Tag latin

The Origin Of Æ

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The letter Æ (lowercase æ), often called ash, has a long and fascinating history that connects ancient writing systems to modern European languages.

1. Origins in Ancient Alphabets

The story begins with the Greek alphabet. Greek had a letter called Ancient Greece diphthong αι (alpha + iota), which represented a sound similar to the “ai” in aisle (in early pronunciation).

When the alphabet spread westward, the Ancient Rome adapted parts of the Greek writing system into the Latin alphabet. In early Latin, the diphthong ae represented a sound like the “ai” in aisle as well.

2. From “AE” to a Single Letter

In classical Latin writing, A and E were written separately (ae). However, over time:

  • The pronunciation shifted from a diphthong (“ai”) to a simpler “e” sound.
  • Scribes began writing the two letters together as a ligature (a combined character).

This combined form became Æ, especially in medieval manuscripts.

Examples in Latin:

  • Caesar
  • aeternus
  • aer

In some later spellings, especially in English, the ligature was simplified to just e (e.g., medieval instead of mediæval).

3. Use in Old English

In England, during the Old English period (around 450–1100 CE), æ became a full letter of the alphabet, not just a stylistic combination.

It represented a distinct vowel sound — something like the “a” in cat.

Example:

  • dæġ (modern English: day)

Old English scribes borrowed the letter from Latin manuscripts and adapted it to represent a native sound.

4. Use in Modern Languages

Today, æ is still used as a distinct letter in several languages:

  • Iceland
  • Denmark
  • Norway

In these languages, it represents a vowel sound similar to the “a” in cat or a slightly broader front vowel.

5. Æ in Modern English

In modern English, æ is mostly stylistic or archaic. You may see it in older spellings like:

  • archæology
  • encyclopædia
  • mediæval

Today, these are usually written without the ligature (archaeology, encyclopedia, medieval).

Summary

The letter æ:

  • Originated from the Greek diphthong αι
  • Became ae in Latin
  • Fused into a ligature in medieval writing
  • Became a full letter in Old English
  • Survives today in Scandinavian and Icelandic alphabets

It’s a great example of how writing systems evolve over time — shaped by pronunciation changes, scribal habits, and cultural exchange.

Daily Duolingo Sessions

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My streak as of March 17, 2022

As of today, April 12th, I have completed a 567 day streak on Duolingo, and I have every intention of continuing my daily language practice on the user friendly app. I began this streak with Japanese and Spanish as my daily languages, and added Portuguese at the beginning of March because I want to have some familiarity with the language when I visit Portugal in May. Duolingo is an excellent app for brushing up on languages or even learning a new one, and Duolingo Plus is only $84 per year. For that price, you can practice as many languages as you’d like.

I have practiced a bunch of languages, besides the ones I mentioned previously, on Duolingo over the past several years (French, German, Hungarian, Latin, Italian, and Hawaiian), and I love the fact that I can jump back into practicing any of those languages if I’d like. Though I took French and Latin in high school, I am rusty in those languages, and I only know a small amount of Hungarian, German, Italian, and Hawaiian. It is important for me to polish my Spanish speaking and reading skills constantly, not only because I was immersed in it when I would visit my dad and his children from his second marriage, but also because I don’t want to lose the skills I learned from Spanish classes I took throughout grade school, high school and college. I also feel a responsibility to learn as much Japanese as I can, since I am half Japanese, took Japanese in college, and intend to visit Japan again in the future.

Duolingo truly is a fantastic way to learn any language which is in their system. I highly recommend it!

Use It Or Lose It: How I Forgot Foreign Languages

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foreign languagesI was a pretty ambitious kid and consequently managed to take Spanish, French, Latin, and Japanese during my school years. For those of you who are curious about how much exposure I had in school to each of these languages, they are as follows:

MANY years of Spanish (plus cultural exposure)
Two years of Latin
One year of French
One year of Japanese (plus cultural exposure due to my Japanese heritage)

I am so glad I took Latin in high school because it proved to be extremely helpful during medical school, but my decision to take French was primarily a way of filling up my senior class schedule. French was so easy for me that I got the the only A+ in the class. As for Spanish, I was so culturally and scholastically immersed that I approached fluency at a couple of different points. Finally, with Japanese, I wanted to have a more solid understanding of the language of my ancestors and wanted to honor my heritage.

As the years passed I found few opportunities to speak French, so I am now quite bad at it. I can read and understand about 25% of it but beyond that I am lost. I also went through a very similar experience with Japanese.

Spanish is an entirely different story because I keep finding myself in situations in which I could use my Spanish speaking and reading skills. Nevertheless, because I don’t speak it regularly, I am getting pretty rusty in my ability to converse in Spanish. Though I had learned and used medical Spanish out of pure necessity, I now rarely encounter Spanish speaking patients, so that skill is diminishing as well. What is perhaps most frustrating is when I am struggling too find the words in Spanish to say something I was so easily able to convey 10 years ago.

Like any skill, comprehension of a foreign language requires regular usage so that it is not lost. Looks like a trip to Costa Rica or Venezuela may be in order!