Languages, languages, languages etc.

Spanish along with English were both my first languages as my parents enforced that I learn both when I was younger, another reason being my Mexican heritage. In my household we mainly speak Spanish to each other in order to practice and fluently speak the language. When I began high school I decided to take introductory Italian and ended up taking and passing the AP Italian class and exam my senior year, while also earning the senior standout award for Italian. Italian came easy to me because I already spoke Spanish fluently, and these languages belong to the same family, which is the Romance language family. This family currently also includes French, Portuguese, Romanian, and Catalan. The results of these languages belonging to the same family include similarities in phonology, semantics, morphology, and even syntax.

Example of phonological/semantic similarities and differences in Spanish-Italian:

Italian/Spanish: Verde-Green

Rosso (Italian) Rojo (Spanish)- Red

Example of syntax similarities in Spanish-Italian (Noun before adjective):

Italian- La macchina verde…

Spanish-El carro verde…

English: The green car…

Spanish-Italian Comparison: How are they similar?

http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/staff/letchfoa/comparison/comparison.htm

Italian vs. Spanish: Listen to the differences and similarities (may want to skip to about 2:00)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unCmwgnE59o

Romance Languages Overview: what are they?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_languages#Modern_status

Comparison of the Romance Languages: how are they similar?

http://www.nativlang.com/romance-languages/grammar/syntax.php?e=0

Learning the Romance Languages: Curiosity helped the cat learn new languages

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoaoDTY4FuU

Map of the Romance Languages: Where in the world?

http://indoeuro.bizland.com/tree/ital/rom.html

Translator…Maybe?

Over time I have come to realize that I have a sort of passion for languages although I do not speak many. I believe that learning other languages create bridges between cultures while also destroying borders. Because of my passion for languages, I am planning on learning all the Romance languages, along with many others. The language I am planning to focus on aside from the romance languages is Mandarin Chinese, because apparently it’s the “language of the future”. Also, due to my passion for languages I have highly considered to go through with it as a career. Some careers include translator, interpreter, or even teaching a language. Learning other languages may also help in different career fields such as marketing in global business. Ultimately understanding different languages are important in the world because it makes communicating far easier. As stated before, with my background in Spanish and Italian, the Romance languages will hopefully come easier due to my understanding of the phonology, semantics, syntax, and morphology.

Languages: Building Bridges, and fighting borders

http://lingqcentral-en.lingq.com/learning-foreign-language-bridge-cultures

Mandarin Chinese: Is it the language of the future?

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17105569

Careers: Language-based careers?

http://www.omniglot.com/language/careers.htm

Careers: What is translating? What is interpreting?

http://www.languagescientific.com/translation-services/multilingual-interpreting-services/interpreting-vs-translation-services.html

Careers: Language can come in handy

http://www.careerbuilder.com/article/cb-2640-job-info-trends-fields-in-need-of-second-language-skills/

UK and languages:

http://southendgirls.school-site5.net/?_id=622

Arabic Phrases
Semantics/ Phonology

I was raised in a Multi-Lingual environment because I was adopted, lived with two different set of family, my Biological and my foster. I spent most of my youth travel between different languages, cultures, religions, and countries. I was exposed to several languages at a very young age my first language was the language of my nanny, Spanish. Then a I learned my foster mom’s English, my foster dad’s Pushto, and my biological family’s Farsi. Also I was consistently shifting from Pakistan, which spoke Urdu, and the United States; as a result, learning and adopting new languages and cultures became easy and second nature to me.
I am currently taking up Turkish writing, reading, and dialog. However, I am still working on perfecting my Arabic. Of all the languages I think Arabic is a bit difficult due to its several different regional dialects. And since the Language is extend from the Arabian Peninsula to the West Africa, semantics and phonology is a riddle within each region.
Example of Phonological differences:
“Kursi” means ‘chair in Standard Arabic.
Villages in Palestine–>Chursi            Others–>Kursi
“Qalb” means ‘heart’ in Standard Arabic.
Sham (Northern Arabia; Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan)–>Aalb
Egyptian–>Aalb          Gulf Arabic–> Galb              African Arabic–>Qalb

Example for Semantics in manners/phrases:

“Kay fahalouka” means ‘how are you’
Villages in Palestine–>Chifik                 Egyptian–>Ezayak                        Iraq–>Shouko Mouko
Gulf Arabic–>kai fahal             African Arabic–>Kidair
Sham (Northern Arabia; Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan)–>Kifik
Do to these variations; it’s a bit difficult to master the Arabic language. But thanks to YouTube and my amazing friends they send me videos and emails to expose to different dialects. The most helpful out of all the tactics is the actually conversation I exchange with Arabs. I need someone to hear and correct my pronunciation, phrases, and grammar so I can use the same material more efficiently.
Here are some different dialects of Arabic:
Egyptian

Gulf Arabic

The difference in the Arabic accent like any other language reveals the speaker’s socio-economic status, level of education, and the speaker’s ethnicity. Most educated and city folks drop their “Q” sound and replace it with an “A” in beginning of the word. Most Villagers replace their “K” with “Ch” sound in the beginning of the word. Egyptians have the most interesting Arabic because unlike most regional dialects; Egyptian Arabic doesn’t pronounce its “Ja” sound. Instead, Egyptian Arabic replaces it with a “Ga” sound, regardless of the sound’s location.

Furthermore, Syrians also pronounce their “Ja” different. Although, they don’t replace the sound with a completely different sound but the “Ja” is more French than Arabic. As far as the African Arabic like Moroccan, Algerian, Libyan…, this Arabic consists of different languages assimilated in the dialect. These regions not only speak Colonial Arabic but also Berber (language spoken by villagers).

The Gulf is the closest to classical Arabic, it still maintained its posture in pronouncing most letters to its origin, the semantics of the language, and phrases structure didn’t change significantly either.

As both a student at SDSU (Go Aztecs! Even though our mascot is up for debate) and being of indigenous Mexican-Indian descent (according to my Abuela, we are actually Aztec), I have always been fascinated with the culture and language of these native people.

Last Summer, I actually visited Teotihuacan, Mexico D.F. with my family and got to climb the pyramids that the Aztecs had once climbed. Here’s my sister and I on top of the moon pyramid:

7 years of good luck for those who reach the top!

As the story goes, the Aztecs were a nomadic tribe that had just left Aztlan when they came across the land that was to become the great city of Tenochitlan, by signs from their god, Huitzilopochtli.

While touring the ruins, I came across names that I had heard before on the SDSU campus (Chapultepec, Tenochca, Toltec, Cuicacalli). This language seemed to be completely separate from Spanish and quite hard for me to pronounce. (So many q’s and x’s) Our tour guide, Nacho, introduced us to the Nahuatl language, which is the official language of the Aztec peoples.

Many indigenous tribes once covered the landscape that is Mexico. A map of these peoples can be found here. According to statistics, only 5.4% of the population speaks one of the 62 indigenous languages, which all belong to the Amerind language family. Nahuatl is the most popular of these languages and is classified as an agglutinant language, meaning words consist of a string of prefixes, suffixes, and roots to form an idea.

San Diego State has incorporated the Nahuatl language into the naming of its buildings to go with the whole Aztec theme. The university even offers indigenous language classes through the Latin American studies department.

The history of the Aztecs is fascinating and I feel honored to have been able to visit the very place where they once lived. My interest in the language and culture (and Mexican food in general) are only heightened after my trip.

#aztecs #sdsu #indigenous #nahuatl