Q. I was taught that most English words come from French. Now most words are said to originate in Anglo-French . . . what is this language? Do you have any more information?

A. "Anglo French" is simply the variety of French spoken in the British Isles following the invasion of William the Conqueror in 1066. The language of the new rulers of England was also formerly known in scholarly circles as "Anglo Norman" but there is no real distinction made between "Anglo Norman" and "Anglo French." Linguists typically use "Anglo French" today.

Recent research has enabled our etymologists to identify those words in modern English that were clearly used in Medieval England and therefore represent direct intermediaries back to the Old French roots. We now identify this intermediary point of the word's development.

As an aside, although many words in English ultimately come from French, the figure would be closer to one third of today's vocabulary, not quite "most."

Q. The baked dessert item called pizzelle is a common Christmas treat among Italians, especially at Christmas. I have always pronounced it as /PEET-zell/, with the accent on the first syllable, the way Italians I have known pronounced it. But my girlfriend's mother, who is married to an Italian, pronounced it an odd way, something like /pizz-ELEE/.

A. This term doesn't appear to be common enough in English to have acquired a standard anglicized pronunciation. The pronunciation in Standard Italian would be something like \peet-SELL-ay\. The pronunciation \PEET-zell\ that you mention sounds like it comes from a different dialect of Italy. The Standard Italian pronunciation is recommended unless you are around people who have a standard pronunciation of their own.

Q. You have two audio pronunciations of potato: one with a long "a" in the middle and long "o" at the end, and another with a short "a" at the end. Shouldn't there be one with a short "a" in the middle, like the song?

A. The pronunciation of "potato" as \poh-TAH-toh\ is entirely fictional. It was made up by George and Ira Gershwin for their song "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off." They likely made it up just to rhyme with the two different pronunciation variants of tomato, both of which do exist.