Innehållsförteckning för Issue 84 från Silly Linguistics

If you are somewhat familiar with French, you might have heard of the French infamous argot (slang) and in particular the verlan whereby one can turn a word around to create a new word with the same meaning (femme - woman - becomes meuf becomes feumeu, this last one being a verlan of the verlan, because, why not). But you might not know that French has many different types or argots. Not only do we have the verlan (which is literally the verlan for l’envers - “the reverse”, clever, no?), we also have the lesser known louchebem. I have to admit this from the get go: I have never heard anyone speak it - to my great sorrow! I suspect there is a reason for that: louchebem is supposed to…

J. D. Vance, our newly elected Vice President, had much the same experience which he addressed in his memoire, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis1 when he declares that “a hollow” is defined as a “valley or basin. But I’ve never said that word “hollow” unless I’ve had to explain to a friend what I mean when I say “holler.” “Minnows are called “minners.” Likewise, crayfish are called “crawdads” (p.23). His book is also fraught with phrases common to Appalachia which people from other areas may not comprehend. He usually included a translation. “Too big for your britches–to describe those who think they are better than the stock they came from.” (p.30). The word britches refers, in this case, to simply a pair of pants.…

Not all words carry a concrete meaning. Some exist purely to serve the rhythm, tone and emotion of speech. These are called discourse particles—short words added to sentences not to change their literal meaning, but to express emotion or guide the flow of conversation. They’re essential to everyday speech in many languages, and they often reveal something deeply cultural about the way people communicate. You might have heard of lah from Singlish (Singaporean English), or if you're familiar with Thai, the soft and endearing na or the friendly ja. These small additions might seem insignificant, but they play a big role in how things are said—and more importantly, how they’re received. A Little Background on Discourse Particles Discourse particles are common across many languages and linguists believe they evolved to…

Oh, I do love the sound of an ejective consonant. I first came across ejective consonants whilst learning Navajo, Nuxalk and Quechua, all of which are indigenous languages of the Americas, albeit not related to each other. Ejective consonants are pronounced with an ejection of air which is much more, well, ejective, than the puff of air we pronounce in more common aspirated consonants. Ejective consonants are rare in Europe; except in one place, the Caucasus Mountains. This mountain range can be found between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, and in terms of political borders, the mountain range is found both in southern Russia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, with the Lesser Caucasus Mountains extending into Armenia. Are there any links between the languages of Europe and those of the…

We have probably all wished, at some point in our lives, that our pets can talk. Telling an animal: “I wouldn't tell a soul if you showed me that you can talk, you know; it would be our secret” with a straight face while maintaining eye contact, on the one hand, or trying to meow at the cat and fathom the right tone to make them understand us, on the other – these are probably pretty universal human experiences. Would our relationship be the same, though, if our beloved pets could communicate like people? Animals undoubtedly have their own communication systems. Sometimes they convey a message by making different sounds, sometimes by different kinds of movement, or by the change in appearance. A lot of these behaviors do have all…