"I am afraid we are not rid of God because we still have faith in grammar."  Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

"The rules of justice may be compared to the rules of grammar; the rules of the other virtues, to the rules which critics lay down for the attainment of what is sublime and elegant in composition. The one, are precise, accurate, and indispensable The other, are loose, vague, and indeterminate, and present us rather with a general idea of the perfection we ought to aim at, than afford us any certain and infallible directions for acquiring it. A man may learn to write grammatically by rule, with the most absolute infallibility; and so, perhaps, he may be taught to act justly. But there are no rules whose observance will infallibly lead us to the attainment of elegance or sublimity in writing; though there are some which may help us, in some measure, to correct and ascertain the vague ideas which we might otherwise have entertained of those perfections. And there are no rules by the knowledge of which we can infallibly be taught to act upon all occasions with prudence, with just magnanimity, or proper beneficence: though there are some which may enable us to correct and ascertain, in several respects, the imperfect ideas which we might otherwise have entertained of those virtues." Adam Smith, The Theory of the Moral Sentiments

One of the occupational hazards of teaching written composition is an excessive attachment to sentences and words.

Many of these websites are intended to express aspects of popular culture around language issues rather than scientific opinion on the subject. These links are not intended for students doing research on these topics.

Written or Printed Characters:

Thinking with Type

The Evolution of Alphabets 

Omniglot

Ancient Scripts

The Dvorak Keyboard

Symbols.com

The Church Sign Generator

Online Braille Generator

Script:

Handwriting Analysts Group

The British Academy of Graphology

Handwriting Identification

Forgery Finder

Document Identification Links

Paleography Links

Definition and Meaning:

The Visual Thesaurus

Internalational Dictionary of Neologisms

Wordsmith.org

Allwords.com

Language Log

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Language

International Journal of Lexicography

Codes, Cryptology, Symbols, and Ciphers

Non-English Language resources:

Ethnologue

The Rosetta Project

Linguasphere

Language Maps

The Alternative Dictionary

Multilingual Resource Center about Esperanto

BBC Languages

Rhyming, Assonance, and Consonance:

Cockney Rhyming Slang

McGill English Dictionary of Rhyme

Children's Songs and Nursery Rhymes around the World

Etymology:

The Tower of Babel

The Online Etymology Dictionary

Word Origins

Usage:

Concordance to alt.usage

FAQ about English Usage

The Discouraging Word

Pronunciation:

The American English Spoken Lexicon

International Phonetic Association

First International Collection of Tongue Twisters

Dialects:

Dialect Map of American English

American Dialect Society

Center for Applied Linguistics Ebonics Information Page

Diction:

The Phrontistery: Obscure Words and Vocabulary Resources

Grammar:

Diagramming Sentences

Nineteenth Century Sentence Diagrams

Traditional English Grammar: Description and Use

Correctness Anyone?

Dr. Grammar (includes Dr. Grammar's obituary and a reminder that the "Ask a Question" section no longer operates)

History of Grammatical Study from Encarta

1911 Encyclopedia entry on Grammar

The "Singular Their"

Grammatical Errors in the Qur'an

Errors in the Greek Text of the Bible

Greek Lexica and Latin Lexica

Punctuation:

National Punctuation Day

Spelling:

Morphological and Orthographic Tools for English

Scripps National Spelling Bee

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy E-mail

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy E-mail Scrambling Tool

Rhetoric:

Silva Rhetoricae

A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples

Rhetorica.net: Analysis of Rhetoric, Propaganda, and Spin in Politics and Journalism

Slang

The Urban Dictionary

The College Slang Page

Military Slang (from the Department of Defense)

The Rap Dictionary

Bay Area Hip Hop Dictionary

Bad Language

The Pornolizer

Bushisms

Common Errors in English

Common Grammar and Usage Mistakes in Undergraduate Philosophy Papers

Speech and Language Disorders

Feral Children: Isolated, Confined, Wolf, and Wild Children

Word Play

Joe Kalb's Palindrome Connection

Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics

The Meme Machine

Word Art

PostSecret

Linguistics

Linguistics Resources on the Internet

Media Studies

The Media History Project


Back to Virtualpolitik