So when did we lose "might" as the past tense of "may"?

> If it hadn't rained, they might never have met.

> If it hadn't rained, they may never have met.

Only the first construction sounds correct to my ear, but I rarely read anything but the second these days. Is this a #BritishEnglish vs. #AmericanEnglish distinction? Is it just the language marching on and leaving me behind?

#English #grammar #language #lingusitics #usage

I have a short audio file, and I'm trying to write down the IPA (photetic alphabet) of it for future reference. 😅

#lingusitics

Finally, a place where it's safe for me to declare appositives are just elided relative clauses that have been codified into formal language 😤 pass it on, cowards. #copyediting #lingusitics #ComeAtMe

Finally, a place where it's safe for me to declare appositives are just elliptical relative clauses. pass it on. #copyediting #lingusitics #ComeAtMe

Let's start off with a language post: calquing the word mastodon "breast-tooth" into #Slovene would yield prsozob [ˌpərsɔ'zob̥] (the actual word is just mastodon(t), though, so that's no fun).

#lingusitics #language

Linguist discusses the most beautiful sounding baby names, apparently....

"When it comes to the boys names, presenter Sarah McInerney becomes sceptical of the study, pointing out that Zayn is likely the post popular name for boys because of a certain pop star rather than how beautiful it sounds."

Suitably sceptical I'd say!

#aesthetics #lingusitics #zayn

https://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/living/2022/1106/1333536-linguist-des-ryan-on-the-most-beautiful-sounding-baby-names/