Welcome to the page for all my website articles. To narrow down the list, use the drop-down menu above to find articles on a variety of topics, from English etymology to Latin linguistics.
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- Sure SugarOr: Wait, shouldn’t those two English words be spelled with SH? Despite its reputation and the infamous evidence to the contrary, I’m committed to demonstrating how regular English spelling actually is. Yet words like sugar and sure, I admit, mock that vocation. In being pronounced as if they began with SH, the pair require meContinue reading “Sure Sugar”
- Did the Philistines Speak Greek?It’s often nice to spot familiar faces where you don’t expect them, like an unforeseen run-in with a friend while on holiday. Joy in unexpected encounters is possible in the intellectual realm too; during my wanderings through the linguistic past, I’ve delighted in meeting languages and their humans whom I already know from elsewhere. OneContinue reading “Did the Philistines Speak Greek?”
- What the Isle of Man Teaches Us About SpellingIn the sea between Britain and Ireland, there lies a much smaller island that is geographically and politically separate from the two landmasses on either side. This land is nominally subject to its own Lord, passes laws in a Tynwald, and is called home by 84,000 humans, a population of tail-less cats, an internationally famousContinue reading “What the Isle of Man Teaches Us About Spelling”
- Why Q Needs USA!A personal newsflash: today (June 2nd) sees the US release of my bestselling banquet of historico-linguistic nerdery, Why Q Needs U – that book about the alphabet and the English language that came out in the UK last October and has consistently haunted British bookshops since then. Despite its British origins and (very) British author,Continue reading “Why Q Needs USA!”
- Ex- a Weird Old Word Order -ploringOnce, in my halcyon days of doctoral studies, I gave an informal presentation that ended not with the typical slide “any questions?”, but rather “any answers?”. The talk’s topic fitted into my overall research into the word order of ancient Indo-European languages. My task was to acquire, present, evaluate and compare the available evidence, uponContinue reading “Ex- a Weird Old Word Order -ploring”
- The Inglish LanguageIt seems all too appropriate that a language infamous for its quirks of spelling should display a quirk of spelling in its very name. The word English would reasonably guide total newcomers to pronounce it with a short E, like the one typically to be heard in pen. Instead, their ears are due to beContinue reading “The Inglish Language”
- Meet English’s Newest ConsonantAs 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 ApplesI 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”
- The Armenian Who Learned Greek in Ancient EgyptOr: Why my (probably) favourite historical document is a unique Armenian text without a word of Armenian. Centuries before the translation apps and pocketable phrasebooks of today, people who found themselves far from home made do with ink and papyrus. For reasons of pure linguistico-historical nerdery and joy, I’d like to introduce you to aContinue reading “The Armenian Who Learned Greek in Ancient Egypt”
- Fatal Pronunciation: The Shibboleth StoryThe Bible can make for a gruesome read. An effortless observation (which has led to much reasonable criticism) is that, for a collection of texts which many people take as foundational for life, it contains a lot of violent death. This can be of a single named individual or of an uncountable number of namelessContinue reading “Fatal Pronunciation: The Shibboleth Story”
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Danny L. Bate 