Language questions, answered from Wikipedia
Every language you have ever heard is changing as you listen. Words shift their meanings, sounds wear down, spellings freeze while speech moves on, and in a few centuries a language can become something its earlier speakers would struggle to follow. The questions here ask how that happens: why languages change, where alphabets came from, why English is spelled the way it is, and how the days of the week got their names.
The answers are written from Wikipedia’s articles on linguistics, writing systems and the history of particular languages, with every claim linked to the passage it comes from. Each ends with three follow-up questions, so a question about Latin can drift into the Romance languages, the printing press or the origin of a single word. Pick one below, or ask your own.
How languages change
Why speech never stands still.
Writing and alphabets
How speech became marks on a page, and why the marks don’t always match.
Words and names
Where everyday words came from, and how one language travelled the world.