Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language

Welcome to the language section
of the Wikipedia reference desk.

skip to bottom

Select a section:

• Computing
• Entertainment
• Humanities
• Language
• Mathematics
• Science
• Miscellaneous
• Archives

Want a faster answer?

Main page: Help searching Wikipedia

   

How can I get my question answered?

• Select the section of the desk that best fits the general topic of your question (see the navigation column to the right).
• Post your question to only one section, providing a short header that gives the topic of your question.
• Type '~~~~' (that is, four tilde characters) at the end – this signs and dates your contribution so we know who wrote what and when.
• Don't post personal contact information – it will be removed. Any answers will be provided here.
• Please be as specific as possible, and include all relevant context – the usefulness of answers may depend on the context.
• Note:
  • We don't answer (and may remove) questions that require medical diagnosis or legal advice.
  • We don't answer requests for opinions, predictions or debate.
  • We don't do your homework for you, though we'll help you past the stuck point.
  • We don't conduct original research or provide a free source of ideas, but we'll help you find information you need.

Ready? Ask a new question!

How do I answer a question?

Main page: Wikipedia:Reference desk/Guidelines

• The best answers address the question directly, and back up facts with wikilinks and links to sources. Do not edit others' comments and do not give any medical or legal advice.

See also:

• Teahouse
• Help desk
• Village pump
• Help manual

November 20

Does the term "country" really include what like dependent territories?

Main page: Talk:Country § Does_the_term_"country"_really_include_what_like_dependent_territories?

SoAnnoyedToName (talk) 12:51, 20 November 2025 (UTC)

As usual with many words in the English language, "country" can mean several different things in different contexts, and may have definitions in specific legislative documents about specific situations that do not apply in other situations.

One must be clear about whether the word is being used in general English-language conversation, or in a specific instance regarding the legal status of a territory (with a small 't', not a 'Territory' officially so named, such as Australia's Northern Territory).

It would be perfectly normal for an English speaker in England to say "I live in the country" meaning the speaker lives in a rural area, on a farm or in a village, rather than in a town or city, for example.

Where the status of some distinct territory or area is concerned, everyday English can be quite inconsistent about what is commonly called "a country" and what is not, and from a legal viewpoint, different administrations and jurisdictions may have opposing views about a particular instance.

I understand that this can be confusing for non-native English speakers; it may sometimes confuse native speakers too – unfortunately that is the nature of the language and of a culture that (unlike, say, French) prefers not to control it rigidly with legislation.

[Feel free to copy-paste this response to the Talk page discussion.] {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2025-31359-08 (talk) 15:11, 20 November 2025 (UTC)

Map Men did a video on how many countries there are, which gets into the ambiguity of what "country" can actually mean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nB688xBYdY Iapetus (talk) 14:14, 1 December 2025 (UTC)

November 21

Difference between California English and New York English

What is the difference between California English and New York English? How could they be different each other? ~2025-35005-80 (talk) 21:41, 21 November 2025 (UTC)

Have you read the articles? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 08:27, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

They are different dialects of the same language. Speakers of each will understand each other, but pronounce some words differently, and sometimes use different words and expressions to mean the same thing. All languages spoken by large numbers of people have dialects, and English may possibly have more than any other language. I speak British English, but to a Brit, that isn't much of a definition. More specifically, I speak a non-rhotic southern England dialect somewhere between received pronunciation (or more accurately, the Standard Southern British English evolution of it) and the not-quite-cockney of late-20th-century western inner London (My actual dialect varies slightly between the two, intentionally or otherwise, depending on context. This isn't unusual). If I was a lot younger, my dialect would likely be at least influenced by the multicultural London English that has developed in recent decades, and is now spoken by large numbers of Londoners of all ethnic backgrounds.

Dialects evolve over time, and vary from place to place, as each generation learns them anew, adapts them to new circumstances, and encounters other dialects. If they change enough, different dialects may no longer be mutually intelligible, and thus become different languages. French and Spanish for example are both derived from Latin, but they are most definitely different languages (each with many different dialects). Given the tendency for language to change, and the rapidity of which this can sometimes occur, it thus isn't at all surprising that New Yorkers talk differently to Californians. AndyTheGrump (talk) 10:50, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

Ask both to pronounce the word "drawer". Report back with your findings. Viriditas (talk) 22:40, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

If you happen to be familiar with the animated series Bob's Burgers, compare Tina Belcher's schoolmate Tammy (California English, more or less) with Linda Belcher (New York English, more or less). Deor (talk) 23:08, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

Here is a recently dropped video about the claimed demise of New York City English.  ​‑‑Lambiam 22:09, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

November 22

Social media term coined

What year was social media as a term coined in and what is their earliest usage? ~2025-35678-79 (talk) 23:46, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

Merriam-Webster says "The first known use of social media was in 1994," but doesn't quote that use. Deor (talk) 00:23, 23 November 2025 (UTC)

OED's first usage is from the January 1994 number of Online magazine: "What attracted librarians to the Internet? For some cybernauts, USENET, IRC, and the other social media of the net are the hooks." Of course, that just means that's the first usage they're aware of. --Antiquary (talk) 09:40, 23 November 2025 (UTC)

I have found Habermas and the Dialectic of Reason by David Ingram in 1985. The relevant quote (referring, of course, to Jürgen Habermas) is: The analytical differentiation and quasi-transcendental grounding of cognitive interests, disciplines, spheres of action, and social media propounded in his Frankfurt inaugural address of 1965 thus marked a significant departure from the hermeneutically conceived unity of theory and practice evident in his earlier work.

So it goes back to 1985, or if you can find the lecture, to 1965. Given that I have no idea what any of that sentence means, I cannot begin to guess what he might have meant by "social media" either in 1965 or 1985. -- Verbarson  ^talk_edits 17:15, 23 November 2025 (UTC)

See Knowledge and Human Interests, Habermas's 1968 book developing on his 1965 inaugural address. The book does not appear to include the phrase "social media". DuncanHill (talk) 17:25, 23 November 2025 (UTC)

The 1929 book Personality and the social group contains a use of "social media".^[1] I don't think these early uses have the same basic meaning. Specifically, I think we see the plural of "social medium", in which "medium" means a context or means in which or by which processes take place, so together this would mean some social context. On the next page we find a use of singular "social medium".^[2] Habermas writes, for example, about "the medium of social labor and class struggle".^[3]  ​‑‑Lambiam 20:25, 23 November 2025 (UTC)

A search through Google groups brings this from 1991 although apparently here 'social media' includes things like clubs that need not to be on the internet, hence the usage of "electronic social media". ~2025-36454-43 (talk) 21:52, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

November 23

Period or Periodt?

What term is more suitable for the English language, Period or Periodt? ~2025-35811-87 (talk) 13:41, 23 November 2025 (UTC)

While period is a common English word, used as a noun, and adjective, and in North America also as an interjection, periodt is confined to being used as a slang interjection. The suitability of either depends on the context of the use.  ​‑‑Lambiam 17:04, 23 November 2025 (UTC)

If you'd be unsure, period would be the safest bet. (This is the first time I have heard about periodt. Or, I might have come across it, but assumed it was a simple typo.) 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 21:35, 23 November 2025 (UTC)

It's new to this American, too. —Tamfang (talk) 19:43, 24 November 2025 (UTC)

This American has never seen it in print. But I have heard it used. It derives from queer black culture. --User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 20:37, 24 November 2025 (UTC)

Any idea why? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:18, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

Explained at Wiktionary. Specialized usage of AAVE dialectal/ sociolectal trait. (Doesn't mention queer culture, though.) 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 11:56, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

Nor does it say why. Is Wiktionary based on user content, as Wikipedia is? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:19, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

It is a "collaborative project to produce a free-content multilingual dictionary", if that is what you mean... 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 17:22, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

Yes, a different way to say the same thing. "Costs nothing, and worth the price", to quote an old saying. 😁 ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:01, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

I wonder if this is just a unique way of emphasizing a letter, kind of like when Steve Higgins introduces the star of the Tonight Show as "Jimmy Fallon-uh". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:49, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

More like "okurrrr"instead of "okay"--User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 20:08, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

https://www.businessinsider.com/internet-slang-origin-i-oop-meaning-sksk-vsco-girls-stans-2020-1 --User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 20:12, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

The interjection was originally pronounced with an emphatically devoiced final /t/.^[4] You can also find it spelled as periot.^[5] There is something about its history here. The spelling periodt came after the spoken form.

In general, there is no known way to understand why one slang term catches on like a firestorm while others quickly fizzle out, just like one carelessly discarded cigarette butt may cause a wildfire while most cause no major harm. I guess it is a matter of landing in a receptive place, mostly by chance. There is also a Dutch Riot Grrrl punk band by the name Periot,^[6] which may be a coincidence or a conscious repurposing of the term.  ​‑‑Lambiam 22:01, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

In Dutch, final voiced consonants regularly get devoiced, though, so it might also be a take on that. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 00:40, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

And, of course, Periot ends on riot. I don't know how the Dutch band pronounce their name; like P-riot (/ˌpiˈɹaɪ.ət/)?  ​‑‑Lambiam 06:42, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

Only 40bus gets to ask why. —Tamfang (talk) 10:18, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

⟨dt⟩ is only found in German loans. Must be good old sensational spelling. Nardog (talk) 12:35, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

Maybe the coiner was extremely drunk. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 18:06, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

German loans? In standard German orthography, I think -dt is only found in old names and similar. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 00:31, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

For example in Bernhardt and Bertholdt.  ​‑‑Lambiam 12:34, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

German really isn't my language, but how about Stadt? --Antiquary (talk) 14:10, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

Stadt seems to be a very unique case as a noun where the part containing the -dt is not derived from an adjective. The main purpose here seems to be to distinguish Stadt = City from the old-fashioned Statt (= Location, Place, but besides physical location there also exists the figurative an seiner Statt = in his place, which might link to stat = instead of). According to [7], the distinction between Stadt and Stadt originated in the 16th century. Nowadays, Stätte is more commonly used than Statt, although even Stätte has a somewhat old-fashioned feel to it. -- ~2025-36771-01 (talk) 14:37, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

Aha! Our very own German orthography says "It is used in the word Stadt, in morpheme bounds (e.g. beredt, verwandt), and in some proper names." --Antiquary (talk) 14:22, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

Note that the use of "period" to describe a puctuation mark is not used in British English where the same mark is called a full stop. "Period" here describes a passage of time or colloquially, menstruation, giving rise to any number of schoolboy jokes. Alansplodge (talk) 23:04, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

"Period" is used that way in American English as well, but it's just one of many uses. For example, a given class time in school, as in, "there will be a quiz next period". Or as in the type of a magazine, which is a periodical. I wonder if Brits call it a "fullstopical". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:50, 28 November 2025 (UTC)

"Period" is also used for a lesson slot in the timetable in some British schools (or was when I was at school). {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2025-31359-08 (talk) 20:48, 1 December 2025 (UTC)

If it's for children, they tend to call it a "comic", whether it contains comics or not. One of my main British pet peeves. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 12:42, 28 November 2025 (UTC)

The "period" in the magazine type refers to a regular timing of publication rather than a punctuation mark. It's a known term here but sounds rather dated to me. Alansplodge (talk) 23:43, 28 November 2025 (UTC)

The American publication called Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature is apparently still in business. Unclear whether the UK has an equivalent. But the Reader's Guide was and is a great resource for finding sources. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:06, 29 November 2025 (UTC)

I do think its increasingly common for Brits (especially the younger generation) to use American English more, namely because they're exposed to American media more than their own. One factor is that the US has 5x the population of the UK. This is the reason why I feel like train station is more common than railway station (although Wikipedia articles on UK stations still use X railway station). Same goes with saying November 30 rather than 30 November (spoken as 'the 30th of November'), except that date formats are always dd/mm(/yyyy). And I don't really hear the word encyclopedia much to the point I feel like encyclopaedia is a mispelling to me. JuniperChill (talk) 15:44, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

How do you mean, "hear the word encyclopedia? I thought the difference between encyclopedia and encyclopaedia was mainly orthographical. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 16:32, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

I meant to say "see the word encyclopedia". In any case, the Wikipedia article encyclopedia says Following Noah Webster's spelling reform, the spelling of the word varies between encyclopedia in American English, [and] encyclopaedia in British English (although the spelling encyclopedia is increasingly gaining acceptance) which likely explains why I've always used the American spelling as a Bruit. JuniperChill (talk) 17:55, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

November 26

English semivowels

Does English have any words which have two semivowels on both sides of a vowel, such as a made-up words wawe, which would be pronounced [weɪw] and yaye, which would be pronounced [jeɪ̯j]? --40bus (talk) 22:15, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

Wow. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:13, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

Not really; the second W doesn't contribute a semivowel sound. "Wawa" works, but it's a proper name (a place name, a business name, etc.), not really an English word. --~2025-36752-20 (talk) 10:34, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

In that case, Wowee! ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:48, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

Isn't the second ⟨w⟩ in Wawa a plain /w/, like it is in stowaway (/ˈstəʊəˌweɪ/)? I think it is the other way around: the first ⟨w⟩ in wow is not a semivowel. But dayowl (seen here) should work. So would windowowl, should these critters become common enough to warrant their receiving a univerbated moniker.  ​‑‑Lambiam 12:19, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

Lambiam, [w] is a semivowel. --Trovatore (talk) 05:22, 2 December 2025 (UTC)

Possibly yo-yo, unless that's considered bisyllabic. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 12:51, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

They're both non-syllabic vocoids, aka semivowels aka glides aka (subset of) approximants. English phonotactics prohibits them from occurring in coda except as the second components of diphthongs. Nardog (talk) 07:45, 28 November 2025 (UTC)

Isn't it ironic that linguisticians often use terminology that is incomprehensible to the great unwashed, the mere users and principal creators of the language? -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 21:22, 1 December 2025 (UTC)

No more so than that entomologists use big words for insects. runs away --Trovatore (talk) 21:27, 1 December 2025 (UTC)

November 27

The scripts used by people with the Ottoman nationality when writing Ottoman Turkish

I've a question: if an Ottoman Armenian Catholic wanted to wrote Turkish to a Turkish Muslim, then which script would he use? As Armenians (excl. Muslims) wrote Turkish using the Armenian script, and Muslims would no doubt used Arabo-Persian script. RekishiEJ (talk) 09:53, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

Unless the sender knew the recipient to be able to read texts written using the Armenian alphabet, both courtesy and common sense strongly suggest they would have used a script that was more readily accessible to the recipient, in this hypothetical case presumably the Ottoman Turkish version of the Arabo-Persian script. Even if (not unlikely) the recipient was illiterate, they should have had little difficulty in finding someone who could read it to them. And, if the sender had not mastered the Ottoman Turkish alphabet (also not unlikely), they would have dictated the letter to a kâtip (scribe). BTW, having "Ottoman nationality" sounds anachronistic; your hypothetical correspondents are more plausibly referred to as having been "Ottoman subjects".  ​‑‑Lambiam 11:41, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

Thanks, but due to the Tanzimat Ottoman nationality law was enacted in 1869, so my hypothetical correspondent isn't anachronistic.--RekishiEJ (talk) 12:19, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

By the way, some Ottoman Muslims were able to read Armeno-Turkish, see [8]. It shows that some Ottoman Muslims read Armeno-Turkish materials (e.g. Ahmet İhsan Tokgöz, a Muslim journalist and bureaucrat read Manzume-i Efkar (a newspaper using Armeno-Turkish) during his school days).--RekishiEJ (talk) 12:19, 27 November 2025 (UTC) altered a bit 13:10, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

November 28

"Asian" combining form?

Is there any attestation of a combining prefix for Asia (Asio-? Aso-?) on the pattern of Euro-, Afro-, Indo- or Sino-? The coining of terms like "Asia-Pacific" seems to suggest a consensus rejection of such a thing, and Google turns up basically nothing. Still, though, it seems odd that we lack one. ~2025-31275-58 (talk) 17:08, 28 November 2025 (UTC)

Checked as many Wikipedia articles as I could to find expected prefixes. I can't guarantee that in all of these cases the Asia in question is Asia, but I've tried my best to separate out the ones that aren't (e.g. Asiabadus named after Asiabad, and Asio which is named after the Latin asiō for horned owls.) Unsurprisingly, Asia- frequently shows up, prevalently in biological names:

1. Asiablatta kyotensis

2. Asiaceratops

3. Asiadapinae (and associated Asiadapis)

4. Asiadodis

5. Asiaephorus

6. Asiafroneta

7. Asiagomphus

8. Asiagone

9. Asiahesperornis

10. Asianellus

11. Asianopis

12. Asiapator

13. Asiapistosia

14. Asiarcha

15. Asiascape

16. Asiatella

17. Asiatherium

18. Asiatyrannus

19. Asiavorator

I'm seeing Asio- being apparently used predominantly in biological names, notably:

1. Asiodiplatys

2. Asiohahnia

3. Asiolasma

4. Asiomys

5. Asiophantes

6. Asiophlugis

7. Asiopsocidae (and associated Asiopsocus)

8. Asioryctitheria

9. Asiorrhina

10. Asiosarcophila

11. Asiosphegina

12. Asiotmethis

There are some instances which as far as I can tell use Asiato- specifically

1. Asiatoceratodus

2. Asiatolida

3. Asiatosaurus

4. Asiatosuchus

Also, one instance of Asian:

1. Asianthrips

The only instance of a non-biological word which isn't a proper noun (e.g. discounting Asiagate and Asialink) is Asiacentrism. I couldn't find any other prefixes (Asi-, Asie-, Asii-, or Asiu-.) GalacticShoe (talk) 18:30, 28 November 2025 (UTC)

Wiktionary also has Asiaphilia and Asiaphobia. GalacticShoe (talk) 02:00, 29 November 2025 (UTC)

The reluctance to using Asio- as a prefix may be dubbed Asiophoby.  ​‑‑Lambiam 15:27, 29 November 2025 (UTC)

The criminal and terrorist element in Australia are Asiophobes. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:05, 29 November 2025 (UTC)

November 30

Words created in 2000s

What are the words created in 2000s compared to 1990s? ~2025-37397-24 (talk) 11:40, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

Category:Neologisms by decade has lists of them. -- Verbarson  ^talk_edits 18:29, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

V instead of U

Looking at the [Edinburgh Council logo], the cities name is stylised as Edinbvrgh (emphasis added). Is it because of the fact that the letter U came from the letter V, or because of the typeface? Maybe its the reason why Ravenpuff's signature on Wikipedia is stylised that way? Are there any logos presented that way? JuniperChill (talk) 16:01, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

@JuniperChill: Likely a typographical affectation. See the last paragraph of U § History. Bazza 7 (talk) 16:12, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

According to https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/councilbrand, The design was inspired by text found on buildings around Edinburgh's Old Town. TSventon (talk) 16:20, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

Thank you both. I didn't think the council would provide the reasons why their logo is stylised that way, but I'm guessing is because of the fact people have asked about why the logo is different to the spelling. JuniperChill (talk) 16:48, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

That is part of the reason, but logos are chosen to promote as well as identify their owners and Edinburgh Council probably want people to talk about the historic buildings in the Old Town. TSventon (talk) 18:10, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

Note that it's all upper case. That's the classic style for upper case. There's a blurb or two in mixed case also, and it uses the normal "u". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:02, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

It looks like a Celtic style to me. Classical writing didn't really have lower case. It evolved as a kind of cursive writing, until the different cases started to be used for different functions. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 21:04, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

I'm thinking of old buildings with all-caps carvings, such as "PVBLIC LIBRARY". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:10, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

I'm thinking of Asterix and Obelix in The Chieftain's Shield when they visit CIRCVMBENDIBVS WHEELS. ~2025-37690-73 (talk) 12:42, 1 December 2025 (UTC)

"Largely" historically correct, as a conscious distinction between U and V didn't happen until about 1500 years later. (I guess it should have been "VVHEELS", as well, but details...) 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 16:32, 1 December 2025 (UTC)

Considering that other languages call the letter W 'double V' and in German, its pronounced [v]. And the letter W is not apart of the Italian alphabet. JuniperChill (talk) 16:38, 1 December 2025 (UTC)

The font is eclectic; while the is uncial, the other letters (particularly the D and H) are not. The DINBVRGH part is more like a freestyle form of the classic Roman square capitals as found on Trajan's column; note the irregular heights and slants. While the majuscules of several typefaces have a Trajan-inspired freestyle form, I think these in the logo are not from any paricular identifiable typeface, but that the lettering was done by the logo's designer specifically for this one logo.  ​‑‑Lambiam 14:43, 1 December 2025 (UTC)

Edinburgh Council's Brand guidelines lists only Meta, Arial and Verdana as typefaces to be used. The 'EDINBVRGH' lettering is only used for the city name, and only in specific configurations - no other text uses it. -- Verbarson  ^talk_edits 14:36, 2 December 2025 (UTC)