If we all start using them, these words can be resurrected. DURING MY UNDERGRADUATE studies as a Linguistics major, one of the things that struck me most is the amazing fluidity of language. New words are created; older words go out of style. Words can change meaning over time, vowel sounds shift, consonants are lost […]

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    in no particular order… The most common letter in English is “e”. The most common vowel in English is “e”, followed by “a”. The most common consonant in English is “r”, followed by “t”. Every syllable in English must have a vowel (sound). Not all syllables have consonants. Only two English words in […]

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Words on the brain: from 1 million years ago? All social animals communicate with each other, from bees and ants to whales and apes, but only humans have developed a language which is more than a set of prearranged signals.  Our speech even differs in a physical way from the communication of other animals. It […]

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