Indo-European languages

various information on the indo-european languages, their spread, divisions and modern descendants

http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/general/IE.html

http://www.humanjourney.us/indoEurope.html

https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/IE_Main2_Centum.html

http://www.ethnologue.com/subgroups/indo-european

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/science/indo-european-languages-originated-in-anatolia-analysis-suggests.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Psychoactive substance harm reduction/information

providing you with the facts, what to do if someone overdoses, where and why to get clean needles, etc.

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Syringe_Exchange

http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/psychoactives.shtml

http://www.lycaeum.org/wiki/Main_Page

http://www.maps.org

http://www.bluelight.org

Privacy/encryption

with the leak of a domestic spying surveillance program on us citizens by edward snowden your confidential records and files may not be as secure as you intended them to be, the following is a list of tools or methods of encrypting your data and ensuring your privacy

https://www.gnupg.org/

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.thoughtcrime.redphone&hl=en

https://www.torproject.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitLocker

Language Tree:

http://40.media.tumblr.com/0b7fc2e4a1cf6f5cd29353c706385316/tumblr_ndyeaiWf2E1qf3997o1_1280.jpg

Cognates:

http://www.friesian.com/cognates.htm

Spanish in Tagalog:

http://www.tagalogsayings.com/learn-tagalog/lessons/similarities-between-spanish-tagalog.html

PDF on loanwords:

http://elizabethclaire.com/store/media/general/free-download/Words-that-English-Has-Borrowed-from-Other-Languages.pdf

English in other languages:

http://theweek.com/article/index/242413/how-foreign-languages-mutate-english-words

Romance languages side by side:

http://ielanguages.com/romlang.html

Romantic and Germanic:

http://linguaphilioist.tumblr.com/image/97297548285

Chinese Influence on surrounding countries:

http://www.interestingchinese.com/language-exchange-china-japan.html

English- Japanese False Cognates:

http://kairosity.tumblr.com/post/67030637178/english-japanese-false-cognates

Aphasia and Bilingualism:

http://neurosciencestuff.tumblr.com/post/62625689063/aphasia-and-bilingualism-using-one-language-to

English- Spanish False Cognates:

http://spanishcognates.org/blog/top-20-false-cognates-esl-students

Faux Amis:

http://www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com/Public/PublicResources.html?direction=b-fr-en&sp=S/oldo/resources/fr/Difficulties-in-French-fr.html

Linkguistics!

Accents and Dialects:

Is there such a thing as a “gay accent?”  I wouldn’t even touch this question were there not a decent amount of scholarly research about it.  The notion of “talking gay,” after all, is a staple of homophobic parody.   So before going further, let me state that I believe gay men speak with as wide an array of voices as heterosexual men.  I don’t give credence to the idea of a universal “gay voice.”  Read more

Here’s another interesting perspective on GayDialect:

http://www.macleans.ca/society/of-lisps-and-linguistics-the-power-of-the-gay-voice/

More on accents and dialects:

http://media.her.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/tumblr_m9ujoh5EF11qcazydo3_500.gif

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mf6s5s8Xbw1rol1w1.gif

http://www.redding.com/news/wire-news/in-stanford-linguistics-study-the-accent-is-on-how-californians-speak_64552086

Abbrevs and Misplelings:

When two friends created the site I Can Has Cheezburger?, in 2007, to share cat photos with funny, misspelled captions, it was a way of cheering themselves up. They probably weren’t thinking about long-term sociolinguistic implications. But seven years later, the “cheezpeep” community is still active online, chattering away in lolspeak, its own distinctive variety of English.  Read more

Imitation Theory:

Check out this article on children recognizing the language of the country they were born (but not raised) in:

http://www.columbiachronicle.com/health_and_tech/article_1765d862-797f-11e4-968f-27ec0ff6f1cd.html

Creoles:

From our very own Professor Bigham on universal linguistics:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2014/09/08/one_planet_one_language_science_fiction_versus_earth_linguistic_diversity.html

The Fulani have not only lost many herds to rustlers, they may be losing their language as well. But the language is rising in Europe and the USA, where it is studied in a total of 14 universities.  Read more

Animals and Language:

Animals communicate with each other, and sometimes with us. But that’s where the similarity between animals and us ends, as Jason Goldman explains: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20121016-is-language-unique-to-humans

Con Slobodchikoff at Northern Arizona University has done some of the most amazing studies in animal communication and cognition. Using sonograms to analyze the distress calls of Gunnison’s prairie dog, one of five species of prairie dogs found in the U.S. and Mexico, he has found that prairie dog colonies have a communication system that includes nouns, verbs, and adjectives. They can tell one another what kind of predator is approaching — man, hawk, coyote, dog (noun) — and they can tell each other how fast it’s moving (verb). They can say whether a human is carrying a gun or not.  Read more

Speech and the brain

The brain is a hub for many things, language, motor functions and ultimately life. As far as language goes it is made up of different regions that process everything from sounds, to visual information and sensory perception.

Language processing is a very intricate and interesting function when you break it down to the simplest most specific details. Many of us never think about how much the body is doing all at once, from the breaths taken to the muscles put into motion to all the movements of the mouth, all of these functions are controlled by the brain.

The brain is so complex when it comes to processing sounds/speech, it recognizes voices, and determine the mood of the speaker, where the sound/speech is coming from.

West Chester Linguistics fun facts!: http://www.wcupa.edu/_academics/sch_cas/ling_stu/facts.asp

Linguistics is even on Pinterest:

https://www.pinterest.com/Aleflawyer/languages-and-linguistic-facts/

And 50 facts that we supposedly didn’t know about language:

http://www.edudemic.com/language-quiz/

Native or foreign? Globalization of English or English as a global language?

Nowadays english has been spoken by so many people around the globe. some see this phenomena as a gift and other consider it a curse. some argue that this globalization of the language could cause the language to change and die. other see it as the way to a bright better future. it follows are some links that are related to this subject.

What Global Language?

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2000/11/what-global-language/378425/

Across cultures, English is the word:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/world/asia/09iht-englede.1.5198685.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Subcontinent raises its voice:

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2004/nov/19/tefl

The literary dimension of the spread of English: creativity in a second tongue:

http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/ellthumb/site/doc/23.html

English is a Germanic Language!!!!

Although many words in english are borrowed from non-germanic languages (mainly romantic languages) English is still considered to be a germanic language. like its other sisters (Frisian, Flemish, Dutch, Afrikaans, German, Yiddish) english has been placed under the west germanic languages list by linguists.This intresting article explains why.

English as a Germanic language:

http://carolinagsalamanca.webs.com/RD_FULK-_English_as_a_Germanic_Language.pdf

The World’s Most Widely Spoken Languages???

due to its wide spread, many think that english is the most widely spoken language around the world, but is that a fact or only an assumption. the next link will answer this question.

The world’s most widely spoken languages:

http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm

Cory Stapleton
Linguistic Links

Charles F. Hockett
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Charles_F._Hockett.html

Hockett’s Design Features of Language
http://www.phon.ox.ac.uk/jcoleman/design_features.htm

Phonology
http://www-01.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsPhonology.htm

Phonetics of the American Language
http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english/frameset-ad3.html

Semantics
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/533811/semantics

Syntax
http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ling201/test1materials/syntax.htm

Transformational Grammar

Brief Summaries of Noam Chomsky Theories
http://quizlet.com/13442598/language-theory-noam-chomsky-and-psycholinguistic-theorysyntactical-model-flash-cards/

Sociolinguistic Basics
http://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/sociolinguistics/sociolinguistics/

Acting in Dialect
http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/travel/blogpost/1838699/

Dialect/Accent
http://dialectblog.com/2011/01/28/dialect-vs-accent/

Dialect Map of the United States
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/06/dialect-maps_n_3395819.html

American Sign Language, despite not being a voiced language, is in fact a fully complex, linguistically complete language. I began learning ASL when I was in 6th grade and continued practicing up until college.

Here is a link for the signs of the alphabet:

•  http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/fingerspelling/fingerspelling.htm

Along with a video which shows how to move your hands between each letter. It is really important to play close attention to each gesture; one missed movement and you could be saying something entirely different!

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDfnf96qz_4

Here are some of the common errors of many signers:

• Wrong handshape-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF808PcfMI0

• No Facial Expression-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCeuf2sZO28

• Switching between hands-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn79_mj-tTc

This link shows the basic 100 ASL signs

Facial expressions/lip movements/sounds are also ways to express meaning. When asking a question you raise your eyebrows, when telling a story you use different mouth gestures to convey meaning; similar to how we use intonation when we speak.

• http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-layout/facialexpressions.htm

It is an animated language, similar to how we change our pitch and tone. Monotone speakers are difficult to listen too, this is also true in ASL, without any expression and animation, it can be difficult to stay in conversation.

• http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/11/why-great-sign-language-interpreters-are-so-animated/264459/

ASL has a specific structure, though different than English. However, there is a little more flexibility within ASL compared to English.

“I am a student” could be signed

“I student I”

“Student I”

“I Student”

• http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-layout/syntax.htm
• http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-layout/grammar.htm

We have learned what areas of the brain are more geared towards language processing and communication. Just as aphasia affects speakers, it also has an affect on signing, called sign aphasia.

• http://lcn.salk.edu/DeafStrokeIntro.html
• http://lcn.salk.edu/lm_index.html

Similar to writing, ASL users can be either be right or left hand dominate, though many times both hands are used, in fingerspelling, there is a hand that is usually more dominate than the other.

• http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-layout/rightorlefthand.htm

Similar to other language, ASL also has slang

• https://snapguide.com/guides/use-asl-slang-american-sign-language-slang/

And just as we have different dialects of english, there are different dialects of ASL

• https://www.ethnologue.com/language/ase

Here are some linguistic-related links that I found fun and interesting.

–This is a link to a website that lists the 10 most spoken languages in the world. The order of the languages was not what I expected:

http://listverse.com/2008/06/26/top-10-most-spoken-languages-in-the-world/

–Here are a few links that show linguistic differences between English and some of the other most spoken languages in the world:

-English vs. Russian
https://prezi.com/8ohhlgsb8puc/difference-between-the-languages-english-and-russian/

-English vs. Mandarin
http://www.slideshare.net/sheilacook/english-mandarin-comparision-presentation

-English vs. Spanish
http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/langdiff/spanish.htm

–This link charts out the level of difficulty for English speakers to learn different languages:
http://www.effectivelanguagelearning.com/language-guide/language-difficulty

–Both of these links explain English syntax:
http://andrew.gibiansky.com/blog/linguistics/why-syntax/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luiUK4tMjy8

–Here are some fun quizzes that relate to Linguistics:

-Attempts to detect which English-speaking region of the world you’re from based on how you organize words in sentences.
http://www.gameswithwords.org/WhichEnglish/

-This quiz tests you to see how well your vocabulary is.
http://www.gameswithwords.org/VocabQuiz/

-This quiz relates to the Stroop Test.
http://www.gameswithwords.org/IgnoreThat/

–This link shows all of the many acronyms that have developed since the use of technology and cell phones became more popular.
http://www.netlingo.com/acronyms.php

–This article discusses an arising concern about this newly developed internet lingo and its effects on English language as a whole.
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2008/06/16/is_language_dead_or_evolving/?page=full

This is a detailed map of Americans’ word choice to refer to a soft drink based on their region.

Read the rest of this page »

When I was young, my parents made the mistake of only teaching me English rather than their natives tongues, Japanese and Tagalog. Because of school I had to learn a language and my parents pressured me to choose between the two languages.  I chose Japanese.

Just like any other language you have to learn the language’s alphabet. Before learning Kanji, I had to memorize Hirigana, then Katakana.

http://16991978arwuws.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/i132831034_93948_52.gif

To remember hirigana and katakana, my senseis would play videos to help us remember. Like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plvSpVSdJWU

Japanese seemed easy because you learn simple phrases and words like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYiEcPEZS2U

My opinion Japanese changed when I noticed the grammar is quite difficult to remember. I had a hard time remembering where to correctly place particles within my sentences. If it wasn’t that there’s certain ways speakers must structure their sentences to either appear polite or passive, or express past or present.

http://learnjapanese.com/grammar

It’s also really important that words are pronounced correctly otherwise they could mean something else or just sound weird to native speakers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU34Rw-hF64

When taking Japanese classes at SDSU, I noticed lesson plans weren’t as simple as the ones in community college. SDSU teachers expected students to remember and write skits about holidays, customs and apply certain etiquettes (like in the links below). You only learning so muhc in class…Not having enough knowledge of certain vocabulary and sentence structure really made it difficult making a legitimate script that correctly corresponded and expressed presentation topics. Half the time my fellow classmates didn’t understand what was being presented.

Japanese bowing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdlNZJ_TFXU

White day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxtT9lK2rIs

It wasn’t skits we had to write essays. Japanese essays aren’t written left to right but rather right to left.

Examples:

On the right it goes title and then name and whatever you have to write about. Indenting is needed in particular areas.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/joannablack/2494295168/

http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/~tyabe/jpn03/items/genkouyoushi.pdf

Other things about Japanese:

Among the languages spoken around the world… Japanese isn’t one of the top spoken languages. The top spoken languages of our world is English, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Arabic and German.

http://bemoneyaware.com/images/world/language.jpg

Many say use anime to learn Japanese. It’s quite exciting when you can understand sentences, phrases and words.

http://www.wikihow.com/Learn-Japanese-Using-Anime

Common Japanese words used wrong:

http://anime.about.com/od/animecommunity/tp/10-Japanese-Words-Otaku-Get-Totally-Wrong.htm