Hands on CPR for dying sign languages
By Yassie Liow How do you save a dead language from being forgotten? The answer’s simple enough: teach the written version to younger generations and preserve native literature. Carve it into stone in three languages if you’re feeling particularly ambitious. But how do you save a dead sign language? The answer’s a bit more complicated. […]
Silly Linguistics Issue #87 is now available to subscribers
Subscribers can get it here Deus vult! The linguistic mishmash of the crusadersBy Joana Atanasova Where Art Thou, “Thou”?By Nico Hammer Shout Out to this Versatile Three-Letter WordBy Patricia Syner For and against the translation of “the native melody”By Neda Stefanović The Tundra Nenets language, and its origins, etymologies and the сихиртя – “Sihirtya”By Linden […]
Silly Linguistics Magazine Issue #86 July 2025 now available
Subscribers can get it here On the Shoulders of Giants: When Metaphor Isn’t MetaphorBy Brandy Cross Are you feeling “melancholic” or “sanguine”? How ancient medical philosophy has left a lasting mark on Modern EnglishBy Steve the vagabond Minecraft’s AlvdalenBy Patricia Syner Palum: The New Word Quenching Indonesia’s Thirst for LanguageBy Baihaqi Hakim Mursalin Towers, floods, […]
“Complaint tablet to Ea-nasir” also known as the World’s Oldest Customer Complaint in the Original Akkadian language
What do you do when you, as a customer, have a complaint about a product you have received and the civilization you live in has one of the first writing systems in the world? Well, you use that writing system to write a complaint of course! Even if it takes hours! You will make sure […]
The State of the Okinawan Language
By Naoki Watanabe Okinawans are the people of Okinawa (沖縄—Uchinaa in Okinawan). They have their own language, known as Okinawan (沖縄口—Uchinaaguchi in Okinawan). However, the majority of the Japanese populace refers to it as 沖縄方言 (Okinawa dialect). This is a monumental mistake as Okinawan is not the same as Japanese and the language is different […]
Beads are holier than thou
By Cameron Bunney Etymology is the study of words and their origins (and the etymology of etymology is from the Greek “etymologia” which in turn is from “etymon” meaning “true sense” and -logia meaning “a study of/speaking of”). Etymology can be a fun subject for anyone to look into as you find words having quite […]
