#Linguistic Preservation

[languagexs]

Online Syriac English Translator: Access the Syriac Translators for Seamless Translation

Discovering the Ancient Syriac Language Through Translators Explore the ancient Syriac language thanks to its translators In the age of globalization and cultural exchange, preserving linguistic diversity is an endeavor worth making. One language that deserves attention is Syriac, an ancient Aramaic dialect spoken by communities scattered across the Middle East, India and the diaspora. This…

[travelbasscase]

The issue to me is less about English and more about the loss of linguistic diversity as English becomes more dominant. It wouldn't matter to me if French or Papiamentu or Sesotho or any other language were as dominant as English is, that would still be bad. The dominance of one language or a few languages leads to fewer people becoming fluent in other languages as parents decide to prioritize their kids learning the dominant language instead of their ancestral language because that language will open more opportunities, and fewer people becoming as learned in their own languages because the dominant tongue is the one they use most of the time until they start forgetting their native tongue. They get replaced.

It's not so much that it's bad for more people to know English, it's that it's bad for more people to only know/use English. There are thousands of languages in the world, and each one is a product of the history, culture, and worldview of its people. Any of them going extinct is a tragedy, in my opinion. And the dominance of English, particularly on the Internet, leads to other languages being neglected.

Take, for instance, Ladino. Very few people speak fluent Ladino anymore (of course, if you speak Spanish you can more-or-less understand Ladino, but that's different than being able to speak Ladino), because its lingua franca status among Sephardi Jews was taken by Hebrew. It's not bad that Hebrew became widely understood by the Jewish people, in fact it's a triumph! But it's also sad that the language used every day by Sephardi Jews has been so greatly diminished. That's not Hebrew's fault, of course, but it's still sad.

you know english infiltrating other languages due to the internet has become a problem when even the french are doing it

[womenaremypriority]

Interested in linguistics? Want to watch a bunch of lovely, everyday women talking with not much else happening? Do I have the youtube channel for you!

This one is too short 😭 ^

The woman here talks at the start but spends most of the video singing, it’s beautiful

Thankfully this video is so long!

This one is so surreal for me because the rhythm and tone and whatnot are so English-sounding but it’s very much not English.

This is so soothing. She reads a book near the end and the way her voice drifts from English to Shetlandic is soooo lovely.

This is so long! I knew this channel was a blessing but most videos are quite short, it’s so amazing when they’re able to get a lot. Unfortunately only a few of these have optional subtitles to turn on, either in the language being spoken or English. There are auto-generated ones but I’d imagine those are quite inaccurate. I believe they’re looking for more translators to help, however.

This is an odd post but I genuinely just love these videos and watching them. Especially when they’re women, I love how different and interesting women are. I had to share because I know radblr is full of smart women who are interested in supporting other women.

[covenawhite66]

There are 2,900 languages that are endangered. This means they have fewer than 10,000 speakers, and most of them are not being passed on to younger generations.

What Causes Language Extinction?

1. Colonization and oppression

2. Globalization and urbanization

3. Education and media

4. Attitudes and prestige

Why Does Language Extinction Matter?

1. Cultural heritage

2. Scientific knowledge

3. Linguistic diversity

How Can We Save Endangered Languages?

1. Documentation and revitalization

2. Policy and legislation

3. Awareness and advocacy

Places ranked by Endangered Languages

1. Africa with 619 languages

2. Asia with 613 languages

3. South America with 448 languages

4. North America with 182 languages

5. Pacific with 592 languages

6. Europe with 238 languages

7. Australia with 108 languages

[al-mayriti]

for some reason while i was studying i started thinking about yoghurt, and specifically about macedonia flavoured-yoghurts. which brought me to macedonia the word. so in spanish macedonia also normally refers to the country and the historical region just as in other languages, but it also means a variety of fruits arranged together. sorta like a fruit salad i guess??? we do have 'ensalada de fruta' (literally fruit salad) as a word but i have no idea if it's the same thing as a macedonia or not.

anyways, i needed to figure out what was going on there and also you know i love a reason to stop studying for a bit, so i went to my beloathed RAE and not only did it confirm a macedonia is indeed a fruit salad, but it also explained its origin:

'from french macédonie, as comparision, given the diverse origins of macedonians'.

so i imagine it is also a thing in french but also !!!!! we call it macedonia because it's different fruits coming together just like modern macedonia 😭😭😭😭

[sefaradweb]

Learning Ladino

Ladino, also referred to as Judeo-Spanish or Judezmo, serves as the linguistic heritage of Sephardic Jews, or Sepharadim, descending from the Iberian Peninsula, which encompasses present-day Spain and Portugal. Following their expulsion from Spain in 1492, Sepharadim dispersed throughout the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and beyond, predominantly finding refuge in the Ottoman Empire. It was within this diverse cultural milieu that Ladino emerged, blending Spanish and other Iberian languages with a robust infusion of Hebrew-Aramaic elements, while also incorporating linguistic influences from the surrounding Mediterranean regions such as Turkish, Greek, Italian, French, and Arabic. Embracing versatility, Ladino became the language of everyday life, spanning from domestic settings to public spaces like markets and synagogues, and encompassing various aspects of culture including humor, politics, and literature.

[ghostjelliess]

There are very few things more satisfying than studying mythology and stumbling over such a logical human moment.

The Girl in the Tower classification (ATU 310 type tale) is likely based of an older Proto-Indo-European story involving Dawn fleeing from the night. The most popular Girl In Tower stories are Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty. Sleeping Beauty's name is usually Aurora.... which means dawn.

Little Red Riding Hood contains similarities to that story of Thor and Loki tricking the giant Thrymr to get Mjolnir back by dressing Thor up as Freyja/the bride in exchange for the hammer. While the giant comments on Freyja's tired eyes and shaggy hair, Loki gives excuses (all the better to see you with). But also alludes to an older story of Sol, the sun-chariot driver, who is chased by Skoll, who may or may not be Fenrir, the wolf tied up until Ragnarok. Why is Skoll chasing the sun to eat Sol? Well, the constellation of Taurus looks like a wolf's mouth heading west (where the sun set). So if you're lost in the middle of winter, you can look up and find Skoll, who will be chasing the sun (west), and orient yourself from there, and its begotten offspring of a moral tale that is Little Red is also a warning about not getting lost, though one is a tale to find your way, and the other is a warning not to stray, it's still cute that thousands of years between them and we're still like yeah, cool story bro. Tell it again.

Fitcher's Bird is a less popular version of Bluebeard (saved by sisters ATU 311/12) and has many similarities with the Robber Bridegroom and other stories warning women not to be curious, but no one really knows what Fitcher's is. Grimm's said it was probably referring to the Icelandic swan-like bird, some said it is a transliteration of wing (fittich) of feather (feder) or fisher (because the enchanter carries the sisters home in a fisher's basket), BUT Berchta/Perchta was a popular form of Frau Holle, a Fate goddess who had long white hair and black webbed-feet. So maybe it's Fate's Bird, because the sister takes fate into her own hands, and survives by her wit and choices, while the enchanter tries to control reality with evil tricks that distort the fates of his victims. So Fitchers Vogel is more like "Old Web-Foot's Girl" to say she is clever to control her fate (as clever is often used sarcastically). Or perhaps it was a transliteration of "difficult" via Italian, or something else equally mundane.

There's popular Grimm's tale called the Wolf and the Seven Kids, and while it is similar to Little Red Riding Hood in it's simplicity, it likely comes from a different root tale. A mother goat has seven young and warns them when she goes out for food that the sneaky wolf will come pretending to be her, but not to let it in. After some trickery, the wolf eats all the kids and the mother comes home and cuts the wolf open, saving her babies and filling the wolf with rocks. Rather than the previous Norse tradition, this one more likely comes from the Greek (and earlier PIE) story of Rhea feeding Kronos a rock instead of Zeus.

[shorlinesorrows]

I feel like people forget about this too often, so just a reminder that we are in the second year of UNESCO's International Decade of Indigenous Languages

(Basic info: A decade to prevent the disappearance of 3,000 languages – UNESCO-IESALC)

[lethargic-linguist-undergrad]

I think my personal burning of the library of Alexandria that most others don't seem to care about is the homogenization of dialects. Maybe i'm biased due to my personal fascination with the culture that dialects hold but it seems extremely troubling to me that most regional dialects, at the very least in the United States though I would be shocked if this wasn't a universal issue, are dying out in younger generations in favor of a more universal united states, middle america accent. I'm not immune to it either. It's hard not to fall into that trap when it's all you hear online and on TV. But I do think it is still very problematic because there's a lot of cultural history and even knowledge that might be lost if we lose these dialects.

Maybe it's not as bad as it seems, I'm not an expert in this. I am just someone with a bachelor's in applied linguistics, who would like to go on to pursue sociolinguistics but isn't even in Grad school yet.

[peskyimmortals]

I love the mando’a language websites but like, do we have a consistent pronunciation? Because the pronunciation guides are in English not in phonetics which does not help when read and read are pronounced the same but read and read aren’t. Add in pronunciations in other languages ( e in English is pronounced the same a i in French) and I cannot figure out it out which is a shame because I’d love to speak it!

[languagexs]

Exploring the Rich Language Diversity of Algeria: Standard

Opening Algeria’s Berber Language Tapestry Algeria’s rich cultural fabric is intricately woven with diverse linguistic threads, each one a vibrant strand contributing to the nation’s unique identity. Among these linguistic gems lies Standard Algerian Berber, a standardized variety of the Berber language that has gained prominence in recent years.This essay explores the fascinating realm of…

[polyglotabc]

Beyond Just Hand Gestures

Discover the vibrant world of Deaf culture and the rich language of sign language in our latest post, a journey into the heart of a unique and diverse community.

Exploring the Depths of Sign Language Introduction The Multidimensional Nature of Sign Language Hand Gestures: The Foundation Facial Expressions: The Emotional Context Body Language: The Supporting Pillar The Diversity of Sign Languages The Role of Culture in Sign Language Technology and Sign Language Conclusion Summary Further Reading Book Recommendations Featured…

[womenaremypriority]

this is (one of) my favorite youtube channels

[ghostjelliess]

I have nothing to add, I just wanna be part of it.

I guess I could add that the purpose of labels in language, i.e. titles of a group of like-oriented nouns, is to set general expectations. If an art book of glossy professionally bound pretty pictures is being called a "zine" then the expectation of what a "zine" is drastically shifts. The problem here is that, rather than traditionalist vs progress thinking, as is usually the case when arguing about what a title should mean, the title of "zine" is merely being appropriated to poach certain audiences, especially those who don't know better, in a market whose audience is primed to accept and desire changes.

For example: a chapbook is not a zine, but a zine can, I suppose, be a chapbook. Again, it's about general expectations. Chapbook denotes a poetry collection, zine denotes a short-form diy momentary call to a topic, idea, thought, etc.

Just call it a book. A booklet. A pamphlet. A collection. An illustrated guide. A photojournal. An album. A catalogue. A timeline. A history.

There are plenty of more loose and vague titles to describe something, to market to the right audience, without stealing a title that has pretty specific dimensional and material and cost expectations to those who consume and create it.

the whole point of a zine is that it's cheap to produce, amateur and homemade. if you're being asked to apply to participate in a print project, it is not a zine. if the final product is being printed and bound professionally, it is not a zine. if you are being asked to enter into any kind of licensing agreement more complex than "my work can be reproduced as part of this publication" it is not a zine. nine times put of ten if the final product costs more than $5 you have left zine country. im so serious about this.

[vmantras]

The Vanishing Languages of the World: A Race Against Time

Introduction Language is one of the most powerful aspects of human culture, shaping identity, thought, and communication. Yet, with globalization and modernization, many indigenous and minority languages are disappearing at an alarming rate. Experts estimate that one language dies every two weeks, leading to an irreversible loss of cultural knowledge, traditions, and unique ways of understanding…

[krillium]

People don't talk around here about minorised (minoritised?) languages and I believe that's a problem.