Dispatches from Linguists: Sailing with Al-’Arabiyya – The First Journey
This month’s dispatch from Omar Auf, explores what native languages are and how language and identity are linked so closely. I don’t know where I’m going, nor where I came from, but the wind is in my hair, and I’m sailing. Ever moving onward, towards a destination at the very beginning. Seeking what? I do […]
A Peek Outside the Realm of Language – Romanian Interjections
Definitely one of the most untranslatable and inflexible parts of speech, interjections convey a wide variety of spontaneous emotions, feelings, physical or mental states, mostly in verbal communication. Often supported by non- and para-verbal manifestations (face expression, gestures, tone of voice), the possibility to integrate them into a proposition/phrase is actually very limited and they […]
Putting a Name to a Place: Understanding Aboriginal Place Names in New South Wales
If you have ever visited or lived in Australia, chances are you would have spent some time puzzling over a road sign or two. Perhaps you were heading up to Coonabarabran for some star-gazing, or enjoying the nightlife in Woolloomoolo. Or maybe you were wondering why Wagga Wagga can be called ‘Wagga’, but Woy Woy […]
The Etymological Corner: Panis, pane, pão …빵 (ppang)
Have you ever wondered why we say things the way we say them? What is the history behind various words and phrases? Welcome to our new monthly section – The Etymological Corner where we explore interesting, mysterious, and oftentimes crazy history of many words in various languages! Panis, pane, pão …빵(ppang). It’s surely a coincidence! […]
Hungarian: Agglutination as a Variable Device
So, it’s finally happening. A couple of years of language enthusiast status and a good year and a half of German learning by immersion, I am taking on one of Europe’s bonafide Behemoths: I’m going to tell you about Hungarian. The Hungarian language is notorious for being incredibly hard to learn and has features not […]
Issue #69 is now available
Subscribers can download it at https://sillylinguistics.com/media-downloads/ Of N9’s and marking timeBy Angela J. Olney SlangBy MJ Brukman Does Speaking A Language Matter?By Michael Simpson Egbert’s Ineffable Taco Experience: The Inability of Language to Directly Describe Conscious, Sensory ExperienceBy Marc W. Cole Out of the Mouth of Babes: How Babies Cry in different languagesBy Patricia Syner […]
