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Featured Article: Syllable

Segmental model for syllables cat and sing

A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). They can influence the rhythm of a language, its prosody, its poetic meter, and its stress patterns. Speech can usually be divided up into a whole number of syllables: for example, the word ignite is made of two syllables: ig and nite.

Popular Article: Dark Ages

Petrarch, who conceived the idea of a European "Dark Age."

In historiography the phrase the Dark Ages is most commonly known in relation to the European Early Middle Ages (from about 476 C.E. to about 1000 C.E.). This concept of a "Dark Age" was first created by Italian humanists and was originally intended as a sweeping criticism of the character of Vulgar Latin (Late Latin) literature. Later historians expanded the term to include not only the lack of Latin literature, but a lack of contemporary written history and material cultural achievements in general. Popular culture has further expanded on the term as a vehicle to depict the Middle Ages as a time of backwardness, extending its derogatory use and expanding its scope. The rise of archaeology and other specialties in the twentieth century has shed much light on the period and offered a more nuanced understanding of its positive developments.

Did you know?

Morse code has been in use for more than 160 years — longer than any other electronic encoding system (source: Morse Code)

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