The wonders of the 'a-' prefix in English. 'Personal' versus 'personnel.'

The wonders of the 'a-' prefix in English. 'Personal' versus 'personnel.'

942. We’re diving deep into the chameleon-like nature of the "a-" prefix, tracing its journey from Latin, where it often started out as "ad-," to its function as a preposition in French, and its transformative role in Greek that gifts English words like "atypical" and "asymmetrical." You'll be wowed by the versatility of the seemingly humble "a-" prefix as we unveil its covert presence in words like "atom" and its power in creating modern English words like "asexual."

Then, we explore the difference between the words "personal" and "personnel" and give you a tip for getting the spelling right every time.

The "a-" prefix segment was by Kirk Hazen, a data scientist at CVS Health and a linguist at West Virginia University. He is the author of Introduction to Language (Wiley) and can be found on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-hazen-phd/

| Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/personnel/transcript

| Preorder "The Grammar Daily"

| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.

| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.

| Peeve Wars card game.

| Grammar Girl books.

| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

  • Audio Engineer: Nathan Semes
  • Director of Podcasts: Adam Cecil
  • Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
  • Marketing Associate: Davina Tomlin
  • Digital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episoder(1013)

50 GG Like Versus As

50 GG Like Versus As

Find out which of these words is a preposition and which is a conjunction. Try Grammar Girl's new iPad game called Grammar Pop. You match words with their part of speech to pop clouds. You can also fi...

5 Sep 20136min

381 GG Prepositions

381 GG Prepositions

The fascinating history of English prepositions (yes, really). If you are trying to learn about prepositions, try Grammar Girl's new iPad game called Grammar Pop. You match words with their part of sp...

30 Aug 20137min

380 GG Participles and Gerunds

380 GG Participles and Gerunds

Prove you know your parts of speech with the new iPad game Grammar Pop. You don't have to know the difference between participles and gerunds to play, but if you're up to the challenge, it's there wai...

22 Aug 20138min

379 GG Apostrophes in Science Fiction and Fantasy Names

379 GG Apostrophes in Science Fiction and Fantasy Names

Who started it and why? Get Grammar Girl's books at http://j.mp/allGGbooks Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

15 Aug 20136min

378 GG Apostrophes and Plurals

378 GG Apostrophes and Plurals

Learn how to use apostrophes by pondering a Victoria's Secret ad. Buy Grammar Girl's books: http://j.mp/allGGbooks Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

9 Aug 20137min

377 GG Royal "We"

377 GG Royal "We"

In honor of the new royal baby, more formally known as Prince George Alexander Louis, we're pondering a pompous pronoun choice known as the "royal we." Buy Grammar Girl's books at http://j.mp/allGGboo...

2 Aug 20136min

376 GG Why Do We Have Both A and An?

376 GG Why Do We Have Both A and An?

How English evolved to give us two indefinite articles (a and an), and the odd mix of possessive pronouns that don't quite match. Buy Grammar Girl's books: http://j.mp/allGGbooks Hosted on Acast. See ...

19 Jul 20137min

375 GG What Is It Called When You Mishear Song Lyrics?

375 GG What Is It Called When You Mishear Song Lyrics?

Spoonerisms, Mondegreens, Malapropisms, and Eggcorns. Like the podcast? See Grammar Girl's books: http://j.mp/allGGbooks Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

11 Jul 201310min

Populært innen Fakta

mikkels-paskenotter
fastlegen
dine-penger-pengeradet
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem
foreldreradet
treningspodden
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
jakt-og-fiskepodden
rss-bisarr-historie
hverdagspsyken
sinnsyn
gravid-uke-for-uke
fryktlos
tomprat-med-gunnar-tjomlid
rss-kunsten-a-leve
level-up-med-anniken-binz
rss-kull
takk-og-lov-med-anine-kierulf
hagespiren-podcast
uroskolen