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9 things that make English particularly 'weird' among the world's languages

Did you know that English uses more sounds than almost every other language?

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English is objectively a weird language.

In a world of 8 billion people who speak thousands of different languages, it's fascinating to learn about how languages differ from one another. Even just among the most spoken languages in the world, there are completely different alphabets, scripts, phonetics, grammar rules, and more that bear little relationship to one another.

The world has not yet collectively decided on a universal language, but English has become the default language in many international gatherings and business communications. For better or for worse, learning English is valuable, but as many English language learners find, it's…well…weird.

 

  - YouTube  youtu.be  

 

Rob Words' YouTube channel "for lovers and learners of English" explores all aspects of the English language, including what makes it "weird."

Here are 9 reasons English stands out as an oddity among the world's languages:

1. English has has a lot of sounds, comparatively

English has 44 phonemes, or distinct sounds, that we put together to form our words. The average for languages worldwide is 25 to 30. A lot of that discrepancy is due to English having a lot of different vowel sounds. And English includes some rare sounds that are found in very few other languages, such as the "th" sound (both in "the" and in "three") and the ubiquitous-in-American-English-but-rare-in-other-languages "er" sound.

2. The way we form questions

In English, to change a statement into a question, we switch the order of the subject and the verb. "She is an architect," becomes "Is she an architect?" That's unusual among the world's languages. According to Rob Words, only 1.4% of languages do that kind of switcheroo to form questions.

 the word do, meaningless do Do you? Do you?  Giphy GIF by Paramount+ 

3. Our meaningless "do"

This is one that native English speakers likely never think about but is confusing for those trying to learn. We have our "do" that means doing something. But we also have "do" that we just toss into questions for no apparent reason. For instance, "You like coffee," doesn't become "You like coffee?" It becomes "Do you like coffee?" We also use it with "not" as in "I do not like coffee." But that "do" serves no purpose except to confuse English learners. We could just say "I not like coffee," but we don't.

4. Phrasal verbs

If there's one thing I learned teaching English in Japan, it's that phrasal verbs we use in everyday language make no sense whatsoever. Why do we say that an alarm "goes off" instead of "goes on"? Why do we "get in" a car but "get on" a bus? Why does "looking up" something have a totally different meaning than "looking at" something or "looking into" something, and how are people supposed to know which added preposition fits which meaning?

  jon favreau car GIF  Giphy  

5. Our lack of gendered words

Many languages have masculine and feminine words, grammar rules, etc. But English is almost entirely devoid of such linguistic devices. We have gendered pronouns, but that's it. That's different than most Indo-European languages, which employ some kind of grammatical gender rules.

6. Pronoun reliance

Speaking of gendered pronouns, another thing that sets English apart is our reliance on them. Many languages don't use pronouns as much as we do, and only about 10% of languages have obligatory pronouns like English. We don't say "am hungry," we say "I am hungry." We don't say "Like chocolate," we say "I/we/you/etc. like chocolate." That's totally natural for us, but it's unusual.

 English spelling, spelling bee Spelling in English is so hard we have competitions.  Giphy  

7. "Silly" spelling

We all know this one. Our spelling "rules" are like the flippin' Wild West. Or as Rob Words puts it "a monstrosity." Our silent letters, the way different combinations make letters have different sounds, but not in any way consistently—it's truly bonkers. "I don’t know of another language that has tried to create a written form that represents the sounds of that language and failed so spectacularly," Rob shares.

8. Tenses

This one is a little nerdy, but hear him out. "So far as linguists have researched it, English’s present tense is like no other," Rob says. "Because English is the only language in the whole world where the present tense only requires you to alter the third person singular form for regular verbs."

Example: I smell. You smell. They smell. But he/she/it smells. That added "s" just with those specific pronouns is weird.

 smelly, bad smell I smell. You smell. He smells.  Giphy  

9. Articles

People learning English have to learn the subtle nuances of when to use "the" and when to use "a" or "an." Apparently, German is worse on this front, but many languages don't have any articles or anything equivalent. So yeah, weird.

10. Things we're missing (BONUS)

Rob Words actually listed 10 oddities, but the last one was technically just an absence of things. There are some things other languages have that English doesn't. For instance, we have aunts and uncles, but we don't have a gender-neutral umbrella term for that position in the family. We have mom/dad/parents and grandma/grandpa/grandparents, but then aunt/uncle/????s. We also don’t have a word for the day after tomorrow or the day before yesterday, but many other languages do. And so on and so forth.

It's official: English truly is weird. Nothing but the utmost respect to everyone trying to learn it.

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French folks trying to pronounce 'tricky' English words is a delightful dive into linguistics

Who'd have thought "thorough" and "hedgehog" would be harder to say than "psychophysicotherapeutics"?

Photo credit: Canva

Parisians tried to say specific words in English to hilarious effect.

Our human family speaks thousands of languages, expressing thoughts, ideas, and feelings with different sounds that make it impossible to understand one another even when we're saying the exact same thing. Linguistic studies teach us about how languages developed, how they are structured, what makes them unique or interesting, and why certain things are harder to say in some languages than others.

We learn from infancy how to form the sounds of our native language with our mouths. Early language development impacts what muscles we use and in what way, which becomes super obvious when you try to learn a different language as an adult. Depending on your native language and the one you are trying to acquire, certain words and sound combinations can be super tricky to pronounce. Sometimes the mouth just won't do it, but it can be a whole lot of fun to see people try.

That's why a video from Frenchly of Parisians trying to pronounce certain words in English has garnered millions of views. French pronunciation is famously challenging, but the ability to speak French perfectly creates its own challenges with other language. Ever seen a native French speaker try to pronounce "squirrel"? How about "thorough"? These French speakers did their best, but even they had to laugh as they fumbled their way through saying these words.

www.youtube.com

The most telling might be when "hedgehog" kept being pronounced "edge-ogg" and the woman who pronounced the "h" sound saying she felt like she was speaking German. Indeed, English has strong German roots, but most of us wouldn't necessarily think of the "h" sound as indicative of that fact.

Listening to these Parisians trying to overcome their French-speaking muscle training to pronounce these English words is as fun as watching Americans trying to pronounce tricky words in French. We're all in the same boat, battling our tongues as we try to overcome our mouths' resistance to making certain sounds and giggling over the inevitable flubs that come along with learning another language.

However, these kind of funny pronunciation mishaps aren't confined to different languages. Sometimes just having a specific accent can make certain things harder to say. Have you ever heard a Scottish person try to say "purple burglar alarm"? Hilarious.

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As one commenter wrote, "Definitely shows how different languages requires the difference in movement of the jaw, mouth and tongue to create words."

"It’s essentially like trying to go against deeply rooted muscle memory," added another.

Another shared, "I'm French and used to live in Australia for a while. On the first weeks my jaw hurt so bad, I was hoping nobody would talk to me for a few days so I could recover from muscle pain!"

Other commenters celebrated the humor of it all:

"Others: 'Skweerul!' 'Sqwarrel!' 'Skyrel!' that one guy: S Q U A R E F R I E N D."

"The confidence behind 'square friend' has me doubting my own native pronunciation."

"Okay, 'square friend' is just a better name for them. Let's change it."

squirrel, french, english, words, funny, gifBring It Reaction GIF by reactionseditorGiphy

"They asked him to say “lettuce”, says the entire menu of Subway. That’s a flex."

"'Hedgehog.' 'I'm pretty sure that's a city.' Best quote of all time."

"This is so endearing and fun. It just goes to show that none of us should feel silly learning a new language. Language, no matter what it is, is hard!"

"It brings me some strange comfort to know that French-speaking people feel the same way about English words as I, an English-speaking person, feel about French words."

"French lady: 'th-th-therouuw' Also French lady: 'Psychophysicotherapeutics.'"

"I can’t believe that 'psychophysicotherapeutics' was the only word she could pronounce."

(The psychophysiotheraputics pronunciation actually makes sense since the word is quite similar in French: psychophysicothérapeutique. Thank you Greek and Latin roots.)

And yes, there is a similar video of Americans trying to pronounce French words:

www.youtube.com

It's a good reminder to be patient with each other and ourselves as we learn another language. It's not easy, and the more we can laugh at ourselves like these good-natured Parisians, the more enjoyable that learning process can be.

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The remote island where residents speak a fascinating blend of Southern and Old English

Experts say Ocracoke's endlessly-entertaining dialect is rapidly disappearing.

BBC Global/YouTube & EZScore/Flickr

An isolated island called Ocracoke is home to a unique accent not found anywhere else in the world

American English comes in all sorts of different flavors and varieties. I grew up in Baltimore, which shares some dialectical DNA with the accent you find in other Northeastern cities like Philadelphia. Baldamor, hon! There's the New England dialects, most famously the Boston accent: Pahk the cah at Havahd yahd! The New York accent is world famous, as is the deep Southern twang, which gives way to a thick Cajun accent the closer you get to the water in Florida and Louisiana.

These are all different versions of the greater American dialect. But there is one place, a tiny island off the coast of North Carolina, where a few residents speak in such a unique way that it's not even identified as American by most people around the world.

Ocracoke, North Carolina is home to a unique dialect called the Brogue: A strange blend of American Southern, Old Elizabethan English, with little bits of Irish and even Australian thrown in.


ocracoke, north carolina, the brogue, hoi toider, accents, dialect, language, linguistics, anthropologyAmericans think Hoi Toider sounds English. People from England think it sounds like something else.Giphy

The Brogue, also known as Hoi Toider, is absolutely fascinating to hear in action. When you watch interviews with the locals of the island, they at first appear to be speaking a form of deep American southern — you can hear the twang the way you might in parts of Georgia of Alabama. But then, without warning, a word or phrase will slip out that sounds distinctly British. Old English even. Then you'll swear you hear a bit of Irish!

The dialect owes its roots to a surprising source: Pirates.

Pirates loved to hide out on Ocracoke as the island is incredibly remote, about 20 miles from the mainland of North Carolina. Even today there are no bridges or flights to Ocracoke; it can only be reached by a (quite lengthy) boat ride. Eventually, the island was actually purchased by the Blackbeard's quartermaster (yes, that Blackbeard), William Howard, where he created something of a pirate settlement. English sailors and Native American tribes also passed through and had their own unique impact on the culture and developing language of the island.


ocracoke, north carolina, blackbeard, pirates, the brogue, hoi toider, accents, dialect, language, linguistics, anthropologyLegend has it Blackbeard himself named the island.Giphy

In case have your doubts about the island's buccaneerish roots: "In one popular island legend, Ocracoke comes from the phrase, 'Oh, crow cock,' which was spoken by the infamous pirate Blackbeard as he waited to do battle at sunrise with the governor’s forces that had come to capture him," writes a guide from NC State University.

The dialect had a lot of room to develop without much outside influence. The BBC writes, "Howard's community lived in near-isolation for almost two centuries. Electricity didn't arrive at the island until 1938 and a ferry service didn't start until 1957, leaving the islanders cut off except for the occasional supply trip to the mainland."

That's why Hoi Toider is still alive to this day, although its speaking population has dwindled. Here are a few hallmark phrases of the unique dialect:

A 'dingbatter' is anyone not from the island; a tourist. An 'O'Cocker' is anyone born on the island of Ocracoke. A 'buck' is a good male friend, while a 'puck' is a female friend. The Brogue uses 'weren't' liberally for singular nouns ("The sun weren't out yesterday.") and frequently adds an 'a' in front of verbs ("We went a-fishin' this morning").

But to fully appreciate Hoi Toider, you've got to hear it in action:


- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Experts say, as awesome as the Brogue is, it will likely disappear within the next 50 years.

Though the island remains about as remote as it comes, in 2025 there's no escaping the influence of social media, television, and film. Every generation born on the island is a smidge less-adoptive of the Brogue than the one that came before.

It will probably be mostly gone in the next couple of generations, which feels like a tragedy. Instead of "dingbatter" and "buck," the kids will be saying "Skibidi toilet" and "rizz." OK, maybe that's an exaggeration, but young people growing up on the island won't be as immersed in the language as their elders and will begin to speak more and more like your average American.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

There's a concept called culture homogenization. It's the idea that over time, because of technology and globalization, unique individual cultures from around the world will all start to look more and more the same. It's why you see fast food restaurants directly next to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and people all over the globe listening to the same handful of musical artists.

Ocracoke has managed to hang on longer than most places due to how difficult it is to reach. Here's hoping that the Ocracoke Brogue can survive somehow, some way, in little pockets of the island. It's just too dang cool and interesting to go away just yet.

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Historian uses the Lord's Prayer to demonstrate how different medieval English sounded

"Sounds like a French Scotsman trying to be an Irish priest."

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English in the medieval period only vaguely resembled the sound of modern English.

English is one of the most widely spoken languages on Earth, but that was not always the case. English didn't really start spreading beyond England until the British Empire began exploring and colonizing the globe in the 17th century. In the centuries before that, the English language barely resembled what we hear and speak today.

Through the medieval period (approximately 500 to 1500 A.D.), the way English pronunciation worked was very different than modern phonics. Old English, which was spoken from around 500 to around 1100, bears very little resemblance to modern English and is pretty much undecipherable to today's ears. After the Norman conquest of 1066, the Middle English period began and would span approximately 400 years. In Middle English, certain words being the same ones we use today, but with many phonetic differences that require knowing how letters were pronounced.

Medievalist professor Dr. Dorsey Armstrong shared with Wired what some of those pronunciation differences were and gave a demonstration of what medieval English sounded like by reciting portions of the Lord's Prayer from the bible, which begins, "Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name." The variation she speaks is from around the 14th century, she said.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

First, she said, all vowels would be pronounced like they would be in French, the basics of which are:

a = ah as in "father"

e = eh as in "bed" or "egg"

i = ee as in "see"

o = oh as in "go"

u = oo as in "moon"

You also pronounce almost every letter, so "knight" would sound very different (almost like "kuh-nee-gh-t").

"Fra-jee-lay…"Giphy

Listening to her recite something familiar with many English speakers makes it clear that Middle English has some totally understandable words and some that sound like a mishmosh of various English accents and dialects with a couple of other European languages thrown in for funsies.

"Sounds like an Englishman trying to order a pint of Guinness in Dublin," wrote one commenter.

"Sounds like someone trying to talk to a highlander," wrote another.

"Sounds like a French Scotsman trying to be an Irish priest," added another.

People also noted that the pronunciation actually made more sense back then if you were to read each letter phonetically. None of this silent letter nonsense modern English is filled with.

phonics, English language, letter pronunciationKids learn phonics much differently in modern times compared to medieval times.Photo credit: Canva

"Sounds like somebody who recently learned english but doesn't know about pronunciation rules."

"So 'silent' letters weren’t always silent. That makes so much sense."

"As a non-native English speaker, finally a dialect that makes sense!"

"I do appreciate that one time in the past, all the crazy English spellings were in fact completely logical as you pronounced every letter written."

If the Middle English that Dr. Dorsey Armstrong spoke sounded familiar-but-not-quite, this Old English recitation of Beowulf from medievalist professor Arthur Bahr will demonstrate how drastically English has changed over the centuries. In his Middle English recitation, there's a smattering of recognizable words, especially when you know how Middle English letters are pronounced. But in Old English, almost no words are discernable. It sounds like a completely different language.

- YouTubeyoutu.be

So how did we get from there to here? One big influence that came after the medieval period was, perhaps unsurprisingly, William Shakespeare. The Bard had a significant impact on modern English, adding and popularizing many words and idioms we still use today. The widespread popularity of his work also helped to standardize parts of the English language.

It would still take a while for spelling to become standardized in both England and the American colonies, of course. And despite modern agreement on most spellings, the diversity English accents and dialects that now exist across the British Isles and American continent is a clear testament to the ever-evolving nature of language. Won't it be fascinating to see how or if English changes much more in the next 1,000 or so years?

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