Nicholas C. Rossis

dream-protecting author

Which Is the Most Beautiful Language?

Apr 29, 2023 | Entertainment

Do some languages sound better than others? This is the question researchers from Lund University in Sweden and the Russian Academy of Sciences set out to answer, as reported by Big Think. So, does French sound silky, German brutish, Italian sexy, and Japanese angry...

The Intriguing Math of Punctuation

Apr 21, 2023 | Writing

When you think of punctuation, do you think of math? You probably should, as scientists from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ PAN) in Cracow explain in a study reported by Phys.org. The study compared punctuation between seven,...

Are Animals Multilingual?

Jan 12, 2022 | Random Musings

I am multilingual and consider myself a native Greek and English speaker. People like Ziad Fazah, born in Liberia, famously speak a total of 59 world languages. Can other creatures share that ability, though? Specifically, can dogs understand more than one language?...

Ye Olde Spelling

Nov 22, 2021 | Writing

Have you ever wondered about the ubiquitous “ye” in old publications (and certain Bible translations)? Did people actually go around using “ye” instead of “the”? How about quaint shops with signs like “Ye Olde Coffee...

Do You, Like, Like Like?

Oct 5, 2021 | Writing

I mentioned in my previous post how we had some American friends stay with us over the summer. One of them was a teen girl who, as teens do, used “like” every now and then. A habit I soon found myself repeating. Then I came across an interesting article on...

Are There Any Celtic Words in English?

Jun 14, 2021 | Fun Historical Facts

Long-time followers of my blog may remember my post on the origins of English. The language tree in that post shows that English is largely derived from Germanic, specifically Anglo-Frisian. So, where are the Celts? Are there no Celtic words in English? As several of...

How Latin Became Modern Italian

Jan 29, 2021 | Quora

In my last post, I explored some ways in which a new language is born. This post examines one of the best-known historical examples (at least for anyone in the West): the way that Latin became modern Italian. As Luca Guala explains on Quora, the road taken was neither...

A New Language Born

Jan 28, 2021 | Quora

So, you have decided to go full-Tolkien and create your own language. But wait – how are languages formed, anyway? I mean, we know that languages die all the time. But are new languages ever born? This is exactly what Simge Topaloğlu discusses on Quora. As he...

Are There Any Primitive Languages?

Dec 13, 2020 | Quora

Once again, Quora has a great answer on linguistics — and the emergence of language in particular. As Thomas Wier points out, the faculty of language is far, far older than our own species. And that, surprisingly, explains why there is no primitive language. Early...