Almost everyone uses language, so inevitably almost everyone thinks they are an expert in it. I don’t consider myself an expert, though most of my work requires at least language competence and sometimes actual skill, but I do follow the blogs featured on this feeds page.
(If you are wondering where the translation-related feeds have all gone, I have put them on their own page.)
Most of the blogs represented here are in English, most of the time, but don’t be surprised to find other languages used. Go with the flow – I occasionally find myself pleasantly surprised at how much I can grasp in languages I have never seen before.
Language On the Net
Omniglot blog » High Stones
I spent yesterday in Harlech [ˈharlɛx] with a friend looking round the castle, exploring the village and wandering along the beach. We wondered where the name Harlech comes from, so I thought I’d find out. According to Wikipedia, there are two possible sources: from the Welsh ardd (high; hill) llech (stone) or from hardd (beautiful) llech (stone). Apparently it was … [Link]
languagehat.com » Nixes Nicettes, Nice Nicors.
The always enticing wood s lot sent me to Apollinaire’s “Automne malade” (here‘s a pretty good translation by John Hayes — I didn’t like the one at the s lot), and I was struck not only by Apollinaire’s lush sonic landscape but by a line with two words that I didn’t understand and weren’t in any of my French-English dictionaries: … [Link]
Language Log » Burly
Kyle Massey, "‘Burly,’ a Word With a Racially Charged History", NYT 8/25/2014: As protests raged after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., two articles in The Times on Aug. 16 referred to both Mr. Brown and the state police captain overseeing security in the case as “burly.” Both Mr. Brown and the captain, Ronald S. Johnson of … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » Gumby shoulders
The slumping of the shoulders (and head) when feeling extremely disappointed or dejected. Named after the claymation TV character Gumby. "Joe had Gumby shoulders after being told that he didn't make varsity. Instead, he would have to play JV."
[Link]
the world in words » The man who claimed to be a whaler, and other online dating adventures of Anya Ulinich
Photo: Mike Licht via Flickr Here’s a post from New York-based writer Alina Simone. Never has the art of finding love been more entwined with the art of writing. And the potentially life-changing issue of who you attract and how you attract them comes down to one key document: your profile. Writing, dating and love are central themes in Anya Ulinich’s … [Link]
Language Log » Dissimilation, stress, sandhi, and other tonal variations in Mandarin
A few months ago on the Penn campus I heard a Chinese guy and a girl having a conversation in Mandarin, and I was surprised when he twice said, "Wo3 ming2bai4 le." The rest of his speech was standard, but then he came out with this strange transformation of "Wo3 ming2bai le". Of course, I shouldn't have been surprised, because … [Link]
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