@DannyBate4

Linguist, writer, nerd. PhD in very old languages. Author of linguistic bestseller 'Why Q Needs U'. Inquiries to [email protected]. Pic: J. Kovalík.

 ČR/UK
dannybate.com
Joined September 2015
  • Tweets23.3K
  • Following1.9K
  • Followers29.2K
2.7KMedia
"A history of writing, a biography of the English language and an introduction to linguistic science, all smuggled into short, lively and entertaining stories." So, The Economist likes my book.
The Economist
@TheEconomist6 Nov 2025
A delightful history of a mongrel language economist.com/culture/2025/1…

Why Anglophones use the alphabet so oddly

A delightful history of a mongrel language

economist.com
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Yours truly has been far from home again, this time strutting the streets and trekking the trails of the Republic of Armenia. Here are some linguistic reflections from time spent with the wild child of the Indo-European family of languages: dannylbate.substack.com/p/a-…
Poster for a Substack article entitled 'A Linguist Abroad: Arm in Arm with Armenian'

ALT Poster for a Substack article entitled 'A Linguist Abroad: Arm in Arm with Armenian'

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Dr Danny Bate retweeted
Etymon@EtymonPuzzleOct 13
Etymon is visiting @DannyBate4 today! Huge thanks to Danny for hosting. One hidden wandering word. Six clues. Can you solve it? 🧩 Play free, share your “Solved in N” in the post’s comments, and repost so more can play! dannylbate.substack.com/p/on…
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Don't miss Daniel Harbour discussing The Book of Lost Languages in conversation with @DannyBate4 at @gowerst_books 📆 Tuesday 13th October 🕐 6:30pm 📍 Waterstones Gower Street, London Get tickets here: bit.ly/4y8DjwH
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Greetings from Stará Boleslav, where Czechs (and at least one Englishman) are gathering today in honour of that "good king" from the carol. For the day that's in it, here's a new piece about why his name in English has an N, but not so in Czech: dannylbate.substack.com/p/go…
Poster for a Substack article 'Good King Václav'

ALT Poster for a Substack article 'Good King Václav'

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Great to see @DannyBate4 in the pages of the latest @Soc_of_Authors magazine!
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🔤 When a Roman emperor updated the alphabet – and basically nobody listened to him dannybate.com/2026/08/06/the… via @DannyBate4

The Emperor’s New Letters

When a Roman emperor updated the alphabet – and basically nobody listened to him. A common response to my profuse public pontifications about the history of the alphabet is ‘could we add new letter…

dannybate.com
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Dr Danny Bate retweeted
Cuppa Americano@cuppaamericanoAug 23
New episode with the knowledgeable, eloquent @DannyBate4! This one is on the origins of the English language. Linguist and history buffs oughta enjoy it. youtu.be/KPN_ZbC4wZ4?si=Y6Ft…

Danny Bate: Origins of English Language, Czech Literature, Accents in Speech | Cuppa Americano #13

Dr. Danny Bate is a linguist, broadcaster, and the author of Why Q ...

youtube.com
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If you chose to update the alphabet, creating new letters would be the easy part – you'd then have to convince other people to start spelling with them. Here's a piece about how even a Roman emperor ultimately failed to add three letters to our alphabet: open.substack.com/pub/dannyl…
Substack article entitled 'The Emperor's New Letters', with a picture of a statue of Claudius

ALT Substack article entitled 'The Emperor's New Letters', with a picture of a statue of Claudius

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Just as Claudius gave the old alphabet a makeover, I've just given my personal website a new lick of paint, and my free articles are fully available there too. dannybate.com/2026/08/06/the…

The Emperor’s New Letters

When a Roman emperor updated the alphabet – and basically nobody listened to him. A common response to my profuse public pontifications about the history of the alphabet is ‘could we add new letter…

dannybate.com
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Our alphabet is history's junk drawer. Linguist @DannyBate4 traces letters back through 4,000 years of pictures, invasions, and happy accidents. Notes buff.ly/eStRji6 Apple buff.ly/rdz143Z Spotify buff.ly/LWawI5Z Overcast buff.ly/YyuFNvA
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I rarely write about Homer, being rather daunted by the topic, but since the poet is having a moment, here's an article about the alphabet, writing, and their absence in the epics. The question: why don't people in the Iliad and Odyssey write things down? open.substack.com/pub/dannyl…
Poster for a Substack article untitled 'Homer’s ABCs'

ALT Poster for a Substack article untitled 'Homer’s ABCs'

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In the brand new Babel, we meet @DannyBate4, author of Why Q Needs U Order Babel No55, or take out a subscription, at babelzine.co.uk
Meet the Professionals: Danny Bate, writer

ALT Meet the Professionals: Danny Bate, writer

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Once again answering questions about English spelling that people were content to leave unasked, why aren't the everyday words 'sugar' and 'sure' spelled with an initial SH? Read on for my response, involving Tudor mouths and judgemental lexicographers: open.substack.com/pub/dannyl…
Poster for the Substack article 'Sure Sugar: Shouldn't these two English words be spelled with SH?' with a picture of sugar cubes

ALT Poster for the Substack article 'Sure Sugar: Shouldn't these two English words be spelled with SH?' with a picture of sugar cubes

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This latest personal post, long in the planning, discusses whether infamous Biblical baddies like Goliath shared a language with Homer and Plato – that is, is it possible and likely that the Philistines spoke a kind of Ancient Greek? open.substack.com/pub/dannyl…
Artwork for the Substack article entitled 'Did the Philistines Speak Greek', with a painting of David and Goliath, edited to show Goliath saying 'hello' in Ancient Greek and David not understanding

ALT Artwork for the Substack article entitled 'Did the Philistines Speak Greek', with a painting of David and Goliath, edited to show Goliath saying 'hello' in Ancient Greek and David not understanding

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If you look closely, you may spot how I personally edited the article's cover image.
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New profile picture shows an elated me, having simmered in stress all day and just descended from the stage at TEDx Bratislava. There I recounted a few of my linguistic adventures, successes and failures, all to make one point: give that foreign language a try.
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Dr Danny Bate retweeted
David Eagleman
@davideaglemanJun 8
How do we use 26 symbols to capture everything in our universe? What is the deep history of those letters? Today we dive into the alphabet with linguist Danny Bate (@DannyBate4), who’s just written a book on the surprising history of every letter. eagleman.com/podcast/157
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A day of nerves for me: WQNU's 🇺🇸 release! Lots of US-based content is due to go out this month, with much time and money going into the launch – so if there's something you can do to help a book find its readers over there, it'll for sure be appreciated. dannybate.com/2026/06/02/why…
A copy of the book 'Why Q Needs U' in front of the American flag

ALT A copy of the book 'Why Q Needs U' in front of the American flag

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Despite its British origins and (very) British author, the book was never written with just one country and its English speaker-readers in mind. As proof, here are four references to the linguistic landscape of North America, screenshotted from chapters J, O, U and Z.
Two paragraphs on Dr Johnson and the possibility to reform English spelling in the 18th century

ALT Two paragraphs on Dr Johnson and the possibility to reform English spelling in the 18th century

Two paragraphs and a simple vowel diagram introducing the 'cot-caught' merger

ALT Two paragraphs and a simple vowel diagram introducing the 'cot-caught' merger

A paragraph on American English's quality of 'yod-dropping'

ALT A paragraph on American English's quality of 'yod-dropping'

Two paragraphs and two footnotes on reforming spelling and the limited power of dictionaries

ALT Two paragraphs and two footnotes on reforming spelling and the limited power of dictionaries

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