language is a living, evolving system, not a static code. The process of creating new signs for modern concepts like 'selfie' or 'Facebook' is a fascinating blend of…
“Correcting” a Language: A Brief History
Ever wonder why we have "correct" spelling and grammar? These rules aren't timeless truths but were forged by powerful forces like the printing press, national academies, and ambitious reformers. We…
A Guide to Sino-Tibetan Languages
Journey into the Sino-Tibetan language family, a vast linguistic world of over 400 languages spoken by 1.4 billion people. From the tones of Mandarin to the scripts of Tibetan and…