Have you ever wondered why we say Zig Zag rather than Zag Zig… or Sing Song rather than Song Sing

If somebody said flop-flip you would know it sounded wrong but why?

It is a rule you’ve being using but probably never heard of it’s called “ablaut reduplication”. It is the pattern by which vowels change in a repeated word to form a new word or phrase, like hip-hop, tick-tock, chit-chat

The order is always: . I A O. It might be to do with the movement of the tongue from the front to the back of the mouth or it might be related to ancient languages or how it sounds…. There is great debate over the reason why, but it’s a rule English speakers have been following for over 2000 years

Picture of a mug with the quote “I’d rather be wearing flip flops”

By Sarah Winstanley, SaLT