15 curiosities about the English language
The English language is a treasure trove of linguistic curiosities. Here are 15 fascinating facts about it:
"E" is the champion letter, reigning as the most common in English.
Vowels follow the "e" trend, with "a" and "e" leading the pack.
Among consonants, "r" and "t" take the lead.
English syllables always contain vowels, but not necessarily consonants.
In contemporary English, just two words conclude with "-gry": "angry" and "hungry".
Among English words, only "bookkeeper" (and its related term "bookkeeping") stands as an unhyphenated example with three consecutive double letters. In contrast, words like 'sweet-toothed' necessitate hyphens for clarity.
"Triskaidekaphobia" is the fear of the number 13, while "paraskevidekatriaphobia" is the fear of Friday the 13th.
"S" starts more English words than any other letter.
Prepositions are forever followed by a noun, ensuring grammatical harmony.
"Uncopyrightable" wears the crown for the longest English word with no repeated letters.
A "pangram" is a sentence containing all 26 letters of the alphabet.
In the sentence, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," you can find all 26 letters of the alphabet. It's an ideal choice to evaluate a new font-face.
"Dreamt" is the sole English word that ends with the letter combination "-mt."
"Alphabet" traces its roots to Greece with "alpha" and "bēta", the first two letters of the Greek alphabet.
A term created by combining segments of existing words is referred to as a blend, such as "brunch" (breakfast + lunch) and "motel" (motorcar + hotel), are innovative word creations formed by merging existing words, fueling English's ever-evolving vocabulary.