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John McWhorter
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Porgy and Bess at the Metropolitan Opera House
Only, lonely, alone and even atone all derive from the number one, which, by the way, wasn’t always pronounced as if it began with the letter w. John explains.
There's a degree of interchangeability between "o/oo/ou/u" and "w/v". You can see that in Hebrew and other Semitic languages with the slipperiness of the vav (ו), in Hebrew with the vowel marking above, below, or missing. (In ancient Hebrew, vav was probably pronounced close to "w," exactly like modern Arabic. In Yemenite Hebrew, vav still is sometimes pronounced "w," an obvious clue.)
You can see that in the Germanic word for "west" in Romance languages. In Spanish, it ended up as "oeste." Say it fast, and you get "west-ay." Similarly in French: "ouest."
A fascinating ancient example is the word "oasis," the Greek form of an Egyptian (Coptic) word, "wahe." From "wah-he" to "wah-sys" to how we (mis)pronounce it in English, "oh-ay-sys."
One Is the Loneliest Number
Didn't understand the part about the "boy's carrots." I assume that I wasn't hearing it right.
There's a degree of interchangeability between "o/oo/ou/u" and "w/v". You can see that in Hebrew and other Semitic languages with the slipperiness of the vav (ו), in Hebrew with the vowel marking above, below, or missing. (In ancient Hebrew, vav was probably pronounced close to "w," exactly like modern Arabic. In Yemenite Hebrew, vav still is sometimes pronounced "w," an obvious clue.)
You can see that in the Germanic word for "west" in Romance languages. In Spanish, it ended up as "oeste." Say it fast, and you get "west-ay." Similarly in French: "ouest."
A fascinating ancient example is the word "oasis," the Greek form of an Egyptian (Coptic) word, "wahe." From "wah-he" to "wah-sys" to how we (mis)pronounce it in English, "oh-ay-sys."