Historically, the word 'nest' consists of two parts. The part 'ne-' is related to 'nether', while '-st' is related to 'sit'. The distant ancestor of 'nest' meant "place to sit down". 'Nest' is also related to Spanish 'nido' and its Romance relatives. Click my new graphic to learn more:

Historically, the word 'nest' consists of two parts. The part 'ne-' is related to 'nether', while '-st' is related to 'sit'. The distant ancestor of 'nest' meant "place to sit down". 'Nest' is also related to Spanish 'nido' and its Romance relatives. Click my new graphic to learn more:

De dame van de reclame prijst haar merk luxejeeps op de radio aan als 'es-juw-fie'. Inderdaad, zo'n opgepompte stadstank is SUF.

Waar komen de Brabantse dialecten vandaan? Hoe komt het dat ieder dorp en iedere stad een eigen dialect heeft? Hoe is het nu met die talen gesteld? En hoe ziet de toekomst eruit? Komende zaterdag 20 september geef ik mijn lezing 'De Brabantse dialecten: herkomst en toekomst' in Bergen op Zoom. 1/

The past tense of ‘to go’ is ‘went’, but this form used to belong to the verb ‘to wend’. We call such verbs suppletive. Surprisingly, ‘to bring’ is suppletive too: ‘brought’ comes from a different verb. My new graphic tells you all about their past. In certain varieties of English, ... 1/

The past tense of ‘to go’ is ‘went’, but this form used to belong to the verb ‘to wend’. We call such verbs suppletive. Surprisingly, ‘to bring’ is suppletive too: ‘brought’ comes from a different verb. My new graphic tells you all about their past. In certain varieties of English, ... 1/

Waar komen de Brabantse dialecten vandaan? Hoe komt het dat ieder dorp en iedere stad een eigen dialect heeft? Hoe is het nu met die talen gesteld? En hoe ziet de toekomst eruit? Komende zaterdag 20 september geef ik mijn lezing 'De Brabantse dialecten: herkomst en toekomst' in Bergen op Zoom. 1/

Het gebeurt maar héél weinig dat ik de spelling 'oh' in het Nederlands goed gebruikt zie. 'Oh' klinkt als 'joh', eventueel lang als in 'zone': 'Oh, wat lief!' Laat je het rijmen op 'zo', dan kan alleen de spelling 'o': 'O nee!' 'O, dat wist ik niet.' Het spellingsverschil heeft dus een functie.

False friends are often wrongly called false cognates. These are very different things. For example, 'to molest' is a false friend of Spanish 'molestar' (to annoy) but they are true cognates, both coming from Latin 'molestāre' (to bother). Four graphics, all about false friends and false cognates:

'Verrig' is een oud Brabants woord voor "klaar". Het is er de afgelopen eeuw flink op achteruitgegaan. Mijn Drunense oudoom kent het bijvoorbeeld alleen nog vaag van zijn ouders. Waar het vandaan komt, vertel ik in mijn Brabantse draadje van deze week:

False friends are often wrongly called false cognates. These are very different things. For example, 'to molest' is a false friend of Spanish 'molestar' (to annoy) but they are true cognates, both coming from Latin 'molestāre' (to bother). Four graphics, all about false friends and false cognates:

The Spanish word for a river is 'río'. 'Río' and 'river' - these must be etymologically related, mustn't they? No! They're as unrelated as can be. Surprisingly, 'río' is related to 'rival' and 'derive'. 'River' is related to 'riparian' and 'arrive'. My new infographic tells you all about it:

Nieuws! 😃 Op 1 oktober verschijnt mijn boek 'Woord voor woord: de verleden tijd van taal' bij Onze Taal. Het bevat maar liefst 70 infographics vol fascinerende taalweetjes, rijk geïllustreerd door Yolanda Huntelaar. De afbeeldingen hieronder laten je kennismaken. Op de site ... 1/

Nieuws! 😃 Op 1 oktober verschijnt mijn boek 'Woord voor woord: de verleden tijd van taal' bij Onze Taal. Het bevat maar liefst 70 infographics vol fascinerende taalweetjes, rijk geïllustreerd door Yolanda Huntelaar. De afbeeldingen hieronder laten je kennismaken. Op de site ... 1/

The Spanish word for a river is 'río'. 'Río' and 'river' - these must be etymologically related, mustn't they? No! They're as unrelated as can be. Surprisingly, 'río' is related to 'rival' and 'derive'. 'River' is related to 'riparian' and 'arrive'. My new infographic tells you all about it:

The English word 'to travel' and French 'travailler' (to work) are notorious false friends. However, they're real cognates, as they stem from the same word: Old French 'travaillier', which meant "to toil". This verb had a sinister origin: it came from a word meaning "to torture". Here's more: 1/

The English word 'to travel' and French 'travailler' (to work) are notorious false friends. However, they're real cognates, as they stem from the same word: Old French 'travaillier', which meant "to toil". This verb had a sinister origin: it came from a word meaning "to torture". Here's more: 1/

One thing I like about explaining the Dutch verb 'moeten' to new learners is that it's versatile. English: - must - should - ought to - to have to - to have got to - to be to - to need to - to be supposed to - to be meant to - to be required to - to be believed to - to be necessary Dutch: - moeten

Ik dacht dat oeros 'oer-os' betekende. maar dat betekent het niet. #dierennamen

The verb 'must' looks a lot like German 'musste' and Dutch 'moest'. But wait a minute: those mean "had to", not "have to". They're past tense forms. Well, 'must' used to be a past tense too! It ditched its present tense, which would've become *moot if it had survived. Here's the story of 'must':

The verb 'must' looks a lot like German 'musste' and Dutch 'moest'. But wait a minute: those mean "had to", not "have to". They're past tense forms. Well, 'must' used to be a past tense too! It ditched its present tense, which would've become *moot if it had survived. Here's the story of 'must':

Het woord voor 'hadden' vertoont enorm veel variatie in de dialecten van Noord-Brabant. Mijn post van deze week vertelt je daar alles over:

Dat de Brabantse dialecten in elke plaats anders zijn, is geen nieuws. Maar soms zijn de verschillen wel héél opvallend. Neem een simpel woordje als ‘hadden’. De Noord-Brabantse vertalingen ‘are’, ‘oie’ en ‘han’ lijken niet eens op elkaar. Hieronder lees je waar die verschillen vandaan komen. 1/

The words 'fluent', 'fluid', and 'influence' come from the Latin verb 'fluere', which means "to flow". 'Fluere' and 'to flow' look very similar, so they must be etymologically related, right? No! They're entirely unrelated. 'To flow' is related to 'pluere' (to rain) instead. Here's how we know:

The words 'fluent', 'fluid', and 'influence' come from the Latin verb 'fluere', which means "to flow". 'Fluere' and 'to flow' look very similar, so they must be etymologically related, right? No! They're entirely unrelated. 'To flow' is related to 'pluere' (to rain) instead. Here's how we know:

En dan kom je er op je 34e achter dat 'tets' (klap; tik) en 'tetsen' (stuiteren; klappen) geen Standaardnederlands zijn maar Brabants. 'Onze kat Stoffer gaf haar broertje Blik een tets tegen zijn kop.' 'Zijn mobiel tetste tegen de grond en was kapot.'

In small letters I also included the English word 'lettuce', because it, too, is related to 'latte' and 'galaxy'. It comes from the plural-turned-singular of Old French 'laitue', which stemmed from Latin 'lactūca'. It was so called beause of the milky juice that comes out of the plant when cut.

In small letters I also included the English word 'lettuce', because it, too, is related to 'latte' and 'galaxy'. It comes from the plural-turned-singular of Old French 'laitue', which stemmed from Latin 'lactūca'. It was so called beause of the milky juice that comes out of the plant when cut.

The English words 'galaxy' and 'latte' are etymologically related. 'Galaxy' stems from the Ancient Greek word for "milk", 'gála', which has the same Proto-Indo-European ancestor as Latin 'lactem', which became 'latte' in Italian. Click my new graphic to learn more about this word family:

The English words 'galaxy' and 'latte' are etymologically related. 'Galaxy' stems from the Ancient Greek word for "milk", 'gála', which has the same Proto-Indo-European ancestor as Latin 'lactem', which became 'latte' in Italian. Click my new graphic to learn more about this word family:

Nieuwe online lezing! Op 23 september neemt dialectonderzoeker Hedwig Sekeres ons mee 'achter de schermen' van een cursus Gronings. De lezing zal o.a. gaan over de deelnemers. Waar komen ze vandaan, wat motiveert ze om Gronings te leren en hoe verandert hun houding tegenover de taal? ap.lc/wvlUw

The word 'slim' means "slender; tiny", while Dutch 'slim' means "smart". And then there's German 'schlimm', meaning "bad". What's going on here? Despite their wildly different meanings, these words all have the same ancestor, which is reconstructed to mean "slanted; tilted". Here's how it went:

The word 'slim' means "slender; tiny", while Dutch 'slim' means "smart". And then there's German 'schlimm', meaning "bad". What's going on here? Despite their wildly different meanings, these words all have the same ancestor, which is reconstructed to mean "slanted; tilted". Here's how it went:

Na de Taalboekenprijs-nominatie nu wéér blij verrast door een bericht over mijn boek 'Die goeie ouwe taal': een prachtige recensie door Miet Ooms. Ze bespreekt ook drie andere mooie boeken, o.a. 'Grenze(n)loze taal' van Jos Swanenberg en Kristel Doreleijers: www.de-lage-landen.com/article/we-m...

Fijne bespreking door Miet Ooms van o.a. Grenze(n)loze taal dat Kristel Doreleijers en ik samenstelden, en Die goeie ouwe taal van @yvanspijk.bsky.social : www.de-lage-landen.com/article/we-m...

'The ingredients of the cake' sounds fancier than 'what goes into the cake', but their literal meanings are almost identical. 'Ingredient' comes from Latin 'ingredientem', literally "going into". It's a participle of 'ingredī': 'in' (into) + 'gradī' (to go). The stem 'grad-' also gave us ... 1/

'The ingredients of the cake' sounds fancier than 'what goes into the cake', but their literal meanings are almost identical. 'Ingredient' comes from Latin 'ingredientem', literally "going into". It's a participle of 'ingredī': 'in' (into) + 'gradī' (to go). The stem 'grad-' also gave us ... 1/

Deze week heb ik een stukje geschreven over de Noord-Brabantse woorden voor 'moe'. Er zijn hoofdrollen voor umlaut, sterke j's, en het feit dat je van de Brabantse woorden wél een vergrotende en overtreffende trap kunt maken: 'Giestere waar ik muujer es nou, mer irgiesteren 't muujst!'

Mensen zijn boos op het woord 'miljardenboden'. Zij vinden dat 'bod' geen meervoud heeft en dat je 'biedingen' moet gebruiken. Echter, gebruik je 'bod' met de prefix 'ver-', of 'ge-', dan zijn resp. 'verboden' en 'geboden' als meervoudsvormen ineens wel toegestaan. 🧐 #langsky @yvanspijk.bsky.social

What's the origin of 'soul'? No living soul knows. The Germanic ancestor of 'soul' can be reconstructed, but attempts to reconstruct its further origin or find cognates have only been speculative. My new graphic sums up these theories and shows the cognates of 'soul' in the sister languages:

What's the origin of 'soul'? No living soul knows. The Germanic ancestor of 'soul' can be reconstructed, but attempts to reconstruct its further origin or find cognates have only been speculative. My new graphic sums up these theories and shows the cognates of 'soul' in the sister languages:

In sheet music, you often see 'dal segno al coda', which translates as 'from the sign to the final bit'. But why is it 'al coda' and not 'alla coda', which I believe would be more grammatical Italian. Anyone? @yvanspijk.bsky.social perhaps?

Nieuwe vragenlijst! Over ... awel, nou ja ... van alles eigenlijk. 😊 forms.gle/d67uP2Beprab... Veel plezier! En vergeet zeker niet te delen. 🙂 #langsky #NederlandseTaal #taalvariatie @onzetaal.bsky.social @yvanspijk.bsky.social @languagewriter.bsky.social @meertens-knaw.bsky.social

'Duck' (the action) is the source of 'duck' (the animal), not the other way round – the noun dūce is barely attested in Old English, but does seem to have been derived from the older verb *dūcan 'to duck, to dive'.

'I asked chatgpt and—' I'm going to ask the augurs what the gods think about it instead

I'm perfectly aware of the fact that the letter W is called 'double-u' in English, but in my head, I can't stop calling it 'wee'. Wee wee wee dot Wikipedia dot org. Having a native language that rhymes W with B, C, D, G, J, P, T, and V doesn't help.

Another letter that has two very different lower-case forms is a: single-storey ɑ and double-storey a. Both derive from the grey uncial form shown below. Interestingly, in the International Phonetic Alphabet, [ɑ] and [a] represent different sounds: taalaandewandel.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...

Another letter that has two very different lower-case forms is a: single-storey ɑ and double-storey a. Both derive from the grey uncial form shown below. Interestingly, in the International Phonetic Alphabet, [ɑ] and [a] represent different sounds: taalaandewandel.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...

From time to time I think about how wild it is that we have two fundamentally different ways of writing a lower-case g: the open-tail g and the loop-tail g. I see the loop-tail g every single day and yet I wouldn't be able to write this weird-looking variant without thinking very hard.

2/ It turns out that research has been done on it. The experiments show that people perform very poorly in recognising and producing the loop-tail g: bsky.app/profile/dajm...