Languages & Linguistics

66%

+6 −2

How did “-able” semantically shift to mean “requiring”?

2 answers · last activity 5 months ago by Peter Taylor‭

etymology English accounting

62%

+3 −1

What explains Arabic "Greater Etymology"?

0 answers · last activity 5 months ago by user53100‭

etymology

77%

+5 −0

Why does the dollar sign precede the number in English?

1 answer · last activity 6 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

English

75%

+7 −1

Order of pronouns

1 answer · last activity 6 months ago by Severus Snape‭

English grammar pronouns

83%

+8 −0

Why was Spanish the only Romance language to lose the initial "F" in Latin words?

0 answers · last activity 6 months ago by ArtOfCode‭

Spanish Latin romance-languages evolution-of-languages

62%

+3 −1

Difference between Hindi verbs that ends with "a", "e" and "i"

0 answers · last activity 6 months ago by Severus Snape‭

Hindi

70%

+5 −1

Etymology of "ohyra"?

2 answers · last activity 6 months ago by tommi‭

etymology Swedish

75%

+4 −0

Should we use "por que" or "porque" in "las autoridades se sentían estafadas *por que* se escaparan"?

1 answer · last activity 6 months ago by fedorqui‭

Spanish word-choice

57%

+2 −1

How can a problem or puzzle be analogized as a knot?

1 answer · last activity 6 months ago by Jordan‭

semantics

42%

+1 −2

Why is my Danglish pronunciation much better than Danish?

1 answer · last activity 6 months ago by Jordan‭

English pronunciation Danish

66%

+4 −1

Why word future events in the present?

1 answer · last activity 6 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

English

50%

+2 −2

What semantic notions underlie "gasket" with "little gird, maidservant"?

1 answer · last activity 6 months ago by PSTH‭

etymology

57%

+2 −1

How can a prepositional phrase shift to become a verb?

2 answers · last activity 6 months ago by msh210‭

etymology French Latin

72%

+6 −1

What is the difference between 'u heeft' and 'u hebt'?

1 answer · last activity 7 months ago by msh210‭

Dutch

50%

+2 −2

How did « re » + « partir » compound to "repartee", which means "rejoinder"?

1 answer · last activity 7 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

etymology particular-word

33%

+0 −2

What semantic notions underlie 'privity' with 'privity of contract'?

0 answers · last activity 7 months ago by Moshi‭

etymology English legal-language

57%

+2 −1

How did 'equity' semantically shift to mean 'Assets — Liabilities'?

1 answer · last activity 7 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

etymology English particular-word

77%

+5 −0

Does Japanese have pronouns?

1 answer · last activity 7 months ago by Moshi‭

Japanese pronouns typology

62%

+3 −1

Etymology of "son of a gun"

1 answer · last activity 7 months ago by hkotsubo‭

etymology English

77%

+5 −0

What does "se" mean in Micah 6:8, "Ya se te ha declarado..."?

2 answers · last activity 7 months ago by DonielF‭

Spanish

77%

+5 −0

Are there any examples of neopronouns for non-binary or third gender people being fully incorporated into a language's grammar?

2 answers · last activity 7 months ago by Conrado‭

list-of-languages pronouns natural-gender grammaticalization

66%

+2 −0

Why are kinship terms typical examples of inalienablity but not meronomy?

0 answers · last activity 7 months ago by curiousdannii‭

semantics possession kinship-terms

57%

+2 −1

How did 'consideration' shift to signify grounds and the act of deliberation, then inducer of a grant or promise?

1 answer · last activity 7 months ago by Moshi‭

etymology English particular-word

72%

+6 −1

What drives the complexity of a language?

1 answer · last activity 7 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

historical-linguistics

77%

+5 −0

～ません versus ～ないです

2 answers · last activity 7 months ago by Moshi‭

Japanese verb-conjugation

70%

+5 −1

Why is the ـً in "شُكْرًا" and others pronounced?

1 answer · last activity 7 months ago by user53100‭

Arabic pronunciation dialects

71%

+3 −0

Why do certain Hebrew letters have alternate final forms?

1 answer · last activity 7 months ago by Moshi‭

orthography

50%

+1 −1

How did "re" + "join" semantically compound to mean "riposte"?

0 answers · last activity 7 months ago by Moshi‭

etymology English French particular-word

62%

+3 −1

How did 'the better to —' semantically shift to mean 'So as to — better'?

0 answers · last activity 7 months ago by Moshi‭

etymology

71%

+3 −0

Is Swedish more conservative than Danish and Norwegians?

1 answer · last activity 8 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

historical-linguistics Swedish Norwegian Danish

80%

+6 −0

Why are there different suffixes for people of different countries in English?

1 answer · last activity 8 months ago by Moshi‭

English suffix

75%

+4 −0

What does "unused root" mean?

1 answer · last activity 8 months ago by msh210‭

Hebrew etymology

77%

+5 −0

Is "estar de buenas" a widespread way to say "to be in a good mood"?

1 answer · last activity 8 months ago by fedorqui‭

75%

+4 −0

Why no "to"-infinitive in pual and huf'al?

1 answer · last activity 8 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

Hebrew conjugation

66%

+2 −0

Icelandic patronymic pronunciation

1 answer · last activity 8 months ago by Lundin‭

Icelandic

71%

+3 −0

What is the Thai word for plurally numerical answer expectancy?

1 answer · last activity 8 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

Thai number

80%

+6 −0

Using adjectives that are related to taste for describing emotions

1 answer · last activity 8 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

etymology

80%

+6 −0

What is the origin (etymology) of the word مسدس (pistol)?

1 answer · last activity 8 months ago by Moshi‭

etymology Arabic

80%

+6 −0

Why is linguistics limited in how much it can look back in time?

1 answer · last activity 8 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

historical-linguistics

50%

+3 −3

What is "these gentry" in Marxist writing?

1 answer · last activity 8 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

English particular-word

75%

+4 −0

Has Japanese always had the polite "masu" form?

1 answer · last activity 8 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

historical-linguistics Japanese

75%

+4 −0

How do linguists determine historical pronunciation?

1 answer · last activity 9 months ago by Moshi‭

historical-linguistics pronunciation

66%

+2 −0

Primary clause uses singular, subordinate co-reference is plural, what verb to use in English?

1 answer · last activity 9 months ago by Moshi‭

English grammar number

70%

+5 −1

Why is “timbre” pronounced “tamber”?

1 answer · last activity 9 months ago by user8078‭

etymology English pronunciation

71%

+3 −0

How do Chinese people give their names in Japanese? (And vice versa)

1 answer · last activity 9 months ago by Aidan‭

Chinese Mandarin Japanese names translation

66%

+2 −0

Structures like "skulle gjort" and "skulle gjøre"

1 answer · last activity 9 months ago by Lundin‭

verbs Norwegian

71%

+3 −0

Which spelling -if any- of ar-Rahmaan is more correct "الرحمن" or "الرحمان"?

1 answer · last activity 10 months ago by DecapitatedSoul‭

Arabic orthography

57%

+2 −1

Why "sommaren är kommen" rather than "sommaren har kommit"?

2 answers · last activity 10 months ago by Lundin‭

Swedish

78%

+9 −1

Does English support three-word contractions?

2 answers · last activity 10 months ago by shpielmeister‭

English contractions

66%

+2 −0

How do I pronounce historical French correctly from times when the language was in transition?

1 answer · last activity 10 months ago by user8078‭

historical-linguistics pronunciation French

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