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In historical linguistics, Weise's law describes the loss of palatal quality some consonants undergo in specific contexts in the Proto-Indo-European language. In short, when the consonants represented by *ḱ *ǵ *ǵʰ, called palatovelar consonants, are followed by *r, they lose their palatal quality, leading to a loss in distinction between them and the plain velar consonants *k *g *gʰ. Some exceptions exist, such as when the *r is followed by *i or when the palatal form is restored by analogy with related words. Although this sound change is most prominent in the satem languages, it is believed that the change must have occurred prior to the centum–satem division, based on an earlier sound change which affected the distribution of Proto-Indo-European *u and *r. The law is named after the German linguist Oskar Weise (epitaph pictured), who first postulated it in 1881 as the solution to reconciling cognates in Ancient Greek and Sanskrit. (Full article...)

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In the news (For today)

Hong Kong pro-democracy activists

Forty-five pro-democracy activists (some pictured) are sentenced under the Hong Kong national security law for their participation in the 2020 pro-democracy primaries.
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Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby announces his resignation as a result of the John Smyth abuse scandal in the Church of England.

On the next day

November 22

Johnson taking the presidential oath of office

1574 – Juan Fernández, a Spanish explorer, discovered an archipelago that now bears his name off the coast of Chile.
1635 – Dutch colonial forces on Formosa launched a three-month pacification campaign against Taiwanese indigenous peoples.
1910 – The crews of three Brazilian warships – all commissioned only months before – and several smaller vessels mutinied against perceived "slavery" being practised in the Brazilian Navy.
1963 – John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas; hours later, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States (pictured).
1971 – In Britain's worst mountaineering tragedy, five teenage students and one of their leaders were found dead from exposure on the Cairngorm Plateau in the Scottish Highlands.

Frank Matcham (b. 1854)
Edwin Thumboo (b. 1933)
Chip Berlet (b. 1949)
Scarlett Johansson (b. 1984)

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Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand during the Classical World Chess Championship 1995

The World Chess Championship has taken several distinct forms since Wilhelm Steinitz defeated Johannes Zukertort in an 1886 match to become the first undisputed World Chess Champion. Following a period of private organization and sponsorship, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) began organizing Championship events under its auspices following the end of World War II, instituting a regular cycle of tournaments held to determine the challenger for each Championship match. In the 1990s, FIDE faced competition with the Classical Chess Championship inaugurated by former FIDE Champion Garry Kasparov, and began experimenting with the format by organizing several Championships as tournaments instead of as matches. The title was ultimately reunited under FIDE via the World Chess Championship 2006, in which the Classical Champion Vladimir Kramnik defeated the FIDE Champion Veselin Topalov in match play. (Full list...)

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Wait for Me, Daddy is a photo taken by Claude P. Dettloff of The Province on October 1, 1940, of the British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) marching down Eighth Street at the Columbia Street intersection, New Westminster, British Columbia. While Dettloff was taking the photo, Warren "Whitey" Bernard ran away from his mother to his father, Private Jack Bernard. The picture received extensive exposure and was used in war-bond drives.

Photograph credit: Claude P. Dettloff; restored by Yann Forget

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