The English language is dynamic. This means it is always changing. Older words fall into obsolescence, for example malagrugrous which in Scotland once meant dismal, is no longer used. This is counteracted by the development, usually through popular culture, of new words. It wasn’t too long ago that our » Read More
Insufferable Suffixes!
In recent years, it seems to have become fashionable to add the suffix ‘-isation’ to popular topics to create buzz words. When added to a word, ‘-isation’ creates a noun that denotes the act, process or result of an action e.g. general (adjective) + isation = generalisation (noun). » Read More
On the Job – The Philosopher
We launched this “On the Job” series to find out how people use English in their working lives. We talk to them about jargon in their profession, writing on the job and what advice they’d give to learners of English. Who do you work for? Nik » Read More
On the Job – The Artist
We launched this “On the Job” series to find out how people use English in their working lives. We talk to them about jargon in their profession, writing on the job and what advice they’d give to learners of English. Who do you work for? Helen » Read More
Na’vi – the Language of Avatar
We all know that learning a different language is a huge challenge, perfecting your mother tongue is hard enough as it is. So how about inventing a completely new language from scratch? In this article from Vanity Fair, Paul Frommer speaks about how he went about creating Na’vi, the language » Read More