orthography

Why Is English Spelling So Weird?

Ever wonder why 'knight' has a 'k' or 'island' has an 's'? The answer isn't that English is illogical, but…

1 week ago

The Rebirth of Cornish

Once officially declared extinct after the death of its last native speaker in the 18th century, the Cornish language (Kernewek)…

3 weeks 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…

3 weeks ago

The Secret Code of Scribes

Before the printing press, scribes used a secret code of symbols and shortcuts to write faster and save precious parchment.…

3 weeks ago

The Alphabet Wars: Central Asia’s Script Politics

An alphabet is more than just a tool for writing; it's a flag, a declaration of identity. In Central Asia,…

3 weeks ago

The World’s Simplest Alphabet?

Imagine a language that can express every human thought with only 12 letters. Discover the world of Rotokas, a language…

3 weeks ago

Georgia’s Living Alphabet

At first glance, the Georgian alphabet, Mkhedruli, appears less like a set of letters and more like a collection of…

3 weeks ago

The Ghost Vowels of French: How Silent Letters Shape Pronunciation

Why does French have so many letters that aren't pronounced? Far from being useless spelling relics, these "ghost" letters are…

3 weeks ago

A Heckin’ Good Syntax: The Surprisingly Complex Grammar of DoggoLingo

Beyond the cute misspellings of "doggo" and "pupper," the internet phenomenon of DoggoLingo has developed its own surprisingly consistent grammatical…

3 weeks ago

From Chisel to Stylus: How the Tools of Writing Forged Our Alphabets

Have you ever wondered why an 'A' looks the way it does? The answer lies not in linguistics, but in…

3 weeks ago

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