Innehållsförteckning för Issue 76 från Silly Linguistics

Do you believe in love at first sight? The concept of such love could sound superficial to some, and romantic to others. It could be argued that it isn’t necessarily a type of love, but an indication of the possibility of it, a spark of intuition or recognition. I have to admit: I do believe in it, in a former sense. I also have to admit: it didn’t happen to me with linguistics. Or maybe it did! I just didn’t understand that my fascination with interesting phenomena in language was exactly what it was. I thought the love of lingustics would be giving judgmental looks to those who would write „phenomenons“ in a previous sentence. I remember it clearly, the logic of my previous self. As I was preparing for…

In Norway, the land of a thousand fjords, language flows through the landscape like rivers, divided into two main streams: Bokmål and Nynorsk. These two written forms, both regulated by Språkrådet (Language Council), reflect the rich history and cultural breadth of the country. Bokmål (book-language), rooted in the Danish written language, is used by around 85% of the population, particularly in urban areas in the east and south. Nynorsk (New Norwegian), born from the diversity of Norwegian dialects, finds its strongest voice in mountain valleys and Western Norway. Although both forms are fully understood by all Norwegians, each carries a distinct tone and a connection to the nation's soul. Aasen's Linguistic Project At the heart of Nynorsk stands Ivar Aasen, the linguist and poet who, in the 19th century, traveled…

I discovered the online language community in late 2014 and realised that I really liked talking about language. I discovered translation work which gave me a different experience of languages. Up until then I had only seen complicated things written in my mother tongue but now I was seeing complicated stuff in German which gave me a very different perspective. Growing up I was very sick. I always had a cold, or some other ailment. During those years I went to the hospital many times. The physical world was not a place I enjoyed. I retreated to the world of stories and ideas. I loved reading books and imagining those new places. I also loved video games, movies and TV shows. I was drawn into those new spaces. I loved…

(includes “Turso" lady art, a photo of a potential pyramid in Finland, and a different photo of the author at the Temple of Lemminkäinen) Part three, and the final part of: “The mystical nature of Finnish & of language in Finland” - Article contains the sections: Väinämöinen and sacred language in the Kalevala; Väinämöinen as a learner of ancient language, & Cthulhonic words and powers, Väinämöinen and the copper ship; and the Kalevala meter; End note and references; article includes a piece of “Turso” lady art, a photo of a potential pyramid and another photo of the author at the Temple of Lemminkäinen (different from the photo in Part one of this series). If you have not read parts one and two of this series of articles, I will briefly…

It goes without saying that the ease of learning a new language can depend on the languages you know already - For example, Russian speakers have an easier time with Spanish rolled-R compared to English speakers, but English speakers have an easier time with Spanish writing compared to Russian speakers due to similarities in alphabet. And in your own life, you might know (or be!) the Spanish speaker who breezed through verb conjugations in French class while your non-Romance-language-speaking classmates struggled. As a Mandarin speaker, I thought my 4-tone language would serve as an advantage in learning the 6-tones* of Cantonese. Also, Cantonese and Mandarin are related, so I thought I’d have a leg up over other learners (although they are not mutually intelligible**). Well, it turns out that already…

The names of plants, or phytonyms (from Ancient Greek phytón, ‘plant’, and ónoma, ‘name’, ‘noun’), are a very significant part of the lexicon of a language. They represent not only a relevant ‘specialised vocabulary’, but, when investigated through the analysis of the linguistic procedures implemented by speakers to generate them, tell us a lot about the mindset and culture of a population. The etymological reconstructions of phytonyms often hold surprises and challenges for the linguists who study them and, once completed, enable them to understand the perspectives of a group of individuals and to document their perception of the world. The English language has a very rich botanical lexicon, and English plant names often tell us fascinating stories. Their origins are etymologically captivating or conceptually startling. Let’s briefly comment on…