Traditional Weight Divisions of Boxing

The sport of boxing has weight divisions. Though today the sport has as many as 17 weight divisions, the traditional number of divisions was eight. They were established so that smaller boxers would not have to compete against much bigger boxers.

The eight traditional weight divisions of boxing and the weight limits  are the following:

flyweight (51 kg)

bantamweight (53.5 kg)

featherweight (57 kg)

lightweight (61 kg)

welterweight (67 kg)

middleweight (72.5 kg)

cruiserweight (91 kg)

heavyweight ( over 91 kg)

The heightweight division does not have a weight limit. However, boxers should be at least 91 kilograms to compete in the division. Boxers sometimes lose or gain weight to compete in other divisions.

Chemical Names of Substances

The chemical names of substances are not always so familiar. However, many common substances can be identified by their chemical formulas and chemical names. Here is a short list:

anti-freeze (ethylene glycol)

chalk (calcium carbonate)

diamond (carbon crystal)

ferrum (iron)

lye (sodium hydroxide)

potash (potassium carbonate)

quartz (silicon dioxide)

salt (sodium chloride)

sugar (sucrose)

water (dihydrogen monoxide)

Many substances are not so well-known by their chemical names. Their chemical names identify their composition. The chemical name for water, dihydrogen monoxide, tells us that it has two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen.

Optimal Word Length For Communication

Languages are governed by universal principles. One is that all languages use a combination of vowels and consonants, and another is that all languages have grammar. A linguistic universal is that frequent words tend to be short. This is for ease of communication.

Frequent words which tend to be short include function words such as articles, prepositions and conjunctions and also pronouns and adverbs of time. The English articles a, an and the are monosyllabic. The conjunctions and, or and but are also monosyllabic as well as adverbs such as now and soon. The English personal pronouns are all monosyllabic: I, me, you, he, him, she, her, we, us, they, them. This is not only true in English but in many other languages.

It is common for languages to optimize communication by employing relatively short words for frequent use. The English adverbs of affirmation and negation, yes and no, are both monosyllabic. This is also the case in many other languages. Words which are used frequently tend to be short in all languages. This is one of the universal principles of languages.

Affixes in English Word Formation

Affixes are a key part of word formation in English. The process of adding affixes to words is affixation. Here are twenty words with the adverbial suffix -ly:

academically

accidentally

automatically

basically

dramatically

emotionally

genetically

historically

logically

magically

musically

nationally

organically

positionally

rationally

realistically

romantically

specifically

structurally

theoretically

Let us illustrate the different parts of each word:

academically academ(y) + ic + al + ly

accidentally accident + al + ly

automatically automat(e) + ic + al + ly

basically bas(e) + ic + al + ly

dramatically drama + tic + al + ly

emotionally emot(e) + ion + al + ly

genetically gene + tic + al + ly

historically histor(y) + ic + al + ly

logically logic + al + ly

magically mag(e) + ic + al + ly

musically mus(e) + ic + al + ly

nationally nation + al + ly

organically organ + ic + al + ly

positionally posit + ion + al + ly

rationally rat(e) + ion + al + ly

realistically real + ist + ic + al + ly

romantically roman(ce) + tic + al + ly

specifically specif(y) + ic + al + ly

structurally structur(e) + al + ly

theoretically theor(y) + etic + al + ly

Though all the words end with the suffix -ly, they do not always share the same number of parts. For example, organically can be divided into four parts, but accidentally can only be divided into three. The word realistically is divided into five. Certain forms such as *automatical and *basical are never used. The examples illustrate that affixation is a very important part of word formation in English.

Finnish Question Particle

The Finnish question particle is ko/kö. The variant kö is used with front rounded and low front vowels. It is an enclitic and is used to form yes-no questions. The question particle is also used to form indirect questions.

The sentence He/she is here is Hän on täällä. To ask Is he/she here? the question particle is added. In Finnish Is he/she here is Onko hän täällä?. The particle is attached to the verb. Unlike in many other languages, the sentence and the question have the same intonation. The difference between the sentence and question is the inversion of the subject and verb and also the suffixation of the question particle to the verb.

In addition to yes-no questions, the question particle is also used in the formation of indirect questions. The indirect question I don't know if he's/she's coming is En tiedä, tuleeko hän. Here the Finnish question particle corresponds to the English conjunction if. The pronoun hän (he/she) is placed after the verb. This order is the opposite of that of English.

The variant -kö is used in the question Ymmärsitkö, mitä minä kysyin?. This means Did you understand what I asked? The pronoun sinä (you) can be omitted.

Unlike in English, Finnish uses a question particle to form yes-no questions and indirect questions. Finnish does not use intonation to indicate a question. The intonation of the Finnish statement and question are the same. 

Double Consonants in Italian

Double consonants are common in Italian. They are also common in French, but in French consonant length is not phonemic. The French word femme (woman) is pronounced [fam]. In Italian consonant length is phonemic.

The following examples illustrate that consonant length is phonemic in Italian:

capello (hair) cappello (hat)

fato (fate) fatto (fate)

pala (shovel) palla (ball)

sete (thirst) sette (seven)

Many Italian words with double consonants have single consonants in other Romance languages. Here are examples with words in Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese:

(academy) accademia académie academia academia

(cat) gatto chat gato gato

(cold) freddo froid frío frio

(four) quattro quatre cuatro quatro

(insect) insetto insecte insecto inseto

(mouth) bocca bouche boca boca

(seven) sette sept siete sete

(sleep) sonno sommeil sueño sono

(soup) zuppa soupe sopa sopa

(year) anno an año anho

Double consonants are also known as geminates and are very common in Italian. French also has many double consonants, but in French they are neither long nor phonemic. In many cases, Italian words with double consonants correspond to words with single consonants in other Romance languages.

Genetics

Genetics is a branch of biology which studies genes and heredity Though heredity had been studied for many years, Gregor Mendel was the first to study genetics scientifically. Genetics overlaps with many other areas such as agriculture and medicine.

Genes are composed of DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid. They are most often found in the nucleus of cells. The human body has approximately 37 trillion cells. Inside each cell there are between 20,000 to 25,000 genes. 

Each species of plants and animals has a set number of chromosones. Humans have 46 chromosones arranged into 23 pairs. They are found in the nucleus of the cell. The sex chromosones are X and Y. Females have the pair XX and males have the pair XY.

The complete set of genes in a cell or organism is the genome. The Human Genome Project contributed detailed information about the function, organization and structure of the complete set of human genes. The project began in 1990 and ended in 2003.