John Gordon Ross

A Man for All Reasons

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Language Stuff

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 » Hedgehogs and Urchins

Sunday 21 December 16:47:37 UTC 2014

I discovered today that sea urchins (echinoidea) are known as zee-egels (sea hedgehogs) in Dutch, and that they used to be known as sea hedgehogs in English as well. They have similar names in other languages, for example, in German they are Seeigel (sea hedgehogs), in French they are oursins or hérissons de mer (sea hedgehogs) and in Spanish they … [Link]

Language Log » The moos you can moo

Sunday 21 December 14:35:21 UTC 2014

Geoff Pullum, always forthright, looks at some typical journalistic anthropomorphisms about animal communication and calls them "lies" ("Now it's cows that use names (sigh)", LLOG 12/20/2014): The bottom line is that when it comes to language, journalists simply make stuff up. They are shockingly careless in all sorts of ways (in accuracy of quotations, for example, as Mark has pointed … [Link]

Language Log » Sony hacker language

Sunday 21 December 13:15:49 UTC 2014

Everybody is in a tizzy over the hacking of Sony Pictures. Most people assume that North Korea was behind the hacking, which caused Sony Pictures to withdraw "The Interview" shortly before it was supposed to open in theaters. Some of the coverage: "U.S. Intelligence Connects North Korea to Sony Hack: Reports", Newsweek 12/17/14; "A Look At North Korea's Cyberwar Capabilities", … [Link]

Omniglot blog » Language quiz

Sunday 21 December 12:15:38 UTC 2014

Here’s a recording in a mystery language. Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken? FacebookTwitter Google+Share [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » drunk yoga

Sunday 21 December 8:00:00 UTC 2014

when you go to your morning yoga class still drunk from the night before omg drunk yoga was soooo hard today [Link]

Language Log » Kanji of the year 2014

Sunday 21 December 4:11:07 UTC 2014

As chosen by ballots to the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Public Interest Foundation (Nihon Kanji Nōryoku Kentei Kyōkai 日本漢字能力検定協会, more commonly known as Kanken 漢検), the annual "Kanji of the Year" (kotoshi no kanji 今年の漢字) for 2014 is zei 税 ("tax"), with 8,679 (5.18% of the total) votes. In addition to the hike in the consumption tax from 5% ~ … [Link]

Language Log » Chinese WOTY 2014

Sunday 21 December 1:44:33 UTC 2014

Three years ago, Language Log covered what we referred to as the "Morpheme(s) of the Year" (12/17/11). Two years ago, we advanced to "Chinese character of the year: mèng 梦 ('dream')" (12/25/12). And last year, we looked at "'Words / Characters of the Year' for 2013 in Taiwan and in China" (12/26/13). Toward the end of last month, the tension … [Link]

languagehat.com » There Is No Language Instinct.

Sunday 21 December 0:57:22 UTC 2014

Linguist Vyvyan Evans has a piece in Aeon that gives a good rundown of the arguments against Chomsky’s irritatingly influential theory of the language instinct; here’s the conclusion: From this perspective, we don’t have to assume a special language instinct; we just need to look at the sorts of changes that made us who we are, the changes that paved … [Link]

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