Languages & Linguistics

33%

+0 −2

How can fulsome constitute "a case of ironic understatement"?

0 answers · posted 3mo ago by PSTH‭

etymology

75%

+4 −0

Why did the Tironian et survive in Irish, when it died out everywhere else?

1 answer · posted 3mo ago by TRiG‭ · last activity 3mo ago by Jirka Hanika‭

Latin

66%

+2 −0

What is ทำดีได้อย่าเด่นจะเป็นภัย in Thai?

0 answers · posted 1mo ago by deleted user

Thai

84%

+9 −0

Why did the letter K survive in Latin, though it was rarely used?

1 answer · posted 4mo ago by gmcgath‭ · last activity 3mo ago by Moshi‭

Latin evolution-of-languages

33%

+0 −2

How did 'ad-' + 'rogare' compound to mean 'to make great claims about oneself'?

1 answer · posted 3mo ago by PSTH‭ · last activity 3mo ago by dsr‭

etymology Latin

57%

+6 −4

What's the difference between "in doing so" and "by doing so"?

2 answers · posted 4mo ago by sinneddennis‭ · last activity 1mo ago by Moshi‭

English American-English

81%

+7 −0

Calling another by name when one is exasperated

1 answer · posted 2mo ago by r~~‭ · last activity 16d ago by Jirka Hanika‭

English colloquial linguistics

71%

+3 −0

What does the letter do ৡ in Bangla?

1 answer · posted 2mo ago by deleted user · last activity 2mo ago by deleted user

Bengali

33%

+0 −2

What semantic notions underlie "pull, drag" (in tractō) 🡒 "negotiate, bargain" (in 'treat')?

1 answer · posted 4mo ago by PSTH‭ · last activity 4mo ago by PSTH‭

etymology

33%

+0 −2

What semantic notions underlie vērum's 2 superficially unrelated senses — "truly" vs. 'but; yet; however'?

0 answers · posted 4mo ago by PSTH‭ · edited 4mo ago by PSTH‭

etymology Latin

50%

+1 −1

Why did linguists impute Proto-Italic *moini-, *moinos- "duty, obligation, task" — to PIE root *mei- (1) "to change, go, move"?

0 answers · posted 2mo ago by PSTH‭ · edited 2mo ago by PSTH‭

etymology pie

42%

+1 −2

How's inVESTing semantically related to VEST? Isn't the "idea of dressing your capital up in different clothes" insane?

1 answer · posted 6mo ago by PSTH‭ · edited 4mo ago by PSTH‭

etymology

50%

+0 −0

What is "Charter change bill" in English?

1 answer · posted 8mo ago by deleted user · last activity 7mo ago by mcalex‭

English

50%

+1 −1

How does taking, buying, procuring (emō) semantically appertain to destruction, annihilation (perimō)?

1 answer · posted 5mo ago by PSTH‭ · last activity 5mo ago by PSTH‭

etymology Latin

75%

+4 −0

Which phrase is correct? (Is using plural form for singular object make sense?) (Does using plural form for singular object make sense?)

3 answers · posted 8mo ago by deleted user · edited 8mo ago by deleted user

English

50%

+0 −0

How did 'equity' semantically broaden to mean 'common shares'?

0 answers · posted 7mo ago by PSTH‭ · edited 7mo ago by PSTH‭

etymology finance

75%

+4 −0

Why is the word "maniac" considered such a strong insult in Hebrew?

0 answers · posted 5mo ago by Mithical‭

Hebrew

75%

+4 −0

What causes people to write compound words as distinct words?

0 answers · posted 9mo ago by tommi‭ · edited 9mo ago by Moshi‭

grammar orthography Norwegian Finnish compound-words

50%

+1 −1

scilicet: How did 'it is permitted to know' semantically shift to signify 'that is to say, namely'?

1 answer · posted 9mo ago by PSTH‭ · last activity 7mo ago by Jirka Hanika‭

Latin

28%

+0 −3

How did 'in' + 'as' + 'much' (⟶ inasmuch) compound to mean "in an equal or like degree"?

0 answers · posted 2mo ago by PSTH‭ · edited 2mo ago by PSTH‭

etymology

50%

+0 −0

How did 'unless' evolve to mean 'if not'?

0 answers · posted 6mo ago by PSTH‭

etymology

28%

+0 −3

How did (the cross-linguistic univerbation) 'nothing/not/none/no + less' semantically shift to mean 'despite'?

0 answers · posted 2mo ago by PSTH‭ · edited 2mo ago by PSTH‭

etymology

50%

+1 −1

Modern English words originating in Norman

1 answer · posted 4mo ago by deleted user · last activity 4mo ago by dsr‭

English Norman Brittonic

33%

+0 −2

Is there any country in South America in which Spanish and/or Portuguese aren't dominant (excluding the Caribbean's)? [closed]

0 answers · posted 10mo ago by deleted user · closed 10mo ago by Moshi‭

American-English

50%

+0 −0

How to say in Thai "There isn't a necessity to think in the pattern of X"?

0 answers · posted 9mo ago by deleted user

Thai

50%

+0 −0

How did 'style' signify names of court cases?

0 answers · posted 9mo ago by PSTH‭ · edited 6mo ago by PSTH‭

etymology legal-language

50%

+0 −0

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

1 answer · posted 1y ago by PSTH‭ · last activity 1y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

etymology

66%

+2 −0

How to use the soft sign (Ь)?

0 answers · posted 10mo ago by IDoYTSoSubHaha‭

pronunciation Russian letter

60%

+1 −0

How did « histoire », in « histoire de/que », semantically shift to signify "in order to/that"?

1 answer · posted 7mo ago by PSTH‭ · last activity 7mo ago by Jirka Hanika‭

etymology French

28%

+0 −3

How does 'contango' semantically appertain to (1) 'continue'? (2) Or 'contain' as in Spanish 'contengo'?

0 answers · posted 2mo ago by PSTH‭ · edited 28d ago by PSTH‭

etymology finance

42%

+1 −2

Why does "counter" mean the area of a letter entirely, or partially, enclosed by a letter form or a symbol?

0 answers · posted 10mo ago by PSTH‭ · edited 5mo ago by PSTH‭

etymology English

28%

+0 −3

How did prae + scribere semantically shift from meaning "write before" ⟶ "a title or right acquired through long use or uninterrupted possession"?

0 answers · posted 2mo ago by PSTH‭ · edited 2mo ago by PSTH‭

etymology Latin

66%

+2 −0

Malay languages or Indonesian languages --- which is more close to Philippine languages?

1 answer · posted 10mo ago by deleted user · last activity 10mo ago by Jirka Hanika‭

Malayo-Polynesian-languages

50%

+0 −0

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

1 answer · posted 1y ago by PSTH‭ · last activity 1y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

etymology legal-language

85%

+10 −0

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

1 answer · posted 1y ago by Monica Cellio‭ · last activity 1y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

English historical-linguistics dialects

50%

+0 −0

What is "phoolon" in Hindi?

1 answer · posted 10mo ago by deleted user · last activity 10mo ago by Jirka Hanika‭

Hindi

60%

+1 −0

Resources for a speaker of Modern Hebrew to learn Biblical Hebrew?

1 answer · posted 6mo ago by Monica Cellio‭ · last activity 6mo ago by Monica Cellio‭

Hebrew

60%

+1 −0

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

1 answer · posted 1y ago by PSTH‭ · last activity 1y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

etymology Greek

40%

+0 −1

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

1 answer · posted 1y ago by PSTH‭ · last activity 1y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

etymology

66%

+2 −0

How did "bail" shift to signify "money deposited as a guarantee when released"?

1 answer · posted 7mo ago by PSTH‭ · last activity 7mo ago by Ullallulloo‭

etymology legal-language

72%

+6 −1

'Caution' and 'cautious' with ʃ or ʒ?

1 answer · posted over 1 year ago by msh210‭ · last activity over 1 year ago by Jirka Hanika‭

English pronunciation sibilant intervocalic voicedness

60%

+1 −0

How did “a pesar de” signify “in spite of”?

0 answers · posted 1y ago by PSTH‭

etymology Spanish

50%

+0 −0

What did the etymons of “on by + out, over, up” mean?

0 answers · posted 1y ago by PSTH‭

etymology

50%

+0 −0

How can "lemma" be translated as "rede-ship" with merely Germanic etymons?

0 answers · posted 1y ago by PSTH‭ · edited 1y ago by PSTH‭

etymology

50%

+0 −0

The Thai words for "definition" and its derivates

0 answers · posted 1y ago by deleted user · edited 1y ago by deleted user

Thai

33%

+0 −2

Why does the Latin prefix 'in-' also mean the English 'to', when Latin 'ad-' already means 'to'?

0 answers · posted 5mo ago by PSTH‭ · edited 5mo ago by PSTH‭

Latin

60%

+1 −0

Why didn't the same one (ancestor) language preponderate over China, Japan, Korea?

1 answer · posted 11mo ago by VLDR‭ · last activity 11mo ago by Jirka Hanika‭

historical-linguistics

40%

+0 −1

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

0 answers · posted 1y ago by PSTH‭ · edited 9mo ago by PSTH‭

etymology Latin

50%

+0 −0

Is the etymology of 'amphigory' semantically related to the English idiom 'go round in circles'?

0 answers · posted 7mo ago by PSTH‭

etymology Greek

50%

+0 −0

How did syn + ek + dekhesthai compound to signify "supply a thought or word; take with something else, join in receiving"?

0 answers · posted 7mo ago by PSTH‭

etymology Greek

Communities