The letter 'å' (typed using Alt+0229) is perhaps one of the most recognisable letters in the languages of Scandinavia, as you may have recalled the last time you went strolling about in an Ikea store. It is even the entire name of certain places in Norway and Sweden. So too does it represent a unit … Continue reading Putting a ring on it — The å’s diacritic
vowel
Why does the Hawaiian language have so few sounds?
The Hawaiian alphabet is short. In comparison with the English set of 26 letters, Hawaiian has only 13. 5 vowels, 7 consonants, and the 'okina, written as '. There is the macron used to mark long vowels in the Hawaiian language, but these vowels carrying macrons are not considered separate letters. With such a short … Continue reading Why does the Hawaiian language have so few sounds?
A look back at Wordle
In January 2022, a game took the Internet by storm. In a burst of popularity, millions have taken to solve daily challenges, with a simple objective -- to guess the five letter word of the day within six guesses. Although originally released in English, this game has since been released in other languages, but ultimately … Continue reading A look back at Wordle
Trying to understand a Mongolian phonology rule
When I first set out to learn Mongolian, I expected the sound system and alphabets to be more straightforward than some other languages like say, Tibetan. With this, came this expectation of sort of a one-to-one relationship between letter and sound. However, in reality, I realised some letters were not quite pronounced the way I … Continue reading Trying to understand a Mongolian phonology rule
The Language Closet 