Language - Blog Posts
New Guinea is one of the most linguistically diverse places in the world, with more than 1000 distinct languages crammed into an area not much larger than the state of Texas.
Despite this rich variety—for comparison, Europe contains about 280 languages—linguists have only analyzed the grammatical structures of a fraction of the South Pacific island’s languages. Now, Simon Greenhill, a linguist at Australian National University in Canberra, is trying to remedy that situation, by gathering together hundreds of thousands of words from published surveys, book chapters, and articles, as well as the accounts of early European explorers, and putting them into an online database called TransNewGuinea.org.
Updated daily, the site already contains glossaries for more than 1000 languages from 23 different language families, including 145,000 words. There are roughly 1000 different words for “water,” as well as for “louse,” and linguists and language enthusiasts can view all the languages by geographic origin in an interactive map.
Greenhill introduced the scientific community to the site(PDF) this week in the journal PLOS ONE; already, he has used the database to look for clues about how the different languages are related. Through comparative, historical, and computational analyses of the data, he hopes the linguistic community will now use the site to solve long-standing questions about how New Guinean populations expanded and spread their culture.
ok so I'm from New Jersey and I guess we have an accent to the rest of the us but for us, everyone else has an accent. I'm in class right now (History, specifically) and our teacher is from either Tennessee or Idaho (I can't remember but chances are its neither) And every time she says America it comes out "Amyeericuh" and the entire class collectively cringes. Also, she says "pink" like "peenk" and instead of class she says "Clyeeass" idk why but I wanna cry like why cant everyone just be from new jersey
Professor Bathsheda Babbling
Professor Bathsheda Babbling was a witch and professor of Study of Ancient Runes at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Professor Babbling is the only language teacher in Hogwarts.
Anciet Runes is more than only a language in the Wizardry World given its magical properties, but still...
"I mistranslated ehwaz... It means partnership, not defence; I mixed it up with eihwaz."
—Hermione Granger after her Ancient Runes O.W.L.
The Study of Ancient Runes (commonly shortened to Ancient Runes) is an elective course at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and presumably Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, that can be taken by students third year and above.
It was taught by Professor Bathsheda Babbling during the 1990s at least and it is the study of runic scriptures, or Runology. Ancient Runes is a mostly theoretical subject that studies the ancient runic scripts of magic.
Linguist in the Harry Potter Universe
Transliteration
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus trans- + liter-) in predictable ways, such as Greek ⟨α⟩ → ⟨a⟩, Cyrillic ⟨д⟩ → ⟨d⟩, Greek ⟨χ⟩ → the digraph ⟨ch⟩, Armenian ⟨ն⟩ → ⟨n⟩ or Latin ⟨æ⟩ → ⟨ae⟩.
Exemple:
Transliteration and Translation are very different things! For instance, for the Modern Greek term "Ελληνική Δημοκρατία", which is usually translated as "Hellenic Republic", the usual transliteration to Latin script is ⟨Ellēnikḗ Dēmokratía⟩.
Transliteration is not primarily concerned with representing the sounds of the original but rather with representing the characters, ideally accurately and unambiguously. Thus, in the Greek above example, ⟨λλ⟩ is transliterated ⟨ll⟩ though it is pronounced [l], ⟨Δ⟩ is transliterated ⟨D⟩ though pronounced [ð], and ⟨η⟩ is transliterated ⟨ē⟩, though it is pronounced [i] (exactly like ⟨ι⟩) and is not long.
However, I would say transliteration can also be used as a means of helping to learn the pronunciation of words in the target language, especially in non-Latin alphabets.
Transliteração
Transliteração é o processo de mapeamento de um sistema de escrita em outro. No caso da língua portuguesa, o processo de transliteração se dá quando se incluem palavras de idiomas escritos em outros alfabetos em textos em português, o qual utiliza uma versão do alfabeto latino com 26 letras e diacríticos.
Exemplo:
A transliteração também pode ser usado como um meio de auxiliar a aprender a pronúncia correta de palavras na língua alvo, principalmente em alfabetos não latinos:
Y'all, I just got curious at one point, and I hope this isn't a repeat of a previous post. So, if you don't mind:
Wiktionary has a couple of recordings if you're curious about the difference/don't know linguistics and can't read IPA.
Follow-up question:
What words/phrases (if any) rhyme with orange?
This is a hotly-debated topic in the English language. I sincerely believe that in my dialect, no single word is a true-rhyme with orange that isn't also either a portmanteau or explicitly related to the word "orange." (E.g. blornge does not count for me, even though it does rhyme, because it is a portmanteau of blonde and orange.)
Reblogs are appreciated!
Lexember Post #1
Woo! Happy Lexember conlangers. I will be using Modern Ipol for this one. The first root is:
Sha-
Meaning: "rain, calm, sadness, weather"
Derived Words:
shar - rain
sharijv - electricity
sharna - "debbie-downer," a gloomy person
sham - calm, easygoing
iposharijv - telephone, smartphone
In a sentence:
Jir piner asisharis, stinirinen shrijfte?
LIT: day this-MASC PASS.V.rain.REF, V.go.FUT store?
"It's still raining today, are (you) (still) go(ing) (to) the store?"
Man, I don't care about learning NatLangs any more (Mandarin, Spanish), if given the choice, I want the ability to speak everyone's a priori Naturalistic ArtLangs. (IALs be damned.)
I am begging to see any corpus of the Sekaran that has been produced so far.
Info Post: Current Writing Projects
The Sekaran Tales:
Currently, the Sekaran tales are a loose collection of myths and folktales about the Sekaran people and the world they inhabit. The tag also includes the Sekaran conlang. I like to say I'm in my Silmarillion phase - just laying the groundwork for what I hope will be an epic story.
Oak, Ashe, and Thorn:
Oak, Ashe, and Thorn is a planned trilogy about found family, being Othered, and the power of supportive allies. Book one, Coffee and Curses, follows the adventures of the enby empath Quin Quercus, the lesbian werewolf Ashe Thompson, and the "not a prince" Bramble Brokenthorn as they discover a insidious Fae plot to steal people's Names.
Pataphysics 101:
A sci-fi anthology set in Keystone University, where a chaotic Fae-ish scientist named Dr. Kori Cyfrin¹ teaches classes on, you guessed it, pataphysics. The anthology includes/will include both lectures and short stories, and art if I can learn to draw better.
¹Yes, it's me. This is my source - well, part of it. -Kori
Ok, so, when reconstructing natural proto-languages, those protolanguages are almost never attested. Historical Linguists are basically making educated guesses and throwing darts against a wall when making the Proto-Indo-European hypothesis, it was just that the evidence was so compelling that linguists (and, most humans) believe it. For all intents and purposes, it's a really good guess.
The issue with my conworld? Classical Zispoel and Proto-Ytosi-Itaush are still fully attested languages with exactly 2 and 1 native speakers each, all still technically living.
To make matters worse, Lozerief is kind-of a scientific genius, and Pagjom is the literal Hero of Language. Together, they could reconstruct Proto-Zispoel and see what a god-awful, horrifying shit-show it was.
The idea that my characters could derive my god-awful, good-for-nothing protolanguage is, somehow, deeply disturbing to me. I think they would realize they were in a simulation if they did that.
Cursed Low Zeneth Translations
Consider this a makeshift guide to how Low Zeneth works.
Overview
Low Zeneth is a language and group of dialects spoken Southwestern Zeneste (the state of Tolftorrijv.) Its last common "ancestor" with Ipol was Classical Zispoel, but it had already started to diverge before the time of the Hero of Life. Low Zeneth is radically different than Ipol in many ways, though it's been influenced substantially by Ipol, too.
I will focus here on the prestige variety of Low Zeneth: the kind spoken in the city of Tolftorrijv.
Phonology/Romanization
Rendered Phonemically:
Stops: /p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/
Nasal Stops: /m/ /n/
Affricates: /t͡s/ /t͡ʃ/
Fricatives: /f/ /θ/ /s/ /ʃ/ /h/
Approximants: /w/ /l/ /j/
Tap/flap: /ɾ/
Trill: /r/
Vowels:
/iː/ /i/ /yː/ /y/ /uː/ /u/
/eː/ /e/ /øː/ /ø/ /oː/ /o/
/ə̃/ /ə/
/a/ /ɑː/
That makes 34 total phonemes broken down from 20 consonants and 14 vowels.
Romanized:
p, b, t, d, k, g
m, n
ts, q
f, th, s, sh, h
w, l, j
r
rr
ij i üü ü uw u
ee ê öö ö oo o
v e
a aa
If you can't tell, I had fun deriving this phonology from the restrictive, Classical Zispoel phonology. Maybe a little too much, but oh well.
Morphology and Syntax - Grammar
Technically Low Zeneth is a VSO language, but that's not the full picture.
Basically, auxiliary verbs get sucked up into the (head-initial) tense-phrase. The tree below describes the translation "fijsesê bv hijfrê" which literally translates to "have I money" and means "I have money."
The result is that most subordinate clauses have the structure SVO, while the main clause has structure SV(A)O.
Low Zeneth has very slim morphology, only inflecting for a simple plural in nouns with -o, and no morphology at all in verbs. A series of sound changes rendered the T/A distinctions of Classical Zispoel basically indistinguishable, so to compensate, speakers of Low Zeneth employ heavy periphrasis.
Cursed Translations from Today
Fijatsia bv io dv luw êraanva ijrenva
Phonemic: /fi.ˈja.tsi.a ˈbə̃ ˈi.o ˈluː e.ˈɾɑː.nə̃.a ˈiː.ɾe.nə̃.a/
Lit. Translation: Will I give you of news urgent.
Meaning: I will give you urgent news/I must give you urgent news.
Üümen ijnvth Dvrr Ilaajote hijthen-luwario
Phonemic: /ˈyː.men ˈiː.nə̃θ ˈdə̃r i.ˈlɑː.jo.tə ˈhiː.θen.lu.wa.ɾi.o/
Lit. Manages Zeneste Emperor Tolftorrijv fight-people.
Meaning: The Emperor of Zeneste (now) manages the Tolftorrijv army.
Conclusion
I just figured I'd talk about Low Zeneth today because I haven't talked about it a lot but have been producing a bunch of translations. I realize only now that I didn't go over forming questions in this post, but maybe later I will. Feel free, as always, to request that I translate random words/phrases into this language.
Ipol (Conlang) Synopsis
Day 3 (? 4?) of writing my novel and I actually wrote a bunch today! But today I wanted to do something different: present on the most-used conlang in my novel: Ipol.
Ipol ['i.pol] is an Eastern Zenestian language descended from Classical Zispoel by way of Old Ipol. Ipol is actually the word used for the accent spoken in Ir Nouzonif (Ip. I Nusnif [i.'nus.nif]), the capital of Zeneste. Most other dialects, including several languages, are lumped together into Ipol Sinezo (literally: Rice-farmer Ipol.)
Phonology
Consonants
Ipol has 16 consonants:
Oral Stops: p, b, t*, d*, k, g*
* t, d > tʃ, dʒ / _ i
**Nasal Stops: **n, m
Fricatives: f, s*, h
* s > ʃ / _ {i, e}
Semivowels: j, w
Liquids: l
Rhotics*: r*, rr
r > /ɹ/ / _ {#, consonant}
r > /ɾ/ / (everywhere else)
rr is the uvular rhotic /ʀ/ found in French
Vowels
Ipol has 12 vowels.
High: i, ij, u, uw
Mid: e, ee, o, oo (/oː/), oh (/ɔː/)
Low: æ (/æː/), a, aa (/aː/)
Phonotactics
Ipol is a (C)(S)V(C)(C)(C) language:
C = any consonant
V = any vowel + r
S = semivowel + r
Translation + Teaser
Excerpt from Part One:
Dr. Este grunted, wrinkling her nose at me. "If you know what's good for you," she rephrased, "you'll stay far, far away from the attic." I gulped. Then, I shook my head. What were a bunch of sticks going to do to me when I wasn't looking. "Why? The Sensonif isn't hiding up there, is she?" I realized that the first stained glass window depicted the three Heroes: the Heroes of Life, Earth, and Language. Then the other window depicted the Hero of Earth killing the Sensonif-a monster said to be fifty-feet high and filled with lava. One touch from her is said to kill a person in seconds. My comment stiffened the Vice President, who stopped. Then, hanging her head, she gripped my shoulder and looked up into my eyes, her gaze lifeless and cold. "Nerte treste ésispijen," she whispered, "Sispoh sispijz la eheempijz." If you care about yourself, you mustn't go into the attic.
Nerte - you.ABS
Treste - you.ACC
sispijen - believe in, care about
Sispoh - must
sispijz - (negative modal verb)
la - in, into, towards
eheempijz - attic (literally house-up, or the top bit of a house)
Conclusion
Given that Dr. Este is the Hero of Earth who sailed around the world with the other two Heroes (of Life and Language,) what do you think is in the attic that she's so worried about?
Awesome Childhood Spelling
Uhh…where it says “looked” read “lopped”. lol This is based on the original tweet you see up there by Twitter user @Sal_Perez4 (see the original tweet here).
How I Learn Languages
As an aspiring polyglot, it’s important that I have a bunch of resources at my disposal for language learning. I use a variety of resources for my learning, such as books, websites, apps, T.V. shows, movies, etc. These are some of my resources!
-Websites-
1. Omniglot
This website is more for finding information about languages and finding languages to learn. It has a very comprehensive list of languages and you can find plenty of secondary resources for learning the language. You can find tutors for that language, and even songs in your target language. I can just about guarantee you that no matter what language you’re looking for, it will be documented here. It is absolutely amazing, and it is a FANTASTIC resource for the dedicated linguist.
http://www.omniglot.com/
2. Duolingo
This is both a website AND an app, however, I tend to use the website more frequently, mainly because I’m always on my laptop anyway. The learning system that this website uses makes out very easy to stay motivated, and the lessons are organized amazingly. Currently, the website offers about 27 different language courses for English speakers, and various language courses for speakers of languages other than English. You can set goals for yourself, take multiple courses, be involved in discussions, and even do translating activities. Beware though, it gets VERY addicting.
https://www.duolingo.com
3. Memrise
Also a website AND an app, this is my all time favorite resource for learning languages. It has SO many languages to choose from, and it even offers subjects other than languages, although foreign language learning is its primary appeal factor.
http://www.memrise.com/home/
4. BBC Languages
Although this sector of BBC has been archived and is no longer updated, it still contains some valuable information. It includes some useful phrases, alphabet guides, and jokes in many languages. You’re bound to learn something new there, so check it out!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/
5. Foreign Service Institute (FSI)
This website offers language courses constructed by the U.S. government, and relies heavily on audio-based learning. However, many of the language courses include lessons in the form of pdf. There is a very large selection of languages to choose from, so this resource is very good for getting an excellent introduction to your target language.
https://fsi-languages.yojik.eu/
6. Live Lingua Project
Claiming to be the internet’s largest collection of free public domain language learning materials, this website is a MUST for language learners. It contains the FSI courses, Peace Corps language learning materials, and the DLI (military) language courses. It also offers Skype sessions for language learners in several different languages! The main appeal of this website, however, is the Peace Corps language material archive. There are SO many different languages to choose from, and there are many ebooks and audio files to take advantage of here.
https://www.livelingua.com/#project
7. Languages On the Web
This website offers texts that translate English texts into 55 other languages. It is not a translator, it merely provides reading material in foreign languages to learners. It is a very useful website, especially for analyzing how sentences are formed in other languages.
http://www.lonweb.org/
8. Learn 101
This website is really helpful for explaining grammatical concepts and for learning general stuff about languages, such as verbs, vocabulary, nouns, adjectives, basic phrases, foods, etc. There are quite alot of languages offered on this website, so it’s a great resource!
http://learn101.org/
9. Clozemaster
This website is great for learning languages through a sentence based, contextual experience. It’s a bit like Duolingo in that sense, and it requires you to fill in missing words from sentences. In my opinion, it’s better for people with a background in their target language, and they offer many different options for languages. It’s also good for speakers of a native language other than English!
https://www.clozemaster.com/
10. Lexicity
This is a great website for ancient language learners, and it provides resources for Egyptian, Mayan, Hittite, Latin, Old English, Etruscan, Gaulish, and several others. I have found the majority of resources that I have looked through helpful to my learning efforts. They have dictionaries, grammars, charts, and texts, and it is a very comprehensive resource.
http://lexicity.com/
11. Book2
This is a good resource for learners looking for audio files to help them practice their listening. I haven’t used it all too much, but there are many language options, so you’re bound to find a language that you find interesting on here.
http://www.goethe-verlag.com/book2/
12. Lang-8
This is a great resource for getting feedback on your writing in your target language. You can post things in your target language, and native speakers of that language will correct it, and you can do the same for other people! It’s very helpful, and is a great resource if you have to write in your target language often.
http://lang-8.com/
13. Bilinguis
This website offers a few books to read in different languages and is good for comparing different languages of the same book. This makes for good practice for reading in your target language.
http://bilinguis.com/
14. Udemy
There are quite a few languages courses on this website, although several of them cost money. However, there are quite a few courses that are free, and are good for introducing you to your language of choice.
https://www.udemy.com/courses/
-Apps-
1. Memrise
As mentioned above in the websites section, this app is so amazing for on-the-go language learning, as well as for subjects other than languages! It helps users memorize concepts with “meme” which are pictures that will remind you of what the word or concept means, and it’s such a unique and fun learning experience! It has the feel of using flashcards, but I just love using this app so much.
2. Duolingo
Also mentioned in the websites section, this app is great for both learning new words and reviewing words that you have either memorized or have just been exposed to. There are grammar lessons available, translation activities, groups that you can join, and Duolingo makes it fun to learn a language with it’s reward system.
3. HelloTalk
This is my absolute FAVORITE app to talk to native speakers of my target language(s). You can become language partners with people, help others with translations, video/voice call, send voice messages, and have as many partners as you want! It’s an absolutely amazing app, and I highly recommend it to everyone! Warning- If you’re a native English speaker looking for a native Chinese speaker, you will get HUNDREDS of requests. It might overwhelm you for a second.
4. TuneIn Radio
This is really great for finding stations in your target language, and it helps with practicing both comprehension of spoken language as well as introduces you to awesome music in your target language!
5. Tigercards
This app presents words in the form of lists, and gives you vocab so that you can review it. Not the best presentation of words and it doesn’t really offer a memorization technique like Memrise, but it’s still helpful!
6. Busuu
This app is a bit like Duolingo, and it offers German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, English, Italian, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Japanese, and Chinese!
7. uTalk
This app offers so many different languages, it’s pretty incredible. There are games that you can play, phrasebooks, and several other features. The interface is also really awesome and simple, so it makes learning easier than usual. Definitely a must have.
8. Innovative Language
I haven’t used this app much, but I have heard that the lessons on this app are very good, and you can download the lessons so that you can view them offline.
9. FlashSticks
This has been super helpful to me, in addition to the games and flashcards that it offers, it also provides an object scanner, which uses your camera to scan objects and then tells you what it’s called in your target language!
10. Mondly
This has been an awesome resource for me since it’s a bit like Duolingo, only with more unique language options. I’m currently using it to learn Hindi, however, there are tons of other language options. The interface is awesome, and I love using it.
11. MindSnacks
This company makes several different language apps, and currently I’m using the Mandarin, Japanese, and French ones. So far, I’ve really enjoyed these apps!
12. Spotify
Through Spotify’s “Word” category, there are many different playlists dedicated to language learning, such as for Arabic, Mandarin, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, and Swedish!
13. Quizlet
This is more of a diy language learning resource. It is not an inherent language learning resource, however, if you learn best through lists and/or flashcards, then this app allows you to make cards and review vocab that way! I use it all the time for exams!
14. FluentU
This is an awesome app for watching videos in your target language, and is really good for learning new words.
-Books-
1. Teach Yourself
This series offers an astounding number of languages, and I have found them to be pretty effective in helping me learn languages. I have used the Russian, Arabic, Mandarin, and Irish ones.
2. Barron’s Grammar and Verb books
I really like the way Barron’s does language books, so far I have used their Japanese grammar book and their Russian verbs book, and I really like the layout of them, especially the grammar book!
3. Dk Visual Bilingual Dictionaries
These are so helpful for me, I’ve been using the Mandarin and Japanese dictionaries for a long time, and they are so comprehensive and awesome!
4. Ethnologue
These aren’t language “learning” materials, but rather they help me find new languages to learn. These are more for the linguistic lovers, since they catalog almost every living language in the world in every country, and provide language maps and statistics. There’s really fascinating stuff in those books, so I highly recommend purchasing them.
5. The “Dirty” books
So far, I have only used the Japanese version, however, I really like what the book includes, and it’s great for learning slang in your target language, and things that traditional textbooks wouldn’t teach you.
6. Living Language
I LOVE these books so much, I’ve used the Russian, Mandarin, and French ones and I’ve found them very helpful! The layout of these are very nice, and they’re pretty comprehensive.
7. Tuttle books
Tuttle offers several different language books, and they all are very good in my opinion. I have used their books for Arabic, Korean, Mandarin, Japanese, and Hindi.
That’s all that I have right now, but if you all would like more resources than I will definitely make a second one!
Like how language
Gets jumbled over time,
We became two mouths
Tangled in our misery.
Each meaning the same thing
Yet unable to comprehend
The other.
Are we not both proclaiming love
But losing the feeling
By the tossing and turning
Of borrowed time?