02/04/22 Grif.Net - Why We Say "Tick Tock" (Not "Tock Tick")
b...@grif.net
There are some phrases in the English language that just sound right, you know? "Tick tock" has a much better flow than "tock tick," and "chat chit" — as opposed to "chit chat" — feels downright wrong.
Like, we'd never say we played "pong ping" while listening to "hop hip" and eating a "Kat Kit" after watching "Kong King," even though that sounds like a great time.
But have you ever thought about WHY all of that is? Is it simply because we're used to saying those things a certain way? Or is it a language rule that we don't realize that we know?
According to BBC writer Mark Forsyth, it's the latter. There's a little thing called "the rule of ablaut reduplication," he wrote, that governs how we order words. "Reduplication in linguistics is when you repeat a word, sometimes with an altered consonant (lovey-dovey, fuddy-duddy, nitty-gritty), and sometimes with an altered vowel: bish-bash-bosh, ding-dang-dong."
If there are three words, then the order of vowel sound must go “I”, “A”, “O”. If there are two words then the first is I and the second is either A or O," he added. Other examples Forsyth cites are mish-mash, dilly-dally, shilly-shally, tip top, flip-flop, tic-tac-toe, sing song, and ding dong.
It's kind of like the new "I before E, except after C," except with a much fancier name.
But that's not all! Forsyth has also pointed out another rule of English that most people likely don't think twice about - the proper order of adjectives.
“Ever wonder why it’s Little Red Riding Hood? Adjectives in English absolutely have to be in this order: opinion-size-age-shape-color-origin-material-purpose, then Noun," Forsyth writes. That's why you'd never ask if anyone's afraid of the "Bad Big Wolf."
"You can have a lovely little old rectangular green steel whittling knife. But if you mess with that word order in the slightest, you’ll sound like a maniac. It’s an odd thing that every English speaker uses that list, but almost none of us could write it out.”
Until now! You've been faithfully following a rule of English, and you probably didn't even know it! Bet you feel all smug and erudite now, don't you?
[copied from BBC report]
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Dr Bob Griffin
"Jesus Knows Me, This I Love!"