And we wonder why non-American people have trouble with our language
Apr 21, 2022 21:36:35 #
Steve DeMott
Loc: St. Louis, Missouri (Oakville area)
If the plural of Goose is Geese, Why isn't Mongoose, Mongeese instead of Mongooses
Apr 21, 2022 23:01:43 #
Steve DeMott wrote:
If the plural of Goose is Geese, Why isn't Mongoose, Mongeese instead of Mongooses
Because American English to an even greater degree than text book English is a hybrid language with words adapted from many other languages, often with the rules of that language for plural etc. - but sometimes not. Goose is Germanic, Mongoose is a phonetic spelling of various languages' name for the animal in India - most sources mention the "Marathi" name muṅgūs or the Hindi maṅgūs.
The fact that US English seems to have never met a new word or name it didn't like and adopt also accounts for multiple words for the same thing and our monster size 1,000,000+ word vocabulary. Only around 100,000+ are active and regularly used - most of that number consists of technical jargon confined to one use. Also you will find what appears to be the same word with multiple meanings & counted as a different word in different jargons.
How many meanings and therefore how many different words do you know that are spelled "rock"?
Apr 21, 2022 23:24:00 #
bikinkawboy
Loc: north central Missouri
Robertjerl, my biking buddy taught English his entire career. He once told me that most ordinary people know and use only around 10,000 English words and that there are plenty that seldom get used. What you said pretty well confirms that.
Apr 22, 2022 02:58:25 #
Steve DeMott wrote:
If the plural of Goose is Geese, Why isn't Mongoose, Mongeese instead of Mongooses
And then there is this:
Apr 22, 2022 06:24:19 #
Apr 22, 2022 06:42:15 #
Steve DeMott wrote:
If the plural of Goose is Geese, Why isn't Mongoose, Mongeese instead of Mongooses
Not only is the spelling confusing the word meanings are a challenge.
For example you "wind" a clock.
The "wind" blew the leaves off the tree.
Apr 22, 2022 08:21:54 #
Steve DeMott
Loc: St. Louis, Missouri (Oakville area)
Pacific Ocean. Three "C's" Three different sounds
Apr 22, 2022 08:28:48 #
Apr 22, 2022 08:49:15 #
Apr 22, 2022 08:57:53 #
Just Shoot Me
Loc: Ithaca, NY
Your name can be Spelled "S-m-i-t-h" and be pronounced "Domchowski"
All the letters are silent!
Welcome to America.
All the letters are silent!
Welcome to America.
Apr 22, 2022 09:06:24 #
Canisdirus wrote:
Was was was before was was is.
No. Is came first, and then they decided they needed a word for what happened before is.
Apr 22, 2022 09:41:58 #
Schoee
Loc: Europe
many speakers of other languages will actually tell you English is pretty simple and easy to learn. The few little quirks mentioned are not a problem and it is us English speakers who think it must be a difficult language but it really is not. Our grammar is very simple compared to most languages.
Apr 22, 2022 09:44:13 #
Most difficult languages to learn -
Mandarin Chinese
Arabic
Vietnamese
Finnish
Japanese
Korean
https://www.rosettastone.com/languages/hardest-language-to-learn
Mandarin Chinese
Arabic
Vietnamese
Finnish
Japanese
Korean
https://www.rosettastone.com/languages/hardest-language-to-learn
Apr 22, 2022 09:56:51 #
Schoee
Loc: Europe
jerryc41 wrote:
Most difficult languages to learn -
Mandarin Chinese
Arabic
Vietnamese
Finnish
Japanese
Korean
https://www.rosettastone.com/languages/hardest-language-to-learn
Mandarin Chinese
Arabic
Vietnamese
Finnish
Japanese
Korean
https://www.rosettastone.com/languages/hardest-language-to-learn
Mandarin cannot be too hard, 2yr old kids in China speak it :)
That list is only for English speakers with no exposure to other languages.
Apr 22, 2022 09:58:15 #
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