Month: May 2026

Irish challenge (2)

This post is the 2nd instalment of the Irish leg of my current Celtic challenge. It covers parts of chapters 1 and 2 of Teach Yourself Irish (and part of appendix 2) . I will cover the rest of chapters 1 and 2 in the next post. The 1st instalment covered Irish spelling and pronunciation.…… Continue reading Irish challenge (2)

Intrusive ‘of’: is it that big a problem?

In the last few years, I’ve increasingly heard people including the preposition ‘of’ after an adjective in creating phrases such as not that big of a deal and how big of a problem. To my ear, ‘of’ after adjectives in such phrases is unnecessary and sounds completely wrong. I’ve heard this construction mainly from Americans,…… Continue reading Intrusive ‘of’: is it that big a problem?

Sounds of Czech

In this post, I summarise the sound system of Czech and comment on spelling and on contrasts between Czech (a West Slavonic language) and Russian (n East Slavonic language).   Consonants Table 1 lists Cech consonants. Table 1. Czech consonants LabialAlveolarPalatalVelar /GlottalNasalmnɲ PlosivepbtdcɟkgAffricate t͡s(d͡z)t͡ʃd͡ʒ FricativefvszʃʒxɦTrill rr̝  Approximant lj  Comments on consonants the letters <ň ď ť > represent palatal consonants, although…… Continue reading Sounds of Czech

Welsh challenge (2)

This post is the 2nd instalment of the Welsh leg of my current Celtic challenge. It covers chapters 1a and 1b of Colloquial Welsh. The 1st instalment covered Welsh spelling and pronunciation, and mentioned the important process of consonant mutation. Learning Welsh and Irish – Language Miscellany In some places, I mention differences between northern…… Continue reading Welsh challenge (2)

Italian places and their inhabitants

Italian place names generally have related adjectives. Many of them are formed in fairly predictable ways by just adding a suffix to the place name (eg romano from Roma, Milanese from Milano and Napoletano from Napoli). Common suffixes used in place names include (in the masculine plural form) -ani, -tani, -esi, -ensi, -i, -ali, -giani,…… Continue reading Italian places and their inhabitants

How do you say Magyar?

A few weeks ago, Hungary elected a new Prime Minister, Péter Magyar. Perhaps that is an instance of nominative determinism—his surname Magyar means ‘Hungarian’. The Hungarian word for ‘Hungary’ is Magyarország. English speakers sometimes use Magyar as semi-jocular synonym for Hungarian, but I have the impression that this has become less common in recent decades.…… Continue reading How do you say Magyar?

Irish spelling and pronunciation

I’ve set myself a challenge of working through textbooks on Welsh (Colloquial Welsh) and Irish (Teach Yourself Irish). I’ll work through the 2 books in parallel. Spotting similarities and differences will help me learn both these Celtic languages more thoroughly and more quickly. I’ve already covered Welsh spelling and pronunciation. Learning Welsh and Irish – Language…… Continue reading Irish spelling and pronunciation

Some French false friends

The French language has many faux amis (French for ‘false friends’)—words looking like English words but having different meanings. Here are a few of many false words listed in Thody & Evans (1985) or Worth-Stylianou (1992). All are words I have come across in France or when I lived in Luxembourg. French wordMeaningCommentsActionshare (in a…… Continue reading Some French false friends

Learning Welsh and Irish

I’ve set myself a challenge of working through textbooks on Welsh (Colloquial Welsh) and Irish (Teach Yourself Irish). I’ll work through the 2 books in parallel. Spotting similarities and differences will help me learn both these Celtic languages more thoroughly and more quickly.   I’ve had a copy of Teach Yourself Welsh for about 50…… Continue reading Learning Welsh and Irish