Archive of Language Articles

Linguistic Wonders Series

This section of our library is devoted to short pieces about language written by the visionary scientists of yourDictionary.com's Advisory Council of Experts (ACE).

• The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
• Counterterrorism Glossaries
• The Indo-European Language Room
• Meaning of Vermicelli
• Allied Weapons and Aircraft Glossary
• Fatherly Words Language Article
• Meaning of Mauve
• Mayan Hieroglyphs
• Pizza is a German Word
• Meaning of Spaghetti

Counterterrorism Glossaries

• Chronology of Iraq
• Glossary of Iraq
• Glossary of the Middle East
• Geography of Terrorism and Glossary of Terrorist Organizations

The Indo-European Language Room

• Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans by Calvert Watkins
• Table of Indo-Eurpean Languages
• Glossary of Proto-Indo-European Roots

The WordMan, Paul J.J. Payack

• The Tangles of Time - A Brief History of Chess
• The Dustbin of History - How the Infinity Symbol Came into Existence
• Steppingstone to the Stars - How the Zero was Discovered
• The Lament - The Last Words of the Last Speaker of Proto-Indo-European
• An Interview With the Inventor of Words
• The Final Farewell: The Official End to the 20th Century

Presidential Debate Analysis

• Presidential Debates Mirror Long-term School Decline

Thoughts of Dr. Audra Himes

• How We Have Changed (9/11)
• Yankee Doodle Dandy (Fourth of July)

A Linguistic Potpourri

• How to Use Dictionaries
• Linguists See Internet Lingo as Cultural Catalyst
• The Impassioned Fight to Save Dying Languages
• The Chaos by Gerald Nolst Trenite
• The Third English Word Ending on "gry"
• The World's Longest Place Name
• The Impact of 9/11 on the English Language
• A Plethora of Terms: Playing The Veneral Game by Dr. Seth Haber
• One Symbol for Every Sound by Wenkai Tay
• A Prompt for Finding Essay Topic Ideas by Sheila Bender.
• Japanese Language Onomatopoeia
• Identifying Japanese Farm Animal Sounds
• Judgement - English Spelling Rules
• The Word Eaters
• Glossary of Quaint Southernisms

The Collected Works of the Phantom Linguist

• Ending a Sentence with a Preposition
• Origins of Words: Part I
• Word Origins continued
• Etymology Explained: Origin of Words III
• Deriving Words in English
• English Language Word Origins IV
• English Abbreviations You Should Know
• How is a Hippo Like a Feather?
• How to Pronounce "Ghoti" and Why
• But There are no Such Things as Words!
• Why We Have to Pay Syntax
• Can Colorless Green Ideas Sleep Furiously?
• Slithy Toves of Chimpanzees
• Mama Teached Me Talk!

Words on Word History by Phil Baldi

• Words on Word History: Introduction
• If It's Fragile, It will Break (Naturally)
• Latin in English (Part I)
• Latin in English (Part II)
• Homosexuals and Homo Sapiens: A Formal Confusion
• Heads of Cattle, a Capital Idea
• Shabby Seedlings and Tennis Rankings
• Understanding Etymology: Words Growing in Your Garden

Dr. Language on Language

• A History of an Historical Quirk
• A Language is a Dialect with an Army
• Ain't Isn't a Four Letter Word
• Are You and I, You and Me?
• Do You Suffer the Embarrassment of LVS?
• How Many Words are in English
• Linguistic Collateral Damage
• Yall, (Youse, Yuns) Should Read This

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