Today I learned that the French circumflex accent denotes an “s” that became silent and then invisible.
ancêtre "ancestor"
hôpital "hospital"
hôtel "hostel"
forêt "forest"
rôtir "to roast"
côte "coast"
pâté "paste"
août "August"
Thanks @lingthusiasm podcât!
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Not always?
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Basic overview here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumflex_in_French …
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Replying to @o_guest @NeuroPolarbear and
Example from above link: "In words derived from Ancient Greek, the circumflex over o often indicates the presence of the Greek letter omega (ω) when the word is pronounced with the sound /o/: diplôme (δίπλωμα), cône (κῶνος)."
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Replying to @o_guest @NeuroPolarbear and
Also... Hilarious: "Some circumflexes appear for no known reason. It is thought to give words an air of prestige, like a crown (thus trône, prône, suprême and voûte)."
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Thanks Olivia, it’s always nice to see languages other than English being capricious and tacky
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Greek has/had the iota subscript, which is *ehem* quite a bit amusing on a certain letter! ῳ
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Replying to @o_guest @lingthusiasm and
This contraction was annoying for me as a language learner.
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There's a lot to be annoyed about in Ancient Greek IMHO.
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Replying to @o_guest @JTillman_ and
i would read a thread on that topic
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Replying to @NeuroPolarbear @JTillman_ and
Given I failed my last ever mandatory Ancient Greek test, I think that would not be for me!
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End of conversation
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