English Linguistics

Most common sounds in spoken English.

This article lists all English phonemes in order of frequency. By phonemes is meant all sounds that make up the sound inventory of the English language and that includes both consonant and vowel sounds (as opposed to letters). This classification is based on data compiled using the Carnegie Mellon Pronouncing Dictionary correlated to a frequency …

Most common sounds in spoken English. Read More »

Here is why ‘p’ is not pronounced in words like ‘psychology’ and ‘pseudo’ in English but pronounced in other languages

When it comes to silent letters, English has many. They are there, standing firm, occupying space and charge you for extra ink but not pronounced at all. Many people hate them for being there and they fuss about why for god’s sake they are not pronounced. Well, there is a reason they are not pronounced …

Here is why ‘p’ is not pronounced in words like ‘psychology’ and ‘pseudo’ in English but pronounced in other languages Read More »

ɪf ju kæn rid ðɪs ˈɑrtəkəl, jʊr ə ˈʤinjəs.

 | əz ju ər ˈriːdɪŋ ðɪs | ju ər parˈtɪsəˌpetɪŋ ɪn wʌn əv ˈneɪtʃərz ˈɡreɪtəst ˈwʌndərz | ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ | ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ ɪz ə ˈmɪrəkl̩ |ˈɪt ɪz ˈbaɪ ˈfɑːr ðə moʊst ˈpaʊərfəl ˈtuːl ðæt hjuː ˈmænəti hæz | ˈæftər ɔːl wɒt ˌdɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃəz əz frəm ˈænəml̩z ɪz ðɪs ˈswi:t ˈlɪtl̩ ˈθɪŋ wi kɔ:l ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ | ˈbaɪ dʒəst məˈnɪpjəˌletɪŋ ði ˈeər …

ɪf ju kæn rid ðɪs ˈɑrtəkəl, jʊr ə ˈʤinjəs. Read More »

Here is why we say Tick Tock, Flip-Flop, and Hip Hop, But not Tock Tick, Flop-Flip, or Hop Hip.

Have you ever wondered why we say tick-tock, King-Kong, and flip-flop? And why do kong-king and tock-tick sound so awkward to our ears? Why is it fiddle-faddle and pitter-patter rather than faddle-fiddle and patter-pitter? Why?…well ’cause! It turns out that this is one of the unwritten rules that English native speakers know, but don’t know they know. I will unravel this amazing rule here for you. Please bear with …

Here is why we say Tick Tock, Flip-Flop, and Hip Hop, But not Tock Tick, Flop-Flip, or Hop Hip. Read More »

50 Awfully Good Oxymorons.

An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two or more words side by side contradict each other. Their use in speech often leads to humor, irony, and sarcasm.  We’ve asked our followers at The Language Nerds to share their favorite oxymorons and the result has been nothing short of hilarious. We’ve compiled them here for …

50 Awfully Good Oxymorons. Read More »

Here is how English survived the​ Norman Conquest?

Please like our new page Facebook about Dogs Visit our new website about Dogs : https://udoggybag.com War is an annihilator, the winner seeps out everything, including people. But how did English survive the Norman Conquest?  There are actually two very general and hugely complex questions involved here, not one: