<p>“A poetry of self-conscious listening, of placing sound carefully. Like the plover, here I am, sitting on this stone, testing out sounds and patterns in order to record how it is to be here in this now.”</p><p>—Lesley Harrison, “Do Birds Sing?”, in the PN Review</p><p><a href="https://www.pnreview.co.uk/archive/do-birds-sing/11958" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.pnreview.co.uk/archive/do-birds-sing/11958"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.pnreview.co.uk/archive/do-</span><span class="invisible">birds-sing/11958</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/birdsong/" rel="tag">#birdsong</a> <a href="/tags/birds/" rel="tag">#birds</a></p>
language
<p>As a non-native English speaker from a not-so-popular language group, learning to read even casual science stuff was an uphill battle. First I had to learn English to a reasonable level. Then I realized that English-Romanian dictionaries hadn’t really kept up with science.</p><p>I eventually managed to get my hands on a fancy English-only dictionary (yes, a printed one, this was a while ago), but then I ran into another problem: I'd start from one definition, only to find another unfamiliar word in the explanation, then another one in that definition and so on, until I forgot where I had started. And even when I did understand a concept, I'd often be stuck with the English word and with a lot of frustration about trying to convey that in my own language. </p><p>Some of those struggles are outdated now. At least you no longer have to deal with a giant dictionary pressing into your ribs if you’re reading lying down. But the language gap in science communication still exists.</p><p>That’s why I’m launching a community project: The brain across languages.</p><p>We’re inviting students who speak more than one language to help us translate Neurofrontiers content into as many languages as possible.</p><p>If you’re interested (or know someone who might be), details here: <a href="https://neurofrontiers.blog/the-brain-across-languages/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="neurofrontiers.blog/the-brain-across-languages/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">neurofrontiers.blog/the-brain-</span><span class="invisible">across-languages/</span></a></p><p>Boosts are very much appreciated!</p><p><a href="/tags/neuroscience/" rel="tag">#neuroscience</a> <a href="/tags/scicomm/" rel="tag">#SciComm</a> <a href="/tags/scienceoutreach/" rel="tag">#scienceOutreach</a> <a href="/tags/science/" rel="tag">#science</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a> <a href="/tags/multilingual/" rel="tag">#multilingual</a></p>
<p>Gaelic and Scots: Cultural Connections & Inspirations in the 20th Century</p><p>“In a time when minority languages face significant challenges, revisiting the connections between Gaelic and Scots offers not just historical insight, but a hopeful model for how linguistic communities can collaborate and flourish together.”</p><p>A blog post by Dr Megan Bushnell with Dr Petra Johana Poncarová </p><p><a href="https://www.clarin.ac.uk/article/gaelic-and-scots-cultural-connections-and-inspirations-20th-century" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.clarin.ac.uk/article/gaelic-and-scots-cultural-connections-and-inspirations-20th-century"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.clarin.ac.uk/article/gaeli</span><span class="invisible">c-and-scots-cultural-connections-and-inspirations-20th-century</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/gaelic/" rel="tag">#Gaelic</a> <a href="/tags/gaidhlig/" rel="tag">#Gaidhlig</a> <a href="/tags/scots/" rel="tag">#Scots</a> <a href="/tags/scotslanguage/" rel="tag">#Scotslanguage</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a> <a href="/tags/languages/" rel="tag">#languages</a> <a href="/tags/minoritylanguages/" rel="tag">#minoritylanguages</a></p>
<p>Michael Pedersen and Peter Mackay in conversation with Gemma Cairney<br>28 September, Braemar. Tickets £10</p><p>Michael Pedersen and Peter Mackay in conversation with Gemma Cairney about their work, their love of language, and the inspiration they draw from Scotland’s landscapes, contemporary culture and ways of living.</p><p><a href="https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thefifearms/1742592" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.tickettailor.com/events/thefifearms/1742592"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.tickettailor.com/events/th</span><span class="invisible">efifearms/1742592</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a> <a href="/tags/landscape/" rel="tag">#landscape</a> <a href="/tags/culture/" rel="tag">#culture</a></p>
<p>Bonus panel here: <a href="http://smbc-comics.com/comic/why-6" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">http://</span>smbc-comics.com/comic/why-6</a><br><a href="/tags/smbc/" rel="tag">#smbc</a> <a href="/tags/hiveworks/" rel="tag">#hiveworks</a> <a href="/tags/comics/" rel="tag">#comics</a> <a href="/tags/webcomics/" rel="tag">#webcomics</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a></p>
<p>From the Caribbean to Caledonia: Two National Bards in Conversation</p><p>In this special edition of the Scottish Poetry Library podcast, Scotland’s current Makar, Peter Mackay, & the former Poet Laureate of Jamaica, Lorna Goodison, discuss Robert Burns, Bob Marley, Dante’s Inferno, the Gaelic & Jamaican tongues, & much more</p><p><a href="https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/podcast/from-the-caribbean-to-caledonia-two-national-bards-in-conversation/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/podcast/from-the-caribbean-to-caledonia-two-national-bards-in-conversation/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.</span><span class="invisible">uk/podcast/from-the-caribbean-to-caledonia-two-national-bards-in-conversation/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/jamaican/" rel="tag">#Jamaican</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/scotland/" rel="tag">#Scotland</a> <a href="/tags/jamaica/" rel="tag">#Jamaica</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/podcast/" rel="tag">#podcast</a> <a href="/tags/robertburns/" rel="tag">#RobertBurns</a> <a href="/tags/bobmarley/" rel="tag">#BobMarley</a> <a href="/tags/dante/" rel="tag">#Dante</a> <a href="/tags/gaelic/" rel="tag">#Gaelic</a> <a href="/tags/gaidhlig/" rel="tag">#Gaidhlig</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a> <a href="/tags/minoritylanguages/" rel="tag">#minoritylanguages</a></p>
<p>dear anthropologists:</p><p>when I stretch a word in spoken english, I stretch the last vowel sound, so "cute" becomes something like "cyuuut."</p><p>but when I *write* that word, I stretch the last *symbol*, so "cute" becomes "cuteee".</p><p>however, I make a special exception for the letter k. for instance, "steak" would become "steaaak", and not "steakkk". this is because the letters "kkk" are still associated in my memory with racist cultists.</p><p>hope this helps, thank you!</p><p><a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a> <a href="/tags/anthropology/" rel="tag">#anthropology</a> <a href="/tags/netspeak/" rel="tag">#netspeak</a></p>
<p>Hindi, Greek and English all come from a single ancient language – here’s how we know</p><p>by Mark W. Post</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/hindi-greek-and-english-all-come-from-a-single-ancient-language-heres-how-we-know-264588" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="theconversation.com/hindi-greek-and-english-all-come-from-a-single-ancient-language-heres-how-we-know-264588"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theconversation.com/hindi-gree</span><span class="invisible">k-and-english-all-come-from-a-single-ancient-language-heres-how-we-know-264588</span></a></p><p>Ancient languages at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=ancient+languages" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=ancient+languages"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/searc</span><span class="invisible">h/?query=ancient+languages</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#history</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a> <a href="/tags/linguistics/" rel="tag">#Linguistics</a></p>
<p>CFP: 18th International Conference on Medieval & Renaissance Scottish Language, Literature, & Culture<br>1–4 July, University of Bristol, UK</p><p>Proposals for papers invited that discuss any aspects of medieval & renaissance Scottish language, literature, & culture, & papers that reflect on these fields from different time periods, languages, & places</p><p>@litstudies </p><p>Deadline: 14 Nov 2025</p><p><a href="https://icmrsllc2026.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/call-for-papers/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="icmrsllc2026.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/call-for-papers/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">icmrsllc2026.blogs.bristol.ac.</span><span class="invisible">uk/call-for-papers/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a> <a href="/tags/scotslanguage/" rel="tag">#Scotslanguage</a> <a href="/tags/gaeilc/" rel="tag">#Gaeilc</a> <a href="/tags/gaidhlig/" rel="tag">#Gaidhlig</a> <a href="/tags/medieval/" rel="tag">#medieval</a> <a href="/tags/renaissance/" rel="tag">#renaissance</a></p>
<p>If people who follow you on social media are called "followers", what do you call people you follow?</p><p><a href="/tags/socialmedia/" rel="tag">#SocialMedia</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a> <a href="/tags/linguistics/" rel="tag">#linguistics</a> <a href="/tags/poll/" rel="tag">#poll</a></p>
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<span class="poll-number" title="13 votes">22%</span>
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</label>
</li>
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<input style="display:none" name="vote-options" type="radio" value="0">
<span class="poll-number" title="5 votes">8%</span>
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<p><a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a> <a href="/tags/multilingualism/" rel="tag">#multilingualism</a> <a href="/tags/memes/" rel="tag">#memes</a></p>
<p>How anatomical names can carry hidden histories of power and exclusion</p><p>Why is your ankle named after a Greek hero and your uterus after a Renaissance anatomist? The answer says as much about power and memory as it does about medicine.</p><p>By Lucy E. Hyde</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-anatomical-names-can-carry-hidden-histories-of-power-and-exclusion-267880?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20October%2027%202025%20-%203562936329&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20October%2027%202025%20-%203562936329+CID_410cb313a7d030a22b48dcc5fdca47a7&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=How%20anatomical%20names%20can%20carry%20hidden%20histories%20of%20power%20and%20exclusion" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="theconversation.com/how-anatomical-names-can-carry-hidden-histories-of-power-and-exclusion-267880?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20October%2027%202025%20-%203562936329&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20October%2027%202025%20-%203562936329+CID_410cb313a7d030a22b48dcc5fdca47a7&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=How%20anatomical%20names%20can%20carry%20hidden%20histories%20of%20power%20and%20exclusion"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theconversation.com/how-anatom</span><span class="invisible">ical-names-can-carry-hidden-histories-of-power-and-exclusion-267880?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20October%2027%202025%20-%203562936329&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20October%2027%202025%20-%203562936329+CID_410cb313a7d030a22b48dcc5fdca47a7&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=How%20anatomical%20names%20can%20carry%20hidden%20histories%20of%20power%20and%20exclusion</span></a></p><p>Human anatonomy at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/28166" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/28166"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subje</span><span class="invisible">ct/28166</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a> <a href="/tags/health/" rel="tag">#health</a> <a href="/tags/anatomy/" rel="tag">#anatomy</a></p>
<span class="h-card"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@linguistics" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>linguistics</span></a></span> <span class="h-card"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@linguistics" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>linguistics</span></a></span> <br><br>Please share to expand reach.<br><br>This is a longshot, but I'm looking for someone that knows the Alutiiq language. I am a writer and one of my characters is Alutiiq. She does not speak the language but her parents did, so I am looking for help picking a name for her. <br><br>If you know anyone that lives in the Anchorage Alaska area they would be most likely to know someone.<br><br><a href="/tags/alaska/" rel="tag">#alaska</a> <a href="/tags/native/" rel="tag">#native</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a> <a href="/tags/alutiiq/" rel="tag">#alutiiq</a>
<p>McIntosh Lecture: “Scots as a Cinderella Language”<br>9 December, Glasgow – free</p><p>Professor Joanna Kopaczyk-McPherson will ask how has the story of Scots been told, & what are the perceptions created.</p><p>This lecture is sponsored by the Scottish Text Society. All are welcome to attend.</p><p><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mcintosh-lecture-scots-as-a-cinderella-language-tickets-1968052449856" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mcintosh-lecture-scots-as-a-cinderella-language-tickets-1968052449856"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mcintos</span><span class="invisible">h-lecture-scots-as-a-cinderella-language-tickets-1968052449856</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/scots/" rel="tag">#Scots</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a> <a href="/tags/scotslanguage/" rel="tag">#Scotslanguage</a> <a href="/tags/minoritylanguage/" rel="tag">#minoritylanguage</a></p>
<p>Wow, English-only people (or Western languages, for that matter) are so naïve. In case you didn't know, the lang attribute is very important in East Asian languages.</p><p><a href="https://lobste.rs/s/9ck6y9/what_programming_language_is_this_code#c_0zuhqs" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="lobste.rs/s/9ck6y9/what_programming_language_is_this_code#c_0zuhqs"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">lobste.rs/s/9ck6y9/what_progra</span><span class="invisible">mming_language_is_this_code#c_0zuhqs</span></a></p><p><a href="https://jsfiddle.net/8sa8ndLj/2/" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>jsfiddle.net/8sa8ndLj/2/</a></p><p><a href="/tags/cjk/" rel="tag">#CJK</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a> <a href="/tags/eastasian/" rel="tag">#EastAsian</a></p>
<p>Rethinking where language comes from: Framework reveals complex interplay of biology and culture</p><p>by Max Planck Society</p><p><a href="https://phys.org/news/2025-11-rethinking-language-framework-reveals-complex.html#google_vignette" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="phys.org/news/2025-11-rethinking-language-framework-reveals-complex.html#google_vignette"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">phys.org/news/2025-11-rethinki</span><span class="invisible">ng-language-framework-reveals-complex.html#google_vignette</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/culture/" rel="tag">#culture</a> <a href="/tags/biology/" rel="tag">#biology</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a></p>
<p>When coding Python in British:<br>`import math as maths`</p><p><a href="/tags/python/" rel="tag">#python</a> <a href="/tags/maths/" rel="tag">#maths</a> <a href="/tags/math/" rel="tag">#math</a> <a href="/tags/english/" rel="tag">#english</a> <a href="/tags/british/" rel="tag">#british</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a></p>
<p>A history of punctuation</p><p>How we came to represent (through inky marks) the vagaries of the mind, inflections of the voice, and intensity of feeling</p><p>by Florence Hazrat</p><p><a href="https://aeon.co/essays/beside-the-point-punctuation-is-dead-long-live-punctuation?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=77aa6a8db4-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_12_16&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4ef8a26106-72664972" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="aeon.co/essays/beside-the-point-punctuation-is-dead-long-live-punctuation?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=77aa6a8db4-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_12_16&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4ef8a26106-72664972"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">aeon.co/essays/beside-the-poin</span><span class="invisible">t-punctuation-is-dead-long-live-punctuation?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=77aa6a8db4-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_12_16&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4ef8a26106-72664972</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a> <a href="/tags/linguistics/" rel="tag">#linguistics</a></p>
<p>it wis January<br>and a gey dreich day<br>the first day Ah went to the school…</p><p>—Liz Lochhead, “Kidspoem/Bairnsang”<br>published in A CHOOSING: The Selected Poems of Liz Lochhead (Polygon, 2017)</p><p><a href="https://birlinn.co.uk/product/a-choosing/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="birlinn.co.uk/product/a-choosing/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">birlinn.co.uk/product/a-choosi</span><span class="invisible">ng/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/scots/" rel="tag">#scots</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a> <a href="/tags/minoritylanguages/" rel="tag">#MinorityLanguages</a></p>
<p>Dictionary of the Oldest Written Language–It Took 90 Years to Complete, and It’s Now Free Online</p><p><a href="https://www.openculture.com/2026/01/dictionary-of-the-oldest-written-language-free-online.html#google_vignette" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.openculture.com/2026/01/dictionary-of-the-oldest-written-language-free-online.html#google_vignette"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.openculture.com/2026/01/di</span><span class="invisible">ctionary-of-the-oldest-written-language-free-online.html#google_vignette</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a></p>
<p>A few entries from the language section of The Standard Dictionary of Facts, published 1920 and recently purchased by me. Looking forward to reading through all the prescriptivist entries to see what sort of language use people were fretting about over a century ago.</p><p>(I particularly love the entry for “dearest”, which made me laugh out loud.)</p><p><a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a> <a href="/tags/linguistics/" rel="tag">#linguistics</a> <a href="/tags/prescriptivism/" rel="tag">#prescriptivism</a> <a href="/tags/lexicography/" rel="tag">#lexicography</a></p>
<p>I have a slightly odd hobby. I collect related words of equal length.</p><p><a href="https://susam.net/eql.html" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>susam.net/eql.html</a></p><p><a href="/tags/blog/" rel="tag">#blog</a> <a href="/tags/post/" rel="tag">#post</a> <a href="/tags/indieweb/" rel="tag">#indieweb</a> <a href="/tags/english/" rel="tag">#english</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a></p>
<p>All language is weird, but I sometimes wonder if English isn't the weirdest 🤔 </p><p>Also, does that technically make liguistics a Weird Science 😁 </p><p>P.S Never spell how it sounds 😜 </p><p><span class="h-card"><a href="https://fedigroups.social/@linguistics" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>linguistics</span></a></span> <span class="h-card"><a href="https://fedigroups.social/@humor" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>humor</span></a></span> @humor@lemmy.world @aiop <span class="h-card"><a href="https://fedigroups.social/@writingcommunity" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>writingcommunity</span></a></span> <span class="h-card"><a href="https://fedigroups.social/@writingbooks" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>writingbooks</span></a></span> <span class="h-card"><a href="https://fedigroups.social/@joinin" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>joinin</span></a></span></p><p><a href="/tags/linguisticmemes/" rel="tag">#LinguisticMemes</a> <a href="/tags/meme/" rel="tag">#Meme</a> <a href="/tags/memes/" rel="tag">#Memes</a> <a href="/tags/linguistics/" rel="tag">#Linguistics</a> <br><a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#Language</a> <a href="/tags/words/" rel="tag">#Words</a> <a href="/tags/humor/" rel="tag">#Humor</a> <a href="/tags/humour/" rel="tag">#Humour</a> <a href="/tags/funny/" rel="tag">#Funny</a><br><a href="/tags/reading/" rel="tag">#Reading</a> <a href="/tags/readers/" rel="tag">#Readers</a> <a href="/tags/readersofmastodon/" rel="tag">#ReadersOfMastodon</a> <a href="/tags/readingcommunity/" rel="tag">#ReadingCommunity</a><br><a href="/tags/book/" rel="tag">#Book</a> <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <a href="/tags/novel/" rel="tag">#Novel</a> <a href="/tags/novels/" rel="tag">#Novels</a> <a href="/tags/fiction/" rel="tag">#Fiction</a> <a href="/tags/bookstodon/" rel="tag">#Bookstodon</a></p>
![Avatar for i. celeste aurora :v_tg: :v_nb: :v_genderfluid: [witchzard]](/proxy/identity_icon/274064813870274322/f9bcf0ede5.png){kind=icon}
[witchzard]
<p>What I was talking about a few months ago - now found in the book that was waiting in my "to read"-pile</p><p>“In 1938, Boas made an acute observation about the role of grammar in language. He wrote that, in addition to determining the relationship between the words in a sentence, ‘grammar performs another important function. It determines those aspects of each experience that must be expressed.’ And he went on to explain that such obligatory aspects vary greatly between languages. Boas’s observation was rather inconspicuously placed in a little section about ‘grammar’ within a chapter entitled ‘Language’ within an introduction to General Anthropology, and its significance does not seem to have been fully appreciated until two decades later, when the Russian-American linguist Roman Jakobson encapsulated Boas’s insight into a pithy maxim: ‘Languages differ essentially in what they must convey and not in what they may convey.’ The crucial differences between languages, in other words, are not in what each language allows its speakers to express – for in theory any language could express anything – but in what information each language obliges it speakers to express.</p><p>Jakobson gives the following example. If I say in English ‘I spent yesterday evening with a neighbour’, you may well wonder whether my companion was male or female, but I have the right to tell you politely that it’s none of your business. But if we are speaking French or German or Russian, I don’t have the privilege to equivocate, because I am obliged by the language to choose between voisin or voisine, Nachbar or Nachbarin, sosed or sosedka. So French, German, and Russian would compel me to inform you about the sex of my companion whether or not I felt it was your business. This does not mean, of course, that English speakers are oblivious to the differences between evenings spent with male or female neighbours. Nor does it mean that English speakers cannot express the distinction should they want to. It only means that English speakers are not obliged to specify the sex each time the neighbour is mentioned, while speakers of some languages are.</p><p>On the other hand, English does oblige you to specify certain bits of information that can be left to the context in some other languages. If I want to tell you in English about a dinner with my neighbour, I may not have to tell you the neighbour’s sex, but I do have to tell you something about the timing of the event: I have to decide whether we dined, have been dining, are dining, will be dining, and so on. Chinese, on the other hand, does not oblige its speakers to specify the exact time of the action each time they use a verb, because the same verbal form can be used for past or present or future actions. Again, this does not mean that Chinese speakers are unable to express the time of the action if they think it is particularly relevant. But as opposed to English speakers, they are not obliged to do so every time.</p><p>Neither Boas nor Jakobson was highlighting such grammatical differences in relation to the influence of language on the mind. Boas was concerned primarily with the role that grammar plays in language, and Jakobson was dealing with the challenges that such differences pose for translation. Nevertheless, it seems to me that the Boas–Jakobson principle is the key to unlocking the actual effects of a particular language on thought. If different languages influence their speakers’ minds in varying ways, this is not because of what each language allows people to think but rather because of the kinds of information each language habitually obliges people to think about. When a language forces its speakers to pay attention to certain aspects of the world each time they open their mouths or prick up their ears, such habits of speech can eventually settle into habits of mind with consequences for memory, or perception, or associations, or even practical skills.”</p><p>Excerpt From "Through the Language Glass" by Guy Deutscher</p><p><a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#Language</a></p>
Edited 1y ago
<p>Any suggestions for a high level language which is most effective?<br>I know that it's kind of vague question but still. Something capable of easy and quick development but fast ib startup and operating.<br><a href="/tags/question/" rel="tag">#question</a> <a href="/tags/programming/" rel="tag">#programming</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a></p>