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I am sure many of you will have read Mother Tongue: The Story of the English Language by Bill Bryson which looks at the evolution of the English Language.
It is quite an erudite book, but is also hilarious as he makes it fun and entertaining, an easy read but truly fascinating if you like to find out about the development and vagaries of the English language, full of such useless but fascinating information as this:
More than 8,000 synonyms contrasted for exact meanings and proper usage; 3,000 Antonyms; Directions for Correct Use of Prepositions
originally posted by: paraphi
The English language is just so rich.
To the OP - Window (noun)
c. 1200, literally "wind eye," from Old Norse vindauga, from vindr "wind" (see wind (n.1)) + auga "eye" (see eye (n.)). Replaced Old English eagþyrl, literally "eye-hole," and eagduru, literally "eye-door."
Etymology selector
I would recommend a book - "The Story of English in 100 Words", by David Crystal. Really fascinating stuff.
originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
and a foundation in Latin makes a huge difference, too.
[W]hen we listen to our native language, word "segmentation" is an effortless process. What are, linguists wonder, the automatic cognitive mechanisms underlying this skill? Clearly, knowledge of the vocabulary helps: memory of the sound of the single words helps us to pick them out. However, many linguists argue, there are also automatic, subconscious "low-level" mechanisms that help us even when we do not recognise the words or when, as in the case of very young children, our knowledge of the language is still only rudimentary. These mechanisms, they think, rely on the statistical analysis of the frequency (estimated based on past experience) of the syllables in each language.
originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
Here's a word that baffles many:
Calumnious
I see "calumny" from time to time, but I borrowed one of Shakespeare's phrases for the title of my novel.
Calumnious Strokes (gossipy lies)
(Shakespeare - Hamlet)