The false origin story of the words beef and cow Sonya Mathews 2024-08-27 | A popular story, oft repeated across many platforms, states that the words for animals (cow, sheep, deer, pig) are Germanic and the meats (beef, mutton, venison, pork) are French because of a social divide between the Normans and the English speaking peasants during the period of Norman Britain.This episode of Zounds! unpacks the actual origins of these words, and examines the real reason for the division in meaning between them.
The world’s earliest valentine is a tragic one. Sonya Mathews 2025-02-14 | The oldest valentine to survive to this day was written from prison.#valentinesday #valentine #history
Overthwart is the old across, and it’s much better! Sonya Mathews 2024-10-18 | Thwart comes from Old English via Middle English and meant across. Overthwart has been a noun, adjective, adverb, verb and preposition! It's an all purpose word really, and we should absolutely bring it back into common parlance. #linguistics #words #opposite #history
Czar, tsar or tzar? A nugget of spelling history. #czar Sonya Mathews 2024-09-04 | The word czar came into the English language via Herman through the mind of a speaker of Slovene and Latin. And it stuck that way ! Artifacts of spelling litter our language and this one is pretty neat. #spelling #latin #history
The word urchin is a Norman French animal, but not the one you may expect! #urchin #etymology #words Sonya Mathews 2024-09-03 | Urchins are not just street ragamuffins. They are Norman French animals, but not perhaps the one you may expect, or at least I didn’t.#history #language #hedgehog
Sidewalk is far older than pavement! #americanenglish #britishenglish #britishvsamerican #sidewalk Sonya Mathews 2024-09-02 | ...
Autosuperordination is everywhere in English vocabulary ! #linguistics #noodles #americanenglish Sonya Mathews 2024-09-01 | ...
Meet Sonya! Sonya Mathews 2024-08-31 | Sonya is an award winning linguist and author who likes to make technology do what they want it to do. They love to spread delicious information about languages and are passionate about battling pseudolinguistics and linguicism. And also peanut butter.#linguist #author #linguistics #history
Almond milk is not some new-fangled invention! #milk #plantbased #history Sonya Mathews 2024-08-28 | ...
Non-English languages in Hollywood films are mangled #movies #tvshow #punisher #marvel #translation Sonya Mathews 2024-08-27 | ...
The Algonquin Bible: the first translation into an indigenous language on Turtle Island Sonya Mathews 2024-08-26 | English missionaries translated the English Christian bible into Massachusetts in the mid-1600s. This translation was very significant and retains significance in the wake of the intentional effects of colonization on indigenous communities. But it has a sordid legacy.#indigenous #history #massachusetts #colonization
The word sport is short for “disport” ! #linguistics #history #didyouknow Sonya Mathews 2024-08-26 | ...
How we almost didnt have left to right writing! Sonya Mathews 2024-08-25 | In languages that solidified left-to-right writing systems, there was -for centuries- another style: boustrophedon. Watch this video to learn a little bit about the directionality of writing with chisels.#writing #history #ancientgreek #orthography
Scribal doodles are the most important data! #history #language #latin #oldenglish Sonya Mathews 2024-08-25 | ...
Female pronouns in the US Constitution #pronoun #constitution #usconstitution Sonya Mathews 2024-08-24 | ...
Why do some people say Maths and others say Math? Sonya Mathews 2024-08-22 | A brief romp through the history of the word mathematics and why some people say math and others say maths.#maths #math #mathematics #history #linguistics #etymology
First written instance of the word “fuck”! #history #english #linguistics Sonya Mathews 2024-08-22 | ...
What is Proto Indo European exactly? Sonya Mathews 2024-08-21 | Proto Indo European is a word that gets thrown about a lot. It appears in many online dictionaries and many popular articles reference PIE roots when talking about the history of specific words. But PIE is a very specific body of scholarship.Watch this video to learn about Proto Indo European and why the public awareness of it is misrepresented.#linguistics #history #words #themoreyouknow
Fortnight or two weeks? A wee history of time keeping. #fortnight #history #timekeeping Sonya Mathews 2024-08-21 | ...
One reason why English spelling is so weird Sonya Mathews 2024-08-20 | Many people have been tinkering with English spelling over the years. Arguably the most influential -and peculiar group- was renaissance scholars. They are responsible for some of the spellings that have been driving learners bananas for centuries!#history #spelling #english #englishlanguage
Introducing Sonya! Sonya Mathews 2024-08-20 | Sonya is an award winning linguist and author who likes to make technology do what they want it to do. They love to spread delicious information about languages and are passionate about battling pseudolinguistics and linguicism.#linguist #author #linguistics #history
Russenorsk: possibly a pidgin language Sonya Mathews 2024-08-19 | Russenorsk is often described as a pidgin language spoken in the Arctic . But its classification is actually more complicated than it seems, and shines a light on a significant issue in language use: speaker perception.This episode of Zounds! illuminates the history of Russenorsk and why classifying historical languages is tricky.#linguistics #history #pidgin #podcast
Cats walking on ancient manuscripts #history #cats #manuscript #writing Sonya Mathews 2024-08-19 | ...
Old dictionaries are very fun to read. 10/10 would recommend highly. Sonya Mathews 2024-08-18 | Old dictionaries had very few standards for written definitions and can be very fun to read. They are often more indicative of the mood of the author rather than the meaning of the words.#elegant #dictionary #nice
mistranslations can sometimes be hilarious. Sonya Mathews 2024-08-16 | Stereotypes are wrong, but sometimes they can made a mistranslation funnier than it would be otherwise. This would be funny in any language, but its especially funny coming from Russian!#translation #multilingual #russian
“Axe” is a perfectly legitimate pronunciation of the word written “ask”. Sonya Mathews 2024-08-15 | Nobody is pronouncing it wrong. They’re just using a different and in this case older pronunciation#linguistics #history #ask
Zounds! Episode 3 : Orig. Uncert. Sonya Mathews 2024-08-14 | Etymologies are delicious stories of our language that are widely discussed and often treated as factual. But they are actually the product of an obscure subdiscipline of historical linguistics and semiotics. Most etymologies are unknown past certain points, but there are some surprisingly common words that we do not know the origin of.listennotes.com/podcasts/zounds-sonya-l7eF3A6riPY#history #etymology #podcast
Scientific coinages are the brain children of a very few men. Sonya Mathews 2024-08-14 | Scholars and natural philosophers have been coining words for ages, but there are a number of men who were prolific wordsmiths that had deep influence on our language.#scientist #linguistics #history
Don and doff are now fancy verbs, but they weren’t always so! Sonya Mathews 2024-08-14 | To doff your hat would be a pretty fancy way to say take off your hat, to most modern speakers of English who recognize the verb. But doff has rather more humble origins than you may expect! #shakespeare #history #etymology
JRR Tolkien wrote definitions for the Oxford English Dictionary! Sonya Mathews 2024-08-14 | JRR Tolkien worked as a writer for the OED and many of his definitions are still in use today.#tolkien #dictionary #walrus
How did Left-to-Right writing become a dominant directionality of writing systems? Sonya Mathews 2024-08-14 | Left to right is a common directionality in many European and western writing traditions, but it wasn’t always this way. This video explains how writing has evolved across time and how the directionalities of modern writing systems got stuck the way they are today. #writing #history #linguistics istics
The Hiberno-English verb “would” Sonya Mathews 2024-08-14 | Hiberno-English is a unique variety of English with many fascinating structures and features. One of which is the verb “would” which for many speakers of English expresses a conditionality, but in Hiberno English it also expresses habituality and stativeness. Sometimes these uses are called “non standard” but that’s not a very good turn of phrase because for the people who use this language it is very usual. Watch this video to learn a wee bit about the Hiberno English explicative “would”! #hibernoenglish #irish #modalverbs
Zounds! The original Lingua Franca Sonya Mathews 2024-08-06 | Lingua franca is often used to mean a language of commerce, or a "universal" language. Many have joked about how lingua franca means "French language" but now it refers to English. However, the phrase has its origins from more than a millennia ago, and it actually referred to a specific language!Listen to the podcast here :buzzsprout.com/2390926/15540171-the-original-lingua-franca.mp3?download=true#zounds! #podcast #linguafranca #linguistics
Zounds! The Age of Sail Sonya Mathews 2024-07-31 | Just as smartphone and computer technology have greatly affected modern vocabulary, the Age of Sail was a significant impact of the vocabulary of our linguistic forebears. While sailing is no longer a dominant industry, many words and phrases remain in use from times when it was. In this inaugural episode I unpack some of the remnants of nautical vocabulary that we still use today.Listen to the podcast here:buzzsprout.com/2390926/15510562-the-age-of-sail.mp3?download=true#zounds! #podcast #sailing #language
A polite , very Engish way to locate things Sonya Mathews 2020-09-04 | In school they teach you to say "where is the bathroom?". This is certainly correct, but it is not the whole story. Often when looking for something, English speakers employ a range of different, softer constructions. This phrase is neither British nor American, and can be found across the English speaking world. The direct approach is still good, but it is beneficial to know about other, softer ways to find things.#english #speakenglish #learnenglish
English vs. Russian pronunciation: the first syllable stress rule Sonya Mathews 2020-06-28 | What do the words "strategy", "architecture" and "contact" have in common? Well, they are cognates in English and Russian.There are thousands of loan words in Russian and English. We often don't notice how many there are. However, the pronunciation is usually very different. There are several rules that explain how the pronunciation differs between the two languages. The first is the first syllable stress rule. This video is the first in a short series explaining the pronunciation rules of Russian English cognates.Learning this rule will give you mastery over a whole world of advanced vocabulary, and will make your speech sound more fluid .#learnenglish #английский #pronunciation
Middle age or middle aged? Dont mix these up unless you want to! Sonya Mathews 2020-06-17 | Speakers sometimes slip up when referring to humans who are over the age of forty, or who are just behaving like out of touch dinosaurs. This small mistake can hilariously change the intended meaning of the sentence.Learn how to deftly avoid this mix-up, along with several ways to talk about history.#middleages #english #learnenglish
Why listening to first language English speakers is so frustrating: non standard contractions Sonya Mathews 2020-06-10 | First language speakers of English speak very quickly and often slur their words together. This creates new sounds and words, and can seem like a totally different language. This video explains three non-standard, spoken contractions, and references several more. Clips are given to show the contractions in action. There is a little quiz at the end to see how well you can guess the meanings of some new contractions!All clips are used purely for educational purposes. Copyright is with the creators and owners.#learnenglish #speakenglish #english
How to reverse any verb : the lazy magic of the prefix un Sonya Mathews 2019-12-28 | English speakers make up words all the time. A common way we do this is with the prefix "un". Often there isn't an official opposite of the verb we are using, so we make one up.For example, if someone fixes something and it isn't good , we might say "Well unfix it!"This is a formative prefix that gives opposite or negative meaning to the verb. Speakers often use this for humor and when we are talking fast and don't have time to find a more standard word.Watch our latest video to learn some common spoken uses of the formative verb prefix "un" and to see some creative versions in action!All clips are used purely for educational purposes.#learnenglish #speakenglish #englishlanguage
How to Tell a Good Story: A guide to English language exaggerating, fibbing and imagining Sonya Mathews 2019-11-23 | English speakers love a good story. We often engage in amusing or exaggerated retellings of events or conversations. These are not lies, but accepted ways of bringing humor to story or a situation. Watch our latest video to comprehensively learn how to tell a spoken story like a funny native speaker.#learnenglish #speakenglish #storytelling
The many varieties of sorry Sonya Mathews 2019-10-25 | The word "sorry" consistently ranks as one of the top 1500 words used in the English language. It has a lot of uses, which can make it seem like English speakers apologize all the time.We explain 4 advanced uses of "sorry" and show clips of these uses in real English.All clips are used purely for educational purposes.Word Frequency Data:wordfrequency.info/free.asp?s=yThis video was made before I understood the racist and discriminatory undertones of the term native speaker. I no longer use that term in my teaching and my work.#learnenglish #english #speakenglish
When a question isnt actually a question. Sonya Mathews 2019-10-08 | Sometimes English speakers use question forms for different purposes. This means that questions can be statements, and not actually questions.Watch our latest video to learn when a question is actually a polite command.Clips included to show examples in real English.#learnenglish #english #ielts
How to say need more politely. Sonya Mathews 2019-09-04 | Many English speakers don't like to be too direct. For us, the word "need" is too strong. Watch this video to learn a friendly, very casual way to talk about needing things.#learnenglish #english #watch
Hold my beer! I got this. Learn to do dumb things in English. Sonya Mathews 2019-07-08 | There are two idiomatic meanings to the phrase "hold my beer"Watch our latest video to learn how to deftly and accurately use them!#english #learnenglish #holdmybeer
Отдых по-русски, или почему Запад шокирован Путиным топлес Sonya Mathews 2019-06-21 | Небольшая комедия о том как западные люди шокированы Путиным.#стендап #комедия #американкаTranscript:На Западе многие шокированы фотографией Путина раздетого по пояс.Это категорически не принято у политиков и публичных людей в Европе и США.Они фотошопят сотни мемов и картинок где Путин верхом на медведе верхом на акуле верхом на орле на океанских волнах.Для Американцев это нечто из ряда вон выходящее!Однако на самом деле это ни в коей мере не примечательно!В России - полно раздетых по пояс мужчин.Это вообще! Целый сезон - толстых полураздетых мужчин в парках или на природе жарящих шашлык, и не убирающих за собой срач (мусор).Так что Путин это просто совершенно нормальный русский мужчина.И единственная необычная деталь в этой фотографии - это то что он не жарит шашлык.Но сейчас мы это исправим!
Two Useful Daily Expressions about Brains Sonya Mathews 2019-06-16 | Learn two very different but useful English phrases with the word brain. Also see clips of these phrases in real use. #learnenglish #english #teacher
Creative Ways to Call Someone an Idiot : An important part of speaking English! Sonya Mathews 2019-06-09 | People can be idiots! English speakers like to be creative in the ways we describe idiocy.Watch this video to learn several amusing and descriptive ways to say "idiot".#learnenglish #speakenglish #english
Охота за словами которые не могут иметь уменьшительно ласкательную форму Sonya Mathews 2019-06-04 | Уменьшительно ласкательная форма слов очень трудна в понимании для англоязычных. Я пытаюсь найти такие слова которые не могут иметь такой формы.Пока что я нашла следующее:#русский #русскийязык #стендапTranscript:Здравствуйте друзья!В предыдущем видео я сказала что “соль” не имеет уменьшительно ласкательной формы.Вы - мои зрители, указали что я была не права.Соль не только может иметь уменьшительно ласкательную форму, но их даже несколько!солькасоличкасоликсолюшкаСольцыIt boggles the mind!Уму непостижимоТак что я возобновила охоту за словами у которых этой формы нет и вот что я нашла.Некоторые слова Русского языка меняют смысл когда находятся в уменьшительно ласкательной форме, например:ЛампочкаФорточкаДевочкаОни, соответственно, не должны иметь вторую уменьшительно ласкательную форму.Иначе - придется изобретать лампочечку с фортулечкой и девочечкой.Позже я нашла еще несколько хороших кандидатов “серьезных слов”.УксусЖенщинаКомпьютерБулочнаяЕсли вы со мной не согласны, либо знаете какие либо еще слова которые не имеют этой формы - пожалуйста оставьте ваш ответ в комментариях.Жду с нетерпением ваших идей!
