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Joined: Jun 2006
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
The logic of language. I remember from school having for at least a year great trouble with those two words.
I could do the most difficult ones easy but I kept confusing these two. I wrote lettre for letter and littel for little. Even now I sometimes hesitate. Here I've learned to look a bit into etymology and I see that indeed it makes no sense at all.
Little comes from Old English: -- lytel Letter comes from Old French: lettre
Centuries ago they could have done a better job by making it littel and letter. Is it too late for that?
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 99
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 99 |
The logic of language. I remember from school having for at least a year great trouble with those two words.
I could do the most difficult ones easy but I kept confusing these two. I wrote lettre for letter and littel for little. Even now I sometimes hesitate. Here I've learned to look a bit into etymology and I see that indeed it makes no sense at all.
Little comes from Old English: -- lytel Letter comes from Old French: lettre
Centuries ago they could have done a better job by making it littel and letter. Is it too late for that? Is this theatre of protest, or theater of the mind?
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
It's a tea-party. In a littel while Mrs. Brittel will put the kettel on. OK , a bit of both.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
Brannie You have fallen into the non-English speakers trap of expecting English to operate logically. It doesn't, and the spelling is completely .
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Joined: Jun 2006
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
Zeddie I know that is the case. Language is the same mix of logic and irrational as humans are. I only thought the board's P.I. of language Z.M. would have known if there was a why to this. The close home word reverses partly.(lytel-little) And to the word from French(lettre-letter)the same thing happens.Just funny. lytel-little lettre-letter
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
lytel-little lettre-letter
I'd say it was an accident of history like so much of what's euphemistically called English orthography. Cf. modal, moral, camel, easel, label, model, tunnel, apple, battle, beetle, eagle, ladle, marble, table, etc., all for words ending in unstressed /əl/.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
euphemistically called English orthography
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