N is the second most common consonant in English. And yet, relatively few words begin with ‘N’. Admittedly a rough measure, but surely not insignificant that ‘N’ occupies less real estate in my old Webster’s than the other consonants except J, K, Q, V, X, Y, and Z*. Next time won't you sing with me? Oh, sorry!
What explains the aversion evidenced by English against words beginning with ‘N’?
* This recalls the discovery of Benford’s Law, and that reminds me, bringing us back to linguistics, of Zipf’s Law, as evidenced in language. Lots of interesting stuff.
etaoin shrdlu
- Slava
- Great Grand Panjandrum
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Re: etaoin shrdlu
Isn't P the most common first letter? Yet it's not in the top 12 for usage.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
Re: etaoin shrdlu
S seems to be the champ, followed by C, then P. This includes the vowels.
- Slava
- Great Grand Panjandrum
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- Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
- Location: Finger Lakes, NY
Re: etaoin shrdlu
Another reason for N not taking up space in the dictionary is that the 'non-' compounds are usually simply listed, without definitions for them. We look up the word, and then add 'not' to the definition.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
Re: etaoin shrdlu
Misunderstood you at first. Better, possibly . . . .
That, I think, would not be the entire explanation. I’m just thinking, a large factor could be that N doesn’t allow a second consonant to start a word. Even then, it’s whupped, and handily, by H, M, R, and (weak on the combo side) W.
I do think there’s some kind of aversion in evidence.
Another factor, quite minor probably, is the shift of ‘napron’ to ‘apron’ and the like.
That, I think, would not be the entire explanation. I’m just thinking, a large factor could be that N doesn’t allow a second consonant to start a word. Even then, it’s whupped, and handily, by H, M, R, and (weak on the combo side) W.
I do think there’s some kind of aversion in evidence.
Another factor, quite minor probably, is the shift of ‘napron’ to ‘apron’ and the like.
Re: etaoin shrdlu
Is this thing on?
Anyhoo, looking at a bilingual dictionary, I see N an even bigger loser in Spanish than in English. As to overall frequency, according to a couple of websites, overall distribution is pretty close in the two. Surely food for thought.
Anyhoo, looking at a bilingual dictionary, I see N an even bigger loser in Spanish than in English. As to overall frequency, according to a couple of websites, overall distribution is pretty close in the two. Surely food for thought.
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