tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post6682813781135462102..comments2024-03-28T14:19:53.973+00:00Comments on Fr Hunwicke's Mutual Enrichment: Politticians? Flowers?Fr John Hunwickehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17766211573399409633noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-33599236589187547792016-06-08T13:45:36.269+01:002016-06-08T13:45:36.269+01:00I should add that ablaut shift remains a relativel...I should add that ablaut shift remains a relatively prominent feature of English in its "irregular" verbs--which are actually "strong" verbs. The Great Vowel Shift put paid to the semi-regularity of the strong verb system, so now we call them irregular. Here's an amusing page for those with perhaps more time on their hands than they should have: <a href="http://mark wauckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12847411975641738898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-16856214927314171602016-06-08T13:33:14.145+01:002016-06-08T13:33:14.145+01:00The common Online dictionaries are far from infall...The common Online dictionaries are far from infallible, however they can be major time savers. This one is based on Collins, btw:<br /><br /><a href="http://dictionary.reverso.net/italian-english/polittico" rel="nofollow">polittico</a>.<br /><br />@ Alan: English still has a few vowel change noun plural survivals from its Germanic past:<br /><br />man men<br />foot feet<br />goose geese<br /mark wauckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12847411975641738898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-92042070642413096302016-06-08T11:18:30.588+01:002016-06-08T11:18:30.588+01:00No, not in my Oxford Italian Dictionary either, Fa...No, not in my Oxford Italian Dictionary either, Father. Strange, as the term crops up so often in conversation…<br /><br />But an understandable confusion, nevertheless, given that politicians tend to be ‘multi-faceted’ as a rule.<br />GORhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14313101159848740722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-9371434360111229362016-06-08T10:56:39.343+01:002016-06-08T10:56:39.343+01:00Fairly common in Italian, Father, and indeed in mo...Fairly common in Italian, Father, and indeed in most languages. This is effort avoidance, as the tongue skives off leaping all round the mouth. Italian tends to simplify complex consonantal groups - cf for example insetto/insect, espresso/express, Massimo/Maximus, straordinario/extraordinary. Guy Deutscher also identifies the same reason for the xhange of vowel in German plurals, indicated in Alanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16365402242052425654noreply@blogger.com