Dominic Watt
@domwatt.bsky.social
Senior Forensic Consultant, J P French International / Honorary Professor of Linguistics, University of York, UK. Now based in Berlin. Rides bikes and runs a bit.
Merriam-Webster says this:
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/z...
Initial and final /ʒ/ are OK in loans like 'genre' and 'rouge', so the oddness is more to do with the spelling than the phonotactics. One of those words that's a cinch to pronounce but hard to know how to spell (like 'cinch').
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/z...
Initial and final /ʒ/ are OK in loans like 'genre' and 'rouge', so the oddness is more to do with the spelling than the phonotactics. One of those words that's a cinch to pronounce but hard to know how to spell (like 'cinch').
Definition of ZHUZH
a small improvement, adjustment, or addition that completes the overall look, taste, etc. of something… See the full definition
www.merriam-webster.com
December 20, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Merriam-Webster says this:
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/z...
Initial and final /ʒ/ are OK in loans like 'genre' and 'rouge', so the oddness is more to do with the spelling than the phonotactics. One of those words that's a cinch to pronounce but hard to know how to spell (like 'cinch').
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/z...
Initial and final /ʒ/ are OK in loans like 'genre' and 'rouge', so the oddness is more to do with the spelling than the phonotactics. One of those words that's a cinch to pronounce but hard to know how to spell (like 'cinch').
No, it was put in the spelling by someone who thought the Gaelic name of the bird, tàrmachan, was Greek in origin. Gaelic, like English, doesn't allow /pt/-initial words (in the pronunciation; Gaelic spelling is renowned for using ink very liberally).
www.etymonline.com/word/ptarmigan
www.etymonline.com/word/ptarmigan
Ptarmigan - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
"wing"). See origin and meaning of ptarmigan.
www.etymonline.com
December 7, 2025 at 3:02 PM
No, it was put in the spelling by someone who thought the Gaelic name of the bird, tàrmachan, was Greek in origin. Gaelic, like English, doesn't allow /pt/-initial words (in the pronunciation; Gaelic spelling is renowned for using ink very liberally).
www.etymonline.com/word/ptarmigan
www.etymonline.com/word/ptarmigan
A red grouse (Lagopus scotica) I encountered in the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh last summer, demonstrating its very human-like alarm call. He seemed extremely cross that I'd had the audacity to ride my mountain bike across his patch and chased me along the trail for quite some distance.
December 7, 2025 at 2:25 PM
A red grouse (Lagopus scotica) I encountered in the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh last summer, demonstrating its very human-like alarm call. He seemed extremely cross that I'd had the audacity to ride my mountain bike across his patch and chased me along the trail for quite some distance.
There are thousands to choose from - Assynt, Caithness, or the Isle of Lewis are particularly watery. More than one loch is a 'Lake'. There's even a Lake Superior, though it's ever so slightly smaller than its more famous North American counterpart!
scotlandsnature.wordpress.com/2021/03/22/h...
scotlandsnature.wordpress.com/2021/03/22/h...
How many lakes are there in Scotland?
A trick question perhaps?! On World Water Day, our freshwater advisory officer Ewan Lawrie takes a closer look at the answer. Dubh lochans on the blanket bog at Forsinard Flows National Nature Rese…
scotlandsnature.wordpress.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:28 AM
There are thousands to choose from - Assynt, Caithness, or the Isle of Lewis are particularly watery. More than one loch is a 'Lake'. There's even a Lake Superior, though it's ever so slightly smaller than its more famous North American counterpart!
scotlandsnature.wordpress.com/2021/03/22/h...
scotlandsnature.wordpress.com/2021/03/22/h...
Thank you for your work! I regularly ride my bike up/down Donkey Lane to the Heriot-Watt campus and am very grateful for your efforts to keep the area as clean and tidy as possible. If only my fellow citizens would take their rubbish home, or just use bins. (Looking at you, Currie dog walkers!).
November 7, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Thank you for your work! I regularly ride my bike up/down Donkey Lane to the Heriot-Watt campus and am very grateful for your efforts to keep the area as clean and tidy as possible. If only my fellow citizens would take their rubbish home, or just use bins. (Looking at you, Currie dog walkers!).
To me, the Scots pronunciation [ˈpɔlɪs] (rhymes with 'Hollis', 'solace', 'Wallace') doesn't encode animus towards law enforcement. Nevertheless, failing to adjust vernacular pronunciations like these is seen by some people as inappropriately casual, even disrespectful, in a courtroom scenario.
November 7, 2025 at 9:47 AM
To me, the Scots pronunciation [ˈpɔlɪs] (rhymes with 'Hollis', 'solace', 'Wallace') doesn't encode animus towards law enforcement. Nevertheless, failing to adjust vernacular pronunciations like these is seen by some people as inappropriately casual, even disrespectful, in a courtroom scenario.
If you're Scottish, the central [a] vowel you use in 'Mam'/'Danny' is close(ish) to the back [ɑ] vowel many US English speakers have in 'Mom' and 'Donny'.
They also tend to use [ɑ] in foreign-origin words like 'pasta', 'plaza', or 'Mamdani', in favour of the front [æ] of their 'Mam' and 'Danny'.
They also tend to use [ɑ] in foreign-origin words like 'pasta', 'plaza', or 'Mamdani', in favour of the front [æ] of their 'Mam' and 'Danny'.
November 7, 2025 at 1:35 AM
If you're Scottish, the central [a] vowel you use in 'Mam'/'Danny' is close(ish) to the back [ɑ] vowel many US English speakers have in 'Mom' and 'Donny'.
They also tend to use [ɑ] in foreign-origin words like 'pasta', 'plaza', or 'Mamdani', in favour of the front [æ] of their 'Mam' and 'Danny'.
They also tend to use [ɑ] in foreign-origin words like 'pasta', 'plaza', or 'Mamdani', in favour of the front [æ] of their 'Mam' and 'Danny'.
If you like the Bewick's you'll also like the Whooper Swan, which looks very similar, but is bigger, and with even more yellow on its bill. You might need to head further north to see them, though.
birdfact.com/birds/whoope...
birdfact.com/birds/whoope...
birdfact.com
November 2, 2025 at 7:59 AM
If you like the Bewick's you'll also like the Whooper Swan, which looks very similar, but is bigger, and with even more yellow on its bill. You might need to head further north to see them, though.
birdfact.com/birds/whoope...
birdfact.com/birds/whoope...
How about place names like 'Camden' or 'Trimdon'?
The <p> in the spelling of 'Hampden' (the Glasgow stadium) tends not to be pronounced, making 'Hampden' a perfect rhyme with 'Camden'.
No English speaker is likely to say that the name 'Emden' (the German city) is hard to pronounce, either.
The <p> in the spelling of 'Hampden' (the Glasgow stadium) tends not to be pronounced, making 'Hampden' a perfect rhyme with 'Camden'.
No English speaker is likely to say that the name 'Emden' (the German city) is hard to pronounce, either.
November 1, 2025 at 3:30 PM
How about place names like 'Camden' or 'Trimdon'?
The <p> in the spelling of 'Hampden' (the Glasgow stadium) tends not to be pronounced, making 'Hampden' a perfect rhyme with 'Camden'.
No English speaker is likely to say that the name 'Emden' (the German city) is hard to pronounce, either.
The <p> in the spelling of 'Hampden' (the Glasgow stadium) tends not to be pronounced, making 'Hampden' a perfect rhyme with 'Camden'.
No English speaker is likely to say that the name 'Emden' (the German city) is hard to pronounce, either.
Well... possibly. The online Oxford English Dictionary says the following, but it's accompanied by a long set of notes which suggest that the the great auk might originally have been named after a place, i.e. a white headland or island. Great auks themselves didn't have white heads.
October 31, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Well... possibly. The online Oxford English Dictionary says the following, but it's accompanied by a long set of notes which suggest that the the great auk might originally have been named after a place, i.e. a white headland or island. Great auks themselves didn't have white heads.
OK, thanks. In that case I'm a speaker of a variety (Standard Scottish English) that distinguishes FORCE and NORTH with some degree of consistency, depending on the age of the speaker. I worry that asking me to list lexemes that belong in either set is likely to open an unhelpful can of worms!
October 27, 2025 at 9:23 PM
OK, thanks. In that case I'm a speaker of a variety (Standard Scottish English) that distinguishes FORCE and NORTH with some degree of consistency, depending on the age of the speaker. I worry that asking me to list lexemes that belong in either set is likely to open an unhelpful can of worms!
Thank you! I'll head up there tomorrow to take a look at your handiwork 🙏
October 27, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Thank you! I'll head up there tomorrow to take a look at your handiwork 🙏
Joey, at the end of your guide you say "If you are a native speaker of a variety that maintains a distinction between NORTH or CLOTH..." - does that mean between NORTH and FORCE/THOUGHT and/or between CLOTH and FORCE/THOUGHT(/NORTH)? I thought I'd better clarify.
Wells (1982) is now 43 years old 😬
Wells (1982) is now 43 years old 😬
October 27, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Joey, at the end of your guide you say "If you are a native speaker of a variety that maintains a distinction between NORTH or CLOTH..." - does that mean between NORTH and FORCE/THOUGHT and/or between CLOTH and FORCE/THOUGHT(/NORTH)? I thought I'd better clarify.
Wells (1982) is now 43 years old 😬
Wells (1982) is now 43 years old 😬
The trend is towards greater uniformity, as dialect levelling and diffusion of new forms from centres of sociolinguistic gravity (esp. London) conspire to reduce the distinctions between varieties. If the dialect map of Britain were a jigsaw puzzle, the pieces would appear to get bigger over time.
October 26, 2025 at 6:28 PM
The trend is towards greater uniformity, as dialect levelling and diffusion of new forms from centres of sociolinguistic gravity (esp. London) conspire to reduce the distinctions between varieties. If the dialect map of Britain were a jigsaw puzzle, the pieces would appear to get bigger over time.
That's right, of course, depending on what you mean by 'too fast'.
But I'm sure you'd agree that the real threat to the safety, health and convenience of all road users isn't cyclists, even if some of them - us - do ride like idiots.
But I'm sure you'd agree that the real threat to the safety, health and convenience of all road users isn't cyclists, even if some of them - us - do ride like idiots.
October 24, 2025 at 3:34 PM
That's right, of course, depending on what you mean by 'too fast'.
But I'm sure you'd agree that the real threat to the safety, health and convenience of all road users isn't cyclists, even if some of them - us - do ride like idiots.
But I'm sure you'd agree that the real threat to the safety, health and convenience of all road users isn't cyclists, even if some of them - us - do ride like idiots.
It's lucky that car owners aren't at all interested in trying to outdo each other in spec or speed, or the streets could get quite dangerous.
October 24, 2025 at 12:44 PM
It's lucky that car owners aren't at all interested in trying to outdo each other in spec or speed, or the streets could get quite dangerous.
Lycra is a very practical thing to wear if you have a longer commute. Perhaps these lucky Danes don't have to go far to get where they're going. (What's wrong with Lycra anyway? And dropped handlebars?).
October 23, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Lycra is a very practical thing to wear if you have a longer commute. Perhaps these lucky Danes don't have to go far to get where they're going. (What's wrong with Lycra anyway? And dropped handlebars?).
That's true.
I think in the present case it's important to be clear that a cluster that is being portrayed as somehow 'difficult' or 'unfamiliar' because it occurs in an 'exotic' name is neither difficult nor unfamiliar to English speakers. Why is "Mamdani" hard but, say, "dumb Donnie" isn't? 😉
I think in the present case it's important to be clear that a cluster that is being portrayed as somehow 'difficult' or 'unfamiliar' because it occurs in an 'exotic' name is neither difficult nor unfamiliar to English speakers. Why is "Mamdani" hard but, say, "dumb Donnie" isn't? 😉
October 23, 2025 at 1:24 PM
That's true.
I think in the present case it's important to be clear that a cluster that is being portrayed as somehow 'difficult' or 'unfamiliar' because it occurs in an 'exotic' name is neither difficult nor unfamiliar to English speakers. Why is "Mamdani" hard but, say, "dumb Donnie" isn't? 😉
I think in the present case it's important to be clear that a cluster that is being portrayed as somehow 'difficult' or 'unfamiliar' because it occurs in an 'exotic' name is neither difficult nor unfamiliar to English speakers. Why is "Mamdani" hard but, say, "dumb Donnie" isn't? 😉
If all /md/ sequences have a morpheme or word boundary in the middle, then none should be harder than any other. And since the tongue isn't used for /m/, the articulatory naturalness of [nd] vs. [md] is moot. English contrasts pairs like 'scanned'~'scammed', so /md/ is clearly perceptually OK too.
October 23, 2025 at 7:52 AM
If all /md/ sequences have a morpheme or word boundary in the middle, then none should be harder than any other. And since the tongue isn't used for /m/, the articulatory naturalness of [nd] vs. [md] is moot. English contrasts pairs like 'scanned'~'scammed', so /md/ is clearly perceptually OK too.
Monosyllabic words that end with /md/ are common in English, so I don't think it's true to say that English speakers aren't accustomed to producing the sequence, even if they might say they find it 'hard'. Are seemed, slimmed, claimed, stemmed, jammed, armed, bombed, roamed, or zoomed 'hard' words?
October 22, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Monosyllabic words that end with /md/ are common in English, so I don't think it's true to say that English speakers aren't accustomed to producing the sequence, even if they might say they find it 'hard'. Are seemed, slimmed, claimed, stemmed, jammed, armed, bombed, roamed, or zoomed 'hard' words?
I don't suppose anyone who claims it's hard to say /md/ in the name 'Mamdani' would say that the same sequence in, for example, 'someday' or 'Camden' is difficult, but I take the point.
(You don't use your tongue to make an /m/ sound, for what it's worth, but again I take the point).
(You don't use your tongue to make an /m/ sound, for what it's worth, but again I take the point).
October 22, 2025 at 9:15 PM
I don't suppose anyone who claims it's hard to say /md/ in the name 'Mamdani' would say that the same sequence in, for example, 'someday' or 'Camden' is difficult, but I take the point.
(You don't use your tongue to make an /m/ sound, for what it's worth, but again I take the point).
(You don't use your tongue to make an /m/ sound, for what it's worth, but again I take the point).