Linguistics
Word Matrix: DoodleWhile reading some books about the history of words earlier this year, I came across the word <fopdoodle>, which means “a...
September 10, 2019- Word Matrix: D (“set, put”)
Back at the end of July, I investigated the words <add> and <addition>. I undercovered the base <d>, but I misidentified...
September 3, 2019 - Word Matrix: Ply (“lay, fold, twist”)
I recently came across a tweet in a Twitter conversation that argued that studying morphemes is not always helpful. A morpheme...
August 20, 2019 - Word Matrix: Stude
<stude> “learn, examine, show zeal for” from Old French estudiier, from Medieval Latin studiare, from Latin studium “study, application,” originally “eagerness,”...
July 28, 2019 - Word Matrix: D (“give”)
After returning from a two-week family vacation last weekend, I found my sleep schedule completely messed up. Instead of tossing and...
July 26, 2019 - Word Matrix: Marsupe
<marsupe> “purse, pouch” from Modern Latin marsupialis “having a pouch,” coined from Late Latin marsupium “pouch, purse” Word Sums Marsupe +...
July 21, 2019 - The -ion Suffix, Connecting Vowel <i>, and Phonological Markers
To begin, -*tion, -*sion, -*cion, and -*xion are not suffixes. Only -ion is a suffix. A suffix is a bound morpheme...
July 5, 2019 - Word Matrix: Galact
<galact> “milk, milky” from Greek gala (genitive galaktos, stem galakt-) “milk” Word Sums Galact + ic -> galactic Extra + Galact...
June 17, 2019 - Using Verbs and Verb Phrases as Adjunct Adverbials
Notional grammars traditionally verbs as “words that denote actions and states of being.” A verb phrase consists of a verb plus...
June 15, 2019 - Word Matrix: Cat
<cat> “feline” from Old English catt Words Sums Cat Cat + s -> cats Cat + ed -> catted Cat +...
June 6, 2019 - Adjectives Versus Verbs: Participial Adjectives
As I have written many times before, the line between grammatical forms is blurry at best, especially among lexical categories like...
June 4, 2019 - Word Matrix: Pter
<pter> “feather, wing” from Greek pteron Word Sums Pter + ide + ine -> pteridine Pter + ide + ine +...
May 28, 2019 - How to Diagram a Sentence: Form-Function Diagrams
What is grammar? The popular notion is actual or presumed prescriptive notions about the correct use of a language. But linguistics...
May 20, 2019 - Using Verbs and Verb Phrases as Noun Phrase Complements
Notional grammars define verbs as “words that denote actions and states of being.” A verb phrase consists of a verb plus...
May 13, 2019 - Please Don’t Lambast(e) Me
I love all forms of word play. Before Easter, I heard a local news reporter pronounce the word <lambasted> “to criticize...
May 11, 2019
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