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Think-thank-thunk: On the exceptions that prove the rules

Bailey, Laura R. (2021) Think-thank-thunk: On the exceptions that prove the rules. Review of: Highly irregular: Why tough, through and dough don’t rhyme – and other oddities of the English language by Okrent, Arika and O'Neill, Sean. Times Literary Supplement, (6180). pp. 24-25. ISSN 0307-661X. (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:93551)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided. (Contact us about this Publication)
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https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/highly-irregula...

Abstract

On the first day of my linguistics degree, I was struck by the revelation that language is a natural system whose behaviour we can understand and explain. Of particular interest are the exceptions that prove the rules. Yes, it is weird that we say drink–drank–drunk but not think–thank–thunk, but these quirks reveal hidden patterns: they’re relics of an older form of English, not oddities that can’t be explained.

Item Type: Review
Uncontrolled keywords: English, grammar, historical linguistics, linguistics, spelling, language change
Subjects: P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics
P Language and Literature > PE English philology and language
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of Culture and Languages
Depositing User: Laura Bailey
Date Deposited: 11 Mar 2022 10:06 UTC
Last Modified: 14 Mar 2022 11:38 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/93551 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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