English is endlessly fascinating, at least to me. So are the brains that master a zillion linguistic rules without knowing they exist. Consider these words or phrases (for today’s purposes, let’s not quibble the hyphens):
Chit-chat Clip-clop Click-clack Criss-cross Dilly-dally Ding-dong Knick-knack Flip-flop Mish-mash Hip-hop Pitter-patter Ping-pong Riff-raff Sing-song Wishy-washy Tick-tock Zig-zag Tip-top We learn in school about rhyme and alliteration, but who teaches about word pairs where only the vowel changes? The vowels must follow a particular sequence: i before a, or i before o. Can you think of any common such pairing in which the order is reversed? Small wonder learning or teaching English as a second language is so challenging. Here’s an entertaining read about how this vowel-order rule bumps up against another linguistic sequencing rule you may not have known you knew.
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AuthorI'm a historian who writes novels and literary nonfiction. My home base is Madison, Wisconsin. Archives
September 2023
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