language
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The Rumpus Interview with Constance Hale
Constance Hale, who has been called “Marion the Librarian on a Harley, or E. B. White on acid,” talks verbs, literacy in the Digital Age, and why “it’s wrongheaded to think that the path to glory is only through standard…
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#NoHomophobes
“Homophobic language isn’t always meant to be hurtful, but how often do we use it without thinking? So asks NoHomophobes.com, a website “designed as a social mirror to show the prevalence of casual homophobia in our society.” The site tracks,…
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Endangered Languages
“Different languages highlight the varieties of human experience, revealing as mutable aspects of life that we tend to think of as settled and universal, such as our experience of time, number, or color.” At National Geographic, Russ Rhymer writes about…
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What About the Sky?
According to scholars, Homer never mentioned the color blue in any of his works; neither did the Bible, nor an abundance of ancient texts. Also, linguists have found a near-universal pattern in which languages developed color in stages, and blue…
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Language Map
If you’re looking for an interactive map to play with today, here’s a cool one. It breaks down where various languages are spoken around the country by the percentage of speakers.
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Stamping Secrets
“For all those who are in the situation of Hero and Leander, and similarly to them can only exchange secret signs about the feelings of their hearts, here we publish the secrets of the language of stamps. If the stamp…
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Nasty Ancient Graffiti
“Good luck on your resurrection.” I09 has compiled ten pieces of ancient graffiti translated into modern terms. (Via Bookslut)
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Packaging and Nationhood
Here’s a reflection on nationhood through the lens of bilingualism, product packaging, and mixed vegetables. “The French and the English cannot be made to say exactly the same thing, not even in the blunt, literal language of generics. And this…
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Inventing Languages
This article discusses the Klingon language—its creation and lasting influence (“people get married in Klingon ceremonies; one man tried (unsuccessfully) to make it his son’s native tongue”). The piece ends with a video in which linguist Marc Okrand explains how he…
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On Dirty Talk
“To be clear: this isn’t about sexual repression; it’s about the sorry state of sexual expression. When did we forget how to talk dirty? Sexting transcripts are criminally boring. Craigslist ads read like chimp-generated remixes of the same five words.…
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Automation and Translation
Does the rise of new technology, specifically auto-translate, signal the death of human translation and multilingualism? David Bellos, author of Is That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of Everything, thinks not. Check out his reasoning in…