Is English full of lonely words? | Linguistic tricks for learning words
Description
In this brilliantly nerdy episode, Christina and Dominic explore those English words that seem to stand all on their own, with no linguistic parents or children in sight. But wait—are they really that isolated? Discover unexpected word families and the hidden building blocks of language. Learn why “annual” sounds fancier than “yearly,” why mnemonics are your best friend, and how to decode big, scary words like “misinterpretation”.
Would you wear a ballgown or a costume to a “fancy dress” party?
Is “understand” really about standing under something?
What are the best tricks for learning vocabulary in a foreign language?
(Please post your favourite mnemonics in the comments!)
Dominic and Christina compare English and German words like “Handschuh” (hand-shoe = glove) and “Armbanduhr” (bracelet-clock = watch) and conclude that if you know where to look, words can reveal a whole hidden network of meaning.
Full episode transcript available here:
Read the complete book for free here:
Consociation and Dissociation: An Empirical Study of Word-Family Integration in English and German. By Christina Sanchez. www.doi.org/10.24053/9783823373841.
Mentioned in this episode:
“How anyone (including YOU) can read German” by RobWords (Rob Watts). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VebSZrHmsI4.
Remembering the Kanji by James W. Heisig. https://hep.ph.liv.ac.uk/~payne/sgfSigmaThing/James%20W.%20Heisig%20-%20Remembering%20Kanji%204%BA%20Edition%20-%20Vol%201.pdf.
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