There is an interesting pattern that the word ‘tea’ shows across the globe. With very minor exceptions, the world has only two words for tea. One is like the English tea (e.g. thé in French, té in Spanish, and tee in Afrikaans). The other one is some variations of cha found in Arabic chay and …
Tea if by sea, Cha if by land: Why the world has only two words for tea. Read More »
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 …
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 …
| 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 …
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 …
Please like our new page Facebook about Dogs Visit our new website about Dogs : https://udoggybag.com Americans and their British neighbors may share a language, but that doesn’t mean they speak exactly the same version of it. There are many unsubtle differences between British and American English that make each one unique, from small spelling changes …
Major differences between American and British English. Read More »
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 …
No language has all of the words, and English is no exception. While you can express the complex feeling of “insecurity, fear, concern, and envy over relative lack of possessions, status or something of great personal value, particularly in reference to a comparator, a rival, or a competitor.” with one word (i.e. jealousy), some other …
20 Fascinating Words with no English Equivalent. Read More »
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:
We can’t predict the future, but we can certainly learn from the past. And the answer to the above question is a resounding NO. Of course, you may have a difference of opinion, but consider the line of reasoning first. While it is true that more than 50% of the 6000-7000 languages in the world are …
Will Everyone In The World Eventually Speak English? Read More »
