The problem with English is much of it isn't. It is a hybrid language. It borrows from French, Latin and words taken from those England conquered. It has words incorporated by Vikings and words from Gaelic. Words like raccoon and coyote are from Native American languages. I love words.
If I wasn't following you already I would follow you for this post.
And the Great Vowel Shift!
And we are "lazy" speakers. We drop sounds such as the k in know and knife. There was a time those Ks were pronounced. I could carry on a conversation about words for daaaaaayyyyysss!
Me too 🥰 Do you follow @bryaneragarner.bsky.social ? He used to post a lot on the other platform. He’s here but not super active
I do not. I will check him out. Thank you. Are you familiar with the linguist John McWhorter? I have learned a lot from him. He is a little egotistical but knows his stuff.
I will make myself familiar. Thank you!
...and going off to look that up later.
It’s super interesting! Short version: the way words were being pronounced was shifting in England at exactly the same time dictionaries were being published and standardizing spelling. It’s like a linguistic bug stuck in amber. E.g. it’s why hearth and earth don’t rhyme
Not sure how that link snuck in there 🤔