Linguistics
Word Matrix: Tract<tract> “draw, drag, move,” from stem of trahere “to pull, draw” Words Sums Tract -> tract Tract + s -> tracts Tract +...
February 4, 2021- Word Matrix: Augur(e)
<augur(e)> “predict, foretell” from French inauguration and directly from Late Latin inaugurationem, presumably originally “installment under good omens,” from in– “on,...
January 19, 2021 - Word Matrix: Thank
<thank> “thought, gratitude; think, feel,” from Old English þancian, þoncian, compare related Old English noun þanc, þonc Words Sums Thank + s -> thanks Thank...
November 13, 2020 - English Sentences: From Declarative to Interrogative
Two types of sentences in English are declarative sentences and interrogative sentences. Declarative sentences, or declarations, convey information or make statements....
July 25, 2020 - Word Matrix: Sign
<sign> from Latin signum “identifying mark, token, indication, symbol; proof” Words Sums (248) Sign -> sign Sign + s -> signs...
July 17, 2020 - Introducing ‘Teach a Student to Read’
If you have been following along on my LinguisticsGirl Twitter feed, you know that I have been working on a reading...
July 1, 2020 - The Habitual ‘be’
What is the habitual be? Who uses the habitual be? I began writing this post a few months ago as I...
June 27, 2020 - English Nouns: Common and Proper
A noun can be defined semantically as “a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.” In English, nouns can...
June 25, 2020 - Grammarposium: Nouns, Adjectives, and Determiners
I am excited to announce my first Grammarposium: Nouns, Adjectives, and Determiners. The online, real-time class offers an exploration of the...
May 24, 2020 - Thieves, Knives, and Chiefs and English Plurals
English is rule-based. I repeat: Like all languages, English is rule-based. A tweet recently appeared in my Twitter feed in which...
May 3, 2020 - The Word ‘another’ Is Not an Adjective
If I had to pick a single grammar topic to focus on for the rest of my life, I would likely...
March 6, 2020 - Zero Phones and Markers: Not All Letters Spell Sounds
Writing is not sounds written down. The primary function of English spelling is to represent meaning. Sounds do matter, but not...
February 29, 2020 - Is “Some Years Back” Grammatically Correct?
Earlier today I came across a tweet that argued against the use of the word back in the phrase some years...
February 4, 2020 - Why Are <talk>, <walk>, and <stalk> Spelled with <l>?
Yesterday I introduced my 5-year-old to the words <talk> and <walk>. He knows that graphemes can spell sounds, specifically that <l>...
February 3, 2020 - Why Is <broad> Spelled with the <oa> Digraph?
Yesterday I posted on my social media about the spelling of the word <broad>. I just introduced the <oa> grapheme to...
January 23, 2020
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