April 2026 – Danny L. Bate

Meet English’s Newest Consonant

As stable as they may seem, every sound of every spoken language, at some point in the past, didn’t exist. The incessant shifting of speech involves the innovation of sounds, when either new ones are born or old ones transform. Consequently, within the sounds that a particular spoken language (such as Modern English) makes useContinue reading “Meet English’s Newest Consonant”

The Etymological Problem with Apples

I remain resolute in the belief that ordinary, ten-a-penny words are far more interesting than the rare jewels and prized flowers of any language’s lexicon. Miss me with your petrichor and antidisestablishmentarianism; I’d much rather tell you about apple. This isn’t my contrarian streak speaking. I take genuine joy in the fact that tracing the etymology ofContinue reading “The Etymological Problem with Apples”