We used to have the three letters þ, ð and æ. They are all still used in Icelandic.

A variant of þ looked like <y>, and this is the <y> we see in signs like "ye old shoppe".

þ and ð were eventually replaced with <th>.

I believe some cultures do not make the distinction. I noticed this in India as well, fwiw.

But do people say "I could care less" or "irregardless" when they intend the opposite? I don't think they do. Some overnegation is confusing. "Do you not believe that, through the act of immigration, our nation has not been anything if not improved?" What does that mean...

A standard French speaker may wield a "nearly"-unaspirated P but it still all counts as aspiration, regardless of the degree thereof, if we peruse, e.g. Merriam-Webster: audible breath that accompanies or comprises a speech sound -not any delay in the voicing or lack thereof. Without some...

"irregardless" is nonstandard English for "regardless". It is probably a blend of irrespective and regardless.

I don't think it makes sense to complain about it because it isn't logical - language is not logic - or because it is redundant - languages are redundant.

I have heard that there are people who speak Esperanto as a native language. Can anyone confirm this?

Flam: I hear a puff after every [p] in English. There is no unaspirated [p] in English phonology. I believe this is technically untrue! It is true that there are no unaspirated "p's" when it is not part of a consonant cluster, but the aspiration disappears when "p" is the second...

I've always wondered whether "were" in something like "I wish I were rich" really was the subjunctive. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language calls this the irrealis. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001192.html "were" in "I wish I were ri...

Also related to "ecology" and "York".

Mirriam-Webster says: "Though disapproved of by many, pronunciations ending in \-ky&-l&r\ have been found in widespread use among educated speakers including scientists, lawyers, professors, congressmen, United States cabinet members, and at least two United States presidents and one vi...