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Why do some alphabets have special final forms for some letters?

Some alphabets, e.g. the Greek, Hebrew and Arabic alphabets, have different forms for some letters when they appear at the end of the word. E.g. in Greek, the letter sigma (σ) appears as a ς when used at the end of a word; in Hebrew, a couple of…
Glorfindel
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Are there literate speech communities for Sign Languages?

I am aware of some systems of sign writing (e.g. Sutton SignWriting). They are used in dictionaries, teaching materials, or scientific documentation. But did some Sign Language speech communities develop literature in sign writing?
Sir Cornflakes
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Do two deaf persons from different countries understand each other?

While listening to this podcast about saving dying languages. A question came to my mind: Does a deaf person from France understand a deaf person from Russia or any other country?
kvfi
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Why does French "cheveu(x)" have "eu" and not "eau"?

Many French words have lost etymological /l/. I have read that this occured due to a process of l-vocalization around the 10th-12th centuries which turned pre-consonantal l to u after any vowel aside from i (Manz). It seems that in general, el…
brass tacks
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How are voiced and voiceless consonants distinguished while whispering?

When I whisper, none of my consonants is voiced. But I can tell the difference between voiced and voiceless consonants. How is that possible?
EMBLEM
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Proposed binary divisions of Proto-Indo-European

One well-known division of Indo-European languages is Centum - Satem. However, my wikipedia-induced understanding is that due to the existence of Tocharian it is at best unclear whether it corresponds to an actual evolution of PIE into two…
Łukasz Grabowski
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Phonological development of Middle Chinese 學 /hæwk/ to Mandarin xue /ɕye/

學 was /hæwk/ according to Baxter-Sagart transcription of Qieyun, and according to this wikipedia page, -æwk became /Jye/ in modern Mandarin, where J is a palatalized initial consonant. What I'm curious is the series of intermediate sound changes…
MujjinGun
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What is permansive aspect?

I'm having a great deal of difficulty finding an adequate definition of "permansive aspect" on the web. I know what aspect is, more or less, but the meaning of the term "permansive" eludes me.
James Grossmann
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Has English caused any Languages to undergo Sound Change or Grammar Change?

French historically has caused the presence of several unique sounds in English that would not have been present otherwise. For example the "dʒ" sound in "garage". Similarly, I believe I've read Japanese gained the "n" sound as a result of influence…
Aiaimai
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Has a Dravido-Australic superfamily been proposed?

There seem to be striking typological similarities between Dravidian and Australian languages (see, e.g., the answers to this question Are there languages with the three-fold articulation place contrast dental–alveolar–retroflex?). There are also…
Sir Cornflakes
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Does capitalizing nouns improve readability?

In German, one capitalizes the nouns in a sentence. In the video Life in Germany - Ep. 42: English vs. German, an American claims that capitalizing the nouns makes it easier to understand a sentence. So my question is: Does capitalizing nouns…
eueu
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(Proto-)Uralic case and number morphology

I've read that Proto-Uralic and some modern Uralic languages don't mark number on nouns marked for case. So that, singular and plural is only distinguished in nominative (and maybe accusative?) case, but not in other cases. Can someone point me on…
Maximillian
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What are the practical implications of Ludwig Wittgenstein's theories in the field of linguistics?

I was wondering how has the field of linguistics was changed (altered? untouched?) by Ludwig Wittgenstein's theories in Tractatus and the Philosophical Investigations. All Wittgenstein's work deals with language as a center. I know he is not…
Vicyan
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How do children learn to speak compared to adults?

Why is it hard to learn a second language as an adult while the children may learn to speak more than one language more easily than adults do? If true, how can the language learning process be made easier and successful?
cpx
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So many Romanian words seem to end in "u"

I have just learned that the suffix "escu" in a Romanian name means "son of." But it seems that the "u" is a common ending in all Romanian words. Does that one letter have a meaning?
Rosalie
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