The title is a pun — but it makes sense only if you know what linguists mean by the word “accidence.” Despite that limitation, Accidence Will Happen is very much a book for the general educated reader, not for the… Read More ›
Linguistics
Says Who?
My mom would have hated this book; I loved it. My dad, as a psychiatrist, would have had some thoughts about this family disagreement — but he would have kept quiet about it. (Apparently that’s the role of a Jewish… Read More ›
Remember this?
I’ll talk about like nine different things, and they all come back brilliantly together, and it’s like, friends of mine that are, like, English professors, they say, “It’s the most brilliant thing I’ve ever seen.” DJT
For anyone who has had to interact with an INTJ
Found in the INTJ group on Facebook: Interviewer: What is your greatest weakness? Me: Interpreting the semantics of a question but ignoring the pragmatics. Interviewer: Can you give me an example? Me: Yes, I can.
Does English need a better alphabet?
Why, you ask, would we need a better alphabet? Nothing is wrong, you say, with the one we have. We all learned it in kindergarten, after all. I suppose some other alphabets are prettier, so that might entice you; and… Read More ›
They claim to speak 20… or 50… or even… wait for it… 367 languages!
Me (in front of my geometry class) (Don’t ask): What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Several members of the class simultaneously: trilingual. Me: What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Several members of the class… Read More ›
Highly Irregular (a book review)
Probably you have at least some interest in language. Probably you are not a professional linguist. If both of these describe you (having an interest in language but not being a professional linguist), then Arika Okrent’s latest book, Highly Irregular,… Read More ›
Conlangs
No, conlangs are not languages spoken at cons (science fiction or mystery or cosplay conventions) — although they could be spoken at some of these. Nor are they languages spoken by convicts. The portmanteau word “conlang” simply means “constructed language.”… Read More ›
“My cat likes to be pet.” Does that sentence sound grammatically correct to your ear?
To my ear, at any rate, it does not sound correct. Shouldn’t it be “to be petted”? But I’ve recently heard this use of pet as a past participle (more on that below) from at least two well-educated native speakers… Read More ›
Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English
If you enjoy the English language, but aren’t a professional linguist, you will definitely enjoy this book. If you are sometimes, often, or (yikes) always a prescriptivist, but have an open mind, you’ll not only enjoy it but will also… Read More ›
Finland is part of Scandinavia, isn’t it? And Finnish is a Scandinavian language, isn’t it? Well…no.
More than 90% of Americans believe that Finland is part of Scandinavia and that Finnish is consequently a Scandinavian language. Actually, I made up that “more than 90%” claim. But it wouldn’t surprise me at all if it turned out… Read More ›
Scots
Scots. No, I don’t mean the people from Scotland. I mean the language; “Scots” is a singular noun, not a plural. And yes, it is from Scotland—but it most definitely is not Gaelic. Give up? TIL that Scotland has four… Read More ›
A language-learning proposal
Continuing to sing the praises of the under-appreciated Helen DeWitt, I must tell you about her language-learning proposal. For a bit of context, I will first tell you about a brief conversational exchange I had with my ninth-graders at Weston… Read More ›
မြန်မာဘာသာ
When you read this post on your device, does the title look like (as it should), or does it look like a bunch of boxes? Or maybe just like random gibberish? If your device and software are old, you might… Read More ›
Why isn’t there an “r” in “castle”? And why isn’t there an “r” in “please”?
“Why should there be?” you reply. (It’s always best to answer a question with a question.) Either of the two questions in the title of this post presupposes that an “r” is expected. But why? A brief (but relevant) digression:… Read More ›
Sardinian. (No, it’s not the language that sardines speak.)
Your second guess will probably be that Sardinian is a dialect of Italian spoken on the island of Sardinia, so maybe it really is related to sardines, since you suspect that Sardinia was named after the many sardines that are… Read More ›
Not a cat chair
If you think about the word cathedral—as one does—you imagine that it must have originally meant “cat chair,” since you know that hedra is ancient Greek for “chair.” Right? Well, not exactly. But now, at least, you want to read… Read More ›
Ginnels, jitties, snickets, and twitchels
We’ve all had this experience. You hear or read an unusual word that’s completely new to you—and then, a day or so later, you hear or read it again! Is it a coincidence? It just happened to me with the… Read More ›
Keep your language!
Over 97% of Americans are either immigrants or descendants of immigrants—even if some so-called conservatives don’t want to admit it. But many of us who grew up with immigrant parents or grandparents are unable to speak or read the language(s)… Read More ›
Happy ἐξελαύνω Day!
This is my not-quite-annual “march forth” post wishing everyone a happy Exelauno Day. In case you’ve forgotten, here is my post from a year ago, which happens to be mostly about learning Ukrainian (!) but opens with remarks about Exelauno… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 