Bohemian Rhapsody in Atlaans
Ar das de vaarheet? Oder ar es noor fantasie? Fangd in een landruch Ken enkom fon realiteet Ouf deen ougen Shou dich mal hok en sien Ig ar noor een arm nech, ig brook ken mitleed Veel ig kouna kom, kouna gaan Een bisshen hoch, een bisshen laan Irgen vech de vind blas, mach das […]
What “naked” and “naan” have in common
The word “naan” (which refers to a kind of oven baked bread used in Central and South Asia) is a borrowing from Middle Persian “nān”, which itself comes from Proto Iranian *nagna, and this word is descended from Proto Indo European root *negʷ- This root gave us *nakwadaz in Proto Germanic which eventually became “naked” […]
The verb “to be” in Modern English
The verb “to be” in English is a complete mess. It has a different form for almost every person (i.e. 1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person), it changes in the plural and also changes a lot in the past tense. The modern conjugations of “to be” are the result of multiple verbs mixing together. I […]
The connection between “merry” and “bra”
I think most people don’t like change. It is uncomfortable and it makes people yearn for older times. But change is all around us and this can be seen especially in language. Some words change very little over time. For example, “ship” was “scip” in Old English. It is virtually unchanged in 1200 years. Some […]
How word meanings change over time
The reason words change meaning over time is because of associations. Something has a name, and then things associated with that thing tend to “stick” to it. The word “kind” is a good example. It started out meaning “a group with a set of characteristics” and it still has this meaning today in words like […]
An interview with the translator of the Irish version of Asterix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nak9ci6rLvM
