BLOG POST #2

One word originating somewhere else and borrowed by English is “illusion.” The word was borrowed from the French in the 14th century, which itself was derived from the Latin; it has many meanings but the most common is “deceptive appearance.” Similarly, this is close to our English definition of something the senses are likely to perceive incorrectly. When looking at the word “illusion” (English vs. French) the spelling on the IPA chart changes while the spelling of the actual word does not. In English, the IPA version of the word is / iˈluʒən / while the French version is / illyzjõ /. Despite both words being spelled the same, the pronunciation is clearly different. The English pronunciation is “(ill-ou-shun)” while the French pronunciation is “(ill-lou-ze-un).” From centuries of education and literature, it is interesting to see how far one word has traveled.

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