Language

The relationship of English to the Germanic language family meant that we once used the ‘verb-second rule’, now only rarely used

Our speech is a living, breathing thing, influenced entirely not just by who we are but also by who we talk to

While English does not use the vocative case, many other languages do

Just because a phrase is relatively recent doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a long or distinguished history

The country has long had strong political and cultural ties with France, which are reflected in the language

While the UK has its own home-grown bigots, the word itself may have come to England from France in the 16th century

Felony has meant many things in the past, from crime, wickedness and sin to deceit and villainy. Just ask Donald Trump

The Sun claimed the number of people in Britain who can't speak English is in seven figures. Unsurprisingly, it's not true

How the world of cricket promises another pleasing rhyming headline in the not-too-distant future

Cornish was doomed after Latin was banished from church services in favour of English during the 1500s

When is a cabbage not a cabbage? When it’s a kool sla. How Dutch influence shaped both ‘coleslaw’ and ‘cookie’ in American English

If Donald Trump really wants to take control of this Danish territory, he’ll need to get to grips with Inuit or Old Norse

Istanbul has had many names over time – including Greek, Latin and Byzantine versions – before settling on its Turkish incarnation

This year’s non-word of the year, ‘Bio-deutsch’ (biological German) has caused much controversy

English spelling is notoriously difficult to learn; how might we benefit by reforming it – and what would we lose?

There is usually a way to translate supposedly untranslatable words into English – even if it does take a bit longer

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has reignited fears in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia

Aberdeen may be in Scotland, but its name derives from the Welsh for river mouth. Why?

Pet names, known technically as hypocoristics, often use abbreviation, rhyming, and vowel changes to express familiarity and fondness

The verb ‘to ask’ may have already been transposed in the past, but it took a lot longer for it to be used as a noun

Oxford University Press’s word of the year suggests social media has become a drug-like distraction from the world

The pronunciation of his name has always been debatable, but its origin seems clear enough – and it’s not from the Huguenots

Sometimes when you leave the mistakes in, conversation can become even more picturesque

Trump is descended from immigrants and has a multilingual family. Why is he not more tolerant of bilingual arrivals?

Many languages, including English, contain loan words ‘borrowed’ from other languages. But there is one notable exception – Icelandic

This ethnic group of Afro-Indian origin have their own language, derived from French after their ancestors were brought to the islands as slaves

The ‘trollification’ that happens on X, Elon Musk’s online hellhole, deserves a definition

Discussions on whether there are any famous Belgians often throw up the same names – but very rarely is Beethoven one of those suggested

Our English language was brought to us across the North Sea by boatmen landing on the east coast

What links Philip Glass, Volodymyr Zelensky and Giuseppe Verdi?

Contronyms – words like ‘sanction’ and ‘cleave’ – are a puzzling phenomenon in English, in that they have two opposite meanings

The word repechage was heard regularly at this summer’s Olympics, but its modern usage bears little relation to its original meaning