Languages & Linguistics

50%

+0 −0

How did 'forfeit' shift to signify ‘penalty imposed for committing such a misdeed'?

1 answer · last activity about 1 month ago by Jirka Hanika‭

etymology

77%

+5 −0

Why is the word here "HaNofelet" and not "HaNofalet" when there's a grammatical pause?

0 answers · last activity about 2 months ago by msh210‭

Hebrew

71%

+3 −0

Is any theory according to which Yiddish is Turkic or Khazar-based supported by any serious evidence?

1 answer · last activity about 1 month ago by Jirka Hanika‭

German Yiddish Turkic Khazar Cuman

50%

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How does "happening" appertain to "(be)falling"?

0 answers · last activity 3 months ago by PSTH‭

etymology

40%

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How can "in terms of" substitute for such prepositions as "at, by, as, or for"?

0 answers · last activity 3 months ago by Moshi‭

English semantics

50%

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Why wasn't the prefix 'ad-' used for 'in-' + 'putare'?

0 answers · last activity 25 days ago by PSTH‭

etymology Latin

50%

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What spoken human languages in 2021 don't salute with words related to health or peace?

0 answers · last activity 2 months ago by PSTH‭

list-of-languages

60%

+1 −0

How did kúklos ("circular") shift to signify "general"?

1 answer · last activity 3 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

etymology Greek

71%

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How did "as" amass all its confusing "broad and vague meanings"?

1 answer · last activity 20 days ago by PSTH‭

etymology English particular-word

50%

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Why did David Ricardo coin "rent", to signify income from a factor of production that exceeds the minimum amount necessary (to beget that factor of production)?

0 answers · last activity 20 days ago by Moshi‭

etymology English

50%

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How did 'folding back' semantically shift to mean 'reply'?

0 answers · last activity 3 months ago by PSTH‭

etymology Latin

50%

+1 −1

A possible common confusion between electronic, digital and virtual

0 answers · last activity 20 days ago by Moshi‭

colloquial

50%

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How did "represent" semantically shift to signify "standing in the place of another"?

0 answers · last activity 3 months ago by PSTH‭

etymology Latin

71%

+3 −0

Why past tense in imaginative play in Finnish?

2 answers · last activity 3 months ago by ugo‭

Finnish children

66%

+2 −0

Is it true to say that Lao script is a simplified version of the Thai script?

1 answer · last activity 16 days ago by JohnDoea‭

orthography Thai Lao

50%

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How did 'in-' + 'putare' compound to mean 'to attribute, credit to'?

0 answers · last activity 25 days ago by PSTH‭

etymology Latin

71%

+3 −0

Why do certain Hebrew letters have alternate final forms?

1 answer · last activity 7 months ago by Moshi‭

orthography

70%

+5 −1

Etymology of "ohyra"?

2 answers · last activity 6 months ago by tommi‭

etymology Swedish

50%

+2 −2

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

1 answer · last activity 6 months ago by PSTH‭

etymology

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

75%

+7 −1

Order of pronouns

1 answer · last activity 6 months ago by Severus Snape‭

English grammar pronouns

50%

+0 −0

The Thai words for "definition" and its derivates

0 answers · last activity about 1 month ago by JohnDoea‭

Thai

50%

+0 −0

How did "put under" shift to signify "cause to take the place of", then "enough"?

1 answer · last activity 3 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

etymology Latin

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

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

50%

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How does the notion of “in defiance of” signify “notwithstanding”?

0 answers · last activity 3 months ago by PSTH‭

etymology

57%

+2 −1

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

2 answers · last activity 10 months ago by Lundin‭

Swedish

50%

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How did “negotiable” mean “a good or security whose ownership is easily transferable”?

1 answer · last activity 2 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

etymology

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

50%

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How does the original meaning of “but” (“outside”) relate to its current 2021 meanings?

0 answers · last activity 25 days ago by PSTH‭

etymology

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

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

75%

+4 −0

Has Japanese always had the polite "masu" form?

1 answer · last activity 8 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

historical-linguistics Japanese

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

50%

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How did 'solicit' semantically shift to signify ‘manage affairs’?

1 answer · last activity about 2 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

etymology

85%

+10 −0

What is the origin of the missing "to be" in sentences like "the car needs washed"?

1 answer · last activity 3 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

English historical-linguistics dialects

50%

+0 −0

Why are service or maintenance contracts called 'warranties', when they aren't Legal Warranties?

1 answer · last activity 3 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

etymology English

50%

+0 −0

Please expound and simplify the semantic progression behind "reduce"?

0 answers · last activity 3 months ago by PSTH‭

etymology

75%

+4 −0

How do linguists determine historical pronunciation?

1 answer · last activity 9 months ago by Moshi‭

historical-linguistics pronunciation

66%

+4 −1

What is a good translation for "waypoint" into Catalan?

2 answers · last activity 5 months ago by Peter Taylor‭

Catalan single-word-requests

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

66%

+2 −0

How did 'less than' semantically shift to mean 'if not'?

2 answers · last activity 4 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

etymology

71%

+3 −0

How were ת & ט pronounced historically?

1 answer · last activity 10 months ago by msh210‭

Hebrew historical-linguistics pronunciation

50%

+1 −1

How does backwardation semantically relate to "backward"?

0 answers · last activity 5 months ago by tommi‭

etymology English finance

71%

+3 −0

What is the most dominant Arabic dialect in Horn of Africa region?

0 answers · last activity 2 months ago by JohnDoea‭

Arabic

50%

+0 −0

How does "drive out" shift to signify "weigh out"?

0 answers · last activity 3 months ago by PSTH‭

etymology Latin

50%

+0 −0

What's the Semantic Field of puto?

0 answers · last activity 3 months ago by PSTH‭

etymology Latin

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

50%

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How did "join issue" mean ‘jointly submit a disputed matter to the decision of the court’?

1 answer · last activity 2 months ago by Jirka Hanika‭

etymology legal-language

60%

+1 −0

What determines the present-tense form of a kal verb?

0 answers · last activity 11 months ago by Monica Cellio‭

Hebrew conjugation

Communities