Why Is English Spelling So Crazy?
Why do 'through', 'tough', and 'though' sound so different? The answer isn't random chaos but a journey through history, from the Norman Conquest to the invention of the printing press.…
Unlocking the Universe of Languages
Why do 'through', 'tough', and 'though' sound so different? The answer isn't random chaos but a journey through history, from the Norman Conquest to the invention of the printing press.…
Ever used the word 'fashionable' or found yourself 'in a pickle'? You have William Shakespeare to thank. This post explores the Bard's incredible linguistic legacy, from coining over 1,700 words…
Your English teacher probably told you 'ain't' isn't a word, but they were teaching you a rule, not a reality. From a linguistic perspective, not only is 'ain't' a real…
Often dismissed as 'broken English', pidgin languages are actually complex, rule-governed systems born from incredible moments in human history. From West African trade routes to Hawaiian plantations, discover the powerful…
Ever stumbled over 'Worcestershire' or 'anemone'? This guide breaks down 10 of the hardest English words to pronounce, offering simple tricks and linguistic insights to help you say them with…
** Did you know that when you talk about a business 'tycoon' or ask for 'just a skosh' more, you're actually speaking Japanese? The English language is filled with surprising…
Forget Shakespeare. If you traveled back to 1000 AD, you'd find a language that sounds more like German and has more in common with Viking sagas than a sonnet. This…
Imagine ordering a coffee using a flute or saying 'I love you' with a violin. This was the vision behind Solresol, a 19th-century language where words are built from the…
Ever wondered why you can say 'I am running' but not 'I am musting'? These grammatical black holes are the work of 'defective verbs', fascinating linguistic fossils that lack a…
Explore the dramatic schism that split the world of logical languages in two. This post uncovers the story of Dr. James Cooke Brown's Loglan, its 'civil war', and the subsequent…
Kazakhstan is undertaking a monumental linguistic and cultural shift, transitioning its national script from Cyrillic to Latin. This deep dive explores the complex history, political motivations, and fierce linguistic debates…
What if the letter 'S' looked like a hiss or 'P' was shaped by the lips? We delve into the Pasilalinic-sympathetic Alphabet, a 19th-century utopian project to create a universal…
Just as paleontologists study fossils to understand ancient life, we can explore the fossils in our own language. Linguistic taphonomy reveals how words and grammar decay over centuries, leaving behind…
Uncover the story of the Tangut script, a complex writing system that looks like Chinese but is entirely different. Created to forge a national identity for the Western Xia empire,…
Teaching a computer to read is simple, but what if the text is a 2,000-year-old, fragmented manuscript written in an archaic script? The digitization of the Dead Sea Scrolls presents…
While speakers from Delhi and Lahore can converse with ease, their national languages, Hindi and Urdu, are officially distinct. This post delves into the shared history of Hindustani and the…
Forget sterile museum displays of emperors and epic battles. The true, unfiltered history of humanity is scrawled on the walls of Roman latrines and Pompeiian taverns. These ancient graffitiβfrom bitter…
Ever wonder why 'knight' has a 'k' or 'island' has an 's'? The answer isn't that English is illogical, but that its spelling is a fossil record of its turbulent…
Explore the strange case of "I-da-no", a phantom island that appeared on Japanese maps for decades. This wasn't a sailor's mirage but a fascinating linguistic error, born from a simple…
What do you get when you combine a question mark and an exclamation point? In the 1960s, frustrated ad man Martin K. Speckter answered that question by inventing the interrobang…