You never know where a word study will take you. A while back, my oldest and I did a word study on <cat>. While looking the base up in multiple online dictionaries, I noticed that <cat> is also a street name for a drug called <methcathinone>, which I looked up and discovered is also called […] More
How long do you think people have been sending Christmas cards? If you guessed “not that long,” then you are right. In the history of the holiday, the Christmas card is a modern invention. The first attested date of Christmas celebrated on December 25 was in 336 during the reign of Emperor Constantine, the first […] More
<Anxi> ”uneasy, troubled in mind” from Latin anxius Note: The base is <anxi>. The <i> is part of the base because two connecting vowels cannot occur in a row. Anxi + e + ty -> anxiety Anxi + e + ty + es -> anxieties Anxi + ous -> anxious Anxi + ous + ly […] More
If you have ever browsed my About Us page, you will know that I earned a BA in English studies with a minor in creative writing in May 2007 from Illinois State University, an MS in library and information science in May 2009 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an MS in English […] More
While reading some books about the history of words earlier this year, I came across the word <fopdoodle>, which means “a stupid or insignificant fellow, a fool, a simpleton.” The morpheme <doodle> means “fool, simpleton” and is of unknown origin. The noun meaning “simple fellow” is attested from 1620s. My family has been using the […] More
Back at the end of July, I investigated the words <add> and <addition>. I undercovered the base <d>, but I misidentified the meaning. As Gina Cooke of Linguistic Educators Exchange pointed out to me on Twitter, at least two distinct <d> base elements exist. The words <add> and <addition> come from the PIE root *do- […] More
I recently came across a tweet in a Twitter conversation that argued that studying morphemes is not always helpful. A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a language. All words consist of at least one morpheme. As a structured word inquirer, I clearly think studying morphemes is helpful, and the example of <reply> […] More
<stude> “learn, examine, show zeal for” from Old French estudiier, from Medieval Latin studiare, from Latin studium “study, application,” originally “eagerness,” from studere “to be diligent” Words Sums Stude + y -> study Stude + y + es -> studies Stude + y + ed -> studied Stude + y + ing -> studying Out […] More
After returning from a two-week family vacation last weekend, I found my sleep schedule completely messed up. Instead of tossing and turning in bed, I decided to peruse linguistics Twitter. I came upon a tweet from fellow word inquirer Sally Cole asking if <add> and <*addit> are twin bases. I quickly fell down a word […] More
<marsupe> “purse, pouch” from Modern Latin marsupialis “having a pouch,” coined from Late Latin marsupium “pouch, purse” Word Sums Marsupe + i + um -> marsupium Marsupe + i + a -> marsupia Marsupe + i + al -> marsupial Marsupe + i + al + s -> marsupials Marsupe + i + al + […] More
To begin, -*tion, -*sion, -*cion, and -*xion are not suffixes. Only -ion is a suffix. A suffix is a bound morpheme that attaches to the end of the stem of a word to form either a new word or a new form of the same word. A morpheme is the smallest meaningful linguistic unit of […] More
<galact> “milk, milky” from Greek gala (genitive galaktos, stem galakt-) “milk” Word Sums Galact + ic -> galactic Extra + Galact + ic -> extragalactic inter + Galact + ic -> intergalactic intra + Galact + ic -> intragalactic meta + Galact + ic -> metagalactic pan + Galact + ic -> pangalactic trans + […] More
Notional grammars traditionally verbs as “words that denote actions and states of being.” A verb phrase consists of a verb plus any auxiliary verbs, particles, modifiers, complements, and objects. In grammar, an adjunct adverbial is a word, phrase, or clause that modifies or describes an entire clause by providing additional information about time, place, manner, […] More
<cat> “feline” from Old English catt Words Sums Cat Cat + s -> cats Cat + ed -> catted Cat + ing -> catting Cat + y -> catty Cat + y + er -> cattier Cat + y + est -> cattiest Cat + Bird -> catbird Cat + Bird + s -> catbirds […] More
As I have written many times before, the line between grammatical forms is blurry at best, especially among lexical categories like adjectives and verbs. Adjectives are “words that describe nouns.” Verbs are “words that denote actions, occurrences, and states.” Participles are nonfinite verbs that share characteristics and functions of verbs, adjectives, and nouns. A present […] More
<pter> “feather, wing” from Greek pteron Word Sums Pter + ide + ine -> pteridine Pter + ide + ine + s -> pteridines Pter + in -> pterin Pter + ine -> pterine Am + ine + o + Pter + in -> aminopterin Pter + an + Odon -> pteranodon Pter + an […] More
What is grammar? The popular notion is actual or presumed prescriptive notions about the correct use of a language. But linguistics define grammar differently. Grammar is the study of the internal structure of words (morphology) and the use of words in the construction of phrases, clauses, and sentences (syntax). The Form-Function Method for teaching grammar […] More
Learn about the use of verbs and verb phrases as noun phrase complements in English grammar. More
I love all forms of word play. Before Easter, I heard a local news reporter pronounce the word <lambasted> “to criticize harshly, to assault violently” as /læmbeɪstɪd/, with the second syllable of the word pronounced like <baste> (rhymes with <waste>). I figured that he had had a slip of the tongue, which happens. No big […] More
<kin> “family; race; kind, sort, rank; nature” from Old English cynn Word Sums Kin a + Kin -> akin Kin + Folk -> kinfolk Kin + s + Folk -> kinsfolk Kin + ship -> kinship Kin + hood -> kinhood Kin + State -> kinstate Kin + State + s -> kinstates Kin […] More
