A constructed language (also known as artificial, planned or invented language, or conlang) is a language the phonology, vocabulary and grammar of which have been consciously created by an individual or group, either from components of existing natural languages or from scratch, for the purpose of human or human-like communication. Constructed languages are typically classified […]
Cultural evolution represents a pervasive element in modern societies, along with language, which is a reflection thereof, for it actually points to the changes occurring within such communities. Every modern society undergoes change from a social, demographic and ethnic viewpoint and must respond to increasing globalization, immigration and all sorts of influences. Under these conditions, […]
Etymology can disclose fascinating stories surrounding the origin or evolution of words. Some of the most captivating accounts are related to eponyms – common nouns derived from proper nouns, i.e. names of (real or imaginary) persons or places. These may be words we use every day, so well integrated in the language that we couldn’t suspect […]
If you took a moment and considered the prodigious diversity of the world’s languages, you would doubtlessly realize that some languages encode more information than others. For instance, Mandarin has no word with the exact meaning of English uncle; instead, speakers have to use distinct terms to denote which side of the family the uncle is on, […]
If translation is an art, it is the art of choice. A choice between the different meanings or structures, between favoring content and preserving form, between faithfulness to the source and adaptation to the new cultural context, between conveying and dismissing semantic ambiguities, and so on. When bad choices are made, the importance of translators’ […]
Translation “E dureros. E clar ca nu s-a îngropat singur acolo.” Original text: “It’s painfully obvious he didn’t get there by himself.”
Spoken on all continents by 220 million people, an official language in 29 countries, learnt as a foreign language worldwide and extensively used in international diplomacy, French is also known as the language of culture, art, fashion, gastronomy and love. We hear it when we think of Louis XIV, Molière, Victor Hugo, Jean-Paul Sartre, Edith […]
Linguists have long been puzzled by the fact that the words used for ‘butterfly’ in most languages do not resemble one another, even within the same linguistic family. For instance, in Romance we find farfalla, papillon, mariposa and borboleta; Germanic languages display butterfly, Schmetterling, vlinder and sommerfugl. In Slavic languages, babochka, peperuda, motyl and leptir are no more similar. No other familiar creature has so […]
Traducere “E dureros. E clar ca nu s-a îngropat singur acolo. Text original: “It’s painfully obvious he didn’t get there by himself.
It is often assumed that national identity is homogeneous, if not linked up with factors related to ethnicity and race and “manifested in a particular language and culture”1. In the process of translation, as various new territories are brought into sharp focus, identities are removed, making way for new ones. This is because change is […]
