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The threshold
What this language does
A language with a double floor: a short, concrete Germanic base (house, bread, love) beneath a learned Latin layer (residence, sustenance, affection). Choosing a word in English means choosing a register — and often a social class.
The untranslatable
Finding, while looking for something else, better than what you sought.
Hello
Hello
a recent word, born with the telephone
Work in progress
The language that became common, and what that costs. How you write literature in a language everyone speaks a little.
Do you know this language?
Each chapter ends with a conversation with someone who lives in the language.
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