Words for “mother” begin with the letter M in many languages, but not all of them. The reason has to do with the physiology of infant vocalization. Among the first sounds babies make are bilabial sounds with an open vowel, the lips...
What’s the difference between hand grenades and pomegranates? Not much when you think about their shape and the fact that they’re both packed tightly with small things, which is why both share a linguistic root with the word granular...
A listener in Dallas, Texas, asks about frenetic, a word he heard from a business-school professor, and how it differs from frantic. Both adjectives trace back to a Greek root meaning “brain” or “mind,” also found in words such as frenzy and...
A caller wonders if the Spanish and Arabic articles el and al spring from the same linguistic root. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Spanish and Arabic Article Roots” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, how are you...