The other day I was in the classical department of a large CD store. I was looking to see what they had by Alban Berg. A large section is arranged by composer in alphabetical order. There was no Berg under the "B's", which I thought

When you say that /w/ does not behave as a vowel you are in a sense correct. It does not behave like a "full" vowel in that it can never form the nucleus of a syllable. However, although it does not behave like a vowel it is formed liked

Here's a conundrum for you: Latin as written in Roman times had no letter <w>, but it did have the sound /w/. The letter <u> was used to represent both the sound /u/ and the sound /w/. uolo (pronouced more or less as

Have a look at these opinions: http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/t50.html http://answergirlnet.blogspot.com/2007/07/can-you-give-example-of-use-of-w-as.html http://www.roanoke.com/columnists/jennings/wb/xp-4058

I am not sure I can say anything further without repeating myself. I think we should go back to the second post in this thread: The problem with any category is that once you have established it you will always find something that doesn't

It is unwise to rely on the etymology of a word to discern its meaning, or, if it has a range of meanings, to insist that the "original" meaning is somehow "more correct" . Words mean what they mean. In any discussion of the

Basque and Catalan were banned in Franco's Spain - that was oppressive. La Loi Toubon is ridiculous. As for the use of specified words I think it all has to do with context. There can never be an absolute ban - that would mean no one would be

Not only is there a limit to what the law can achieve, but there is a limit to what the law should set out to achieve. Many laws are about balancing rights, whether between individuals or groups. Care needs to be taken that well-intentioned laws

I ought perhaps to have said: " Anon's question, omitting (unlike sexual or ethnic discrimination) could have been posed 2000 years ago in Rome.

It has to do with notions of correctness associated with the standard language. It is my experience that the vast majority of people, even the highly educated, have no interest in language as a phenomenon and are unaware of the insights of