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What is the (subjectively) weirdest word in the English language?
(lemmy.blahaj.zone)
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this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2024
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it breaks so many linguistic rules yet feels just fine to say
What linguistic rules does it break? 🤨
I assume it's about the apparently enormous consonant cluster at the ends, which is very rare in English. We have consonant clusters, yes, but not usually with five at once. Although it's actually only three, since "ng" and "th" are one consonant sound each, we just write them with two letters
it's very rare in any language, complexity at the start is not uncommon, but complexity at the end is, also the ordering of the consonant types and the fact there's two fricatives in a row at the end, it's not just a word that not only has no place existing, but also one that should be so unstable it'd change to something less complex in decades at most, yet it's stayed pretty consistent for a while
It's also actually 4 consonants as there's an unwritten k in many accents, or ng is pronounced as ŋg in others, so stɹɛŋ(k|g|∅)θs
I’d like to hear someone pronounce it as [stɹɛŋgθs] without choking.
It's pretty common in Northern English and I think maybe also Australian:
https://www.journal-labphon.org/article/id/6239/
The fact it's not only possible but regularly used when the expectation is that it'd be hard to do without choking is why it's such a weird word
Isn't that the case for basically any plural noun with a singular form ending in a fricative in English? Paths, months, depths, loaves, dwarves etc. There are also verbs ending with fricatives that do it when in the right tense, like moves, breathes, leaves, or triumphs
Absolutely, it's just English is very weird