Our English language continues to fascinate me, as well it should, because I really know so little about it. But what I do know, and continue to learn, makes me realize why immigrants learning our language have such difficulty.
Here are two categories of linguistic nuances that have recently caught my attention:
The same pronunciation but with vastly different meanings with different spellings.
This category could really get you into trouble.
Route and root.
Route and rout. (This one could make or break a conversation!)
Hostile and hostel. (These are polar opposites in intention. One is a place of welcome and the other would be a place totally without welcome.)
Another one of my favorite nuance categories is the same word with different meanings depending on what syllable we place our verbal emphasis.
Today's word is combine.
If I combine two fields of soy beans, I will have double the harvest yield. (Here I've said nothing about the actual harvesting of the soy beans. I'm simply speaking about adding two fields together, whether actual or in my head.)
If I combine the two fields of soy beans this means that I am speaking about the actual harvesting of the soy beans and my yield will be set once the action is complete. There is no future approximation of what I my yield will be.
Capice?
That's enough thinking for today. I gave myself a headache.
Ancora imparo
