John Gordon Ross

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

languagehat.com » Laptot, Signare.

Saturday 29 July 21:30:25 UTC 2017

I’m editing a book on language in Africa, and a chapter on Senegal has introduced me to two obscure French terms: Signare “was the name for the Mulatto French-African women of the island of Gorée in French Senegal during the 18th and 19th centuries”; according to Wikipédia, it’s from Portuguese senhora, which makes sense but which I wouldn’t have guessed. … [Link]

Language Log » Learning to write Chinese characters

Saturday 29 July 12:45:59 UTC 2017

Following on yesterday's post ("The naturalness of emerging digraphia" [7/28/17]), Alex Wang tells me, "parents and supplementary educators often post photos like these on their WeChat moments". Here's an example of one that he sent along: This image was accompanied by the following comment: Jiàqī fǔdǎo duō diǎn nàixīn duō diǎn xìnxīn, cóngxiǎo guīfàn hǎo xíguàn: ná bǐ zīshì, shūxiě … [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » chain scrolling

Saturday 29 July 7:00:00 UTC 2017

When you have the tablet scrolling Twitter and the phone scrolling Instagram. My lady has graduated from AOL to chain scrolling. [Link]

languagehat.com » DARE Fieldwork Recordings.

Saturday 29 July 2:41:59 UTC 2017

Another amazing resource available online: From 1965–1970, Fieldworkers for the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) conducted interviews with nearly 3,000 “Informants” in 1,002 communities across America. They visited native residents in all fifty states and D.C., collecting local words, phrases, and pronunciations. In addition to answering more than 1,600 questions from the DARE Questionnaire, many of the Informants, along … [Link]

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