Language Trainers Blog

Thousands of Croatians attended a demonstration in Zagreb on Sunday to protest against the return of the Cyrillic alphabet on signage in the town of Vukovar.

Vukovar, a town in eastern Croatia, was destroyed during a siege in the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, and was ethnically cleansed of  non-Serbs before being taken by Serb forces. The city was reintegrated into Croatia in 1998. The Croat and Serb communities in Vukovar remain divided.

According to the 2011 census, the Serbian population has reached over a third (34.8%) of the city’s population, which therefore protects the community’s right to have the Cyrillic alphabet displayed on public signs. The Croatian language uses the Latin alphabet. Croatian Minister for Public Administration, Arsen Bauk, said such signs were now necessary under a constitutional law that mandates bilingual signs in towns where a minority accounts for more than 30% of the population.

Croatia is due to join the European Union on July 1st, and protesters are testing the country’s resolve on matters of minority rights.

Source: BBC News

A grant from the The National Manuscripts Conservation Trust has ensured that two rare 17th and 18th Century Cornish manuscripts will be restored this year. The manuscripts, which contain “an early example of a Cornish grammar and vocabulary study which resembles a Cornish dictionary,” and an examination of the contemporary decline of the language, date back from 1688 and 1750.

Here in the UK, it’s traditional to wish people a “Merry Christmas” at this time of year, as opposed to the North American greeting “Happy Holidays.” In fact, the word for Christmas in Old English is Cristes Maesse, and later Christ’s Mass. Mass, in religious context, means a death sacrifice. So maybe not a nice thing to wish, after all?

When some of us are sending our Christmas cards, some write “Merry Christmas,” whilst others use “Merry Xmas” as a shortened version of the former.

In Ancient Greek, the word Christ was spelled with an X – Χριστός (Xpistos) so some believe that the shortened version of the word stems from this.

Either way, the word “Christmas” undeniably has religious connotations and has certainly made me think of the meanings behind the phrase “Merry Christmas.” Maybe “Happy Holidays” is best after all?

The Scottish dialect Cromarty fisherfolk has become extinct after the last known speaker, Bobby Hogg, died recently.

Cromarty, named after the fishing village in the Highlands, was a traditional fisherman’s dialect, and was recorded in a booklet compiled of words and phrases by the online archive of the Highland Council in 2009.

Older words such as “thee,” “thine,” and “thou” are characteristic of the dialect, as is the use of the letter “h,” which is used differently to how we know it in English. The word “herring” then becomes “‘erring” and “ears” becomes “hears.”

Bobby Hogg and his brother Gordon, who died last year, were the last two fluent speakers of Cromarty, but certain words and phrases are still in occasional use in the area. You can listen to recordings of the brothers speaking on the Am Baile website. The site also has the aforementioned compilation of words and phrases, which includes phrases such as thee’re no talkin’ licht meaning ‘you are quite right,’ and at now kucka – a friendly greeting.

Like history? Love languages? You may be interested in the Polish historical equivalent to Monopoly.

Kolejka (Queue) has been dubbed “the world’s more boring board game,” as it involves collecting items on your shopping list, mirroring the experiences of queuing for rations in Communist eras and during and after the War. Although it was initially launched in Polish, a multi language version has just been released. You can now play in English, German, Japanese, Polish, Russian, and Spanish. There are rules in each language available to download here.

The games maker’s have stated that they want to show young people how life was like under Communist rule. Karol Madaj, the creator of the game, says that it is best played with people of various generations, as it evokes memories from older people who can then recall and teach younger generations of their experiences.

There is a download, print and play version of the game available at the Institute of National Remembrance’s website.

One woman in Nepal holds the key to a near extinct language. Seventy five year old Gyani Maiya Sen is the last remaining member of the Kusunda people who speaks their language fluently. Ms Sen states that other Kusunda people can speak a few words of the language but are not fully conversant.

“Fortunately I can also speak Nepali, but I feel very sad for not being able to speak my own language with people from my own community,” she said.

It is not known how many Kusunda people remain at this time; at the time of the 2001 Nepal census, there were 164 Kusundas living in Nepal, however many are thought to have either moved away or died.

Kusunda is considered a language isolate, meaning it has no discernible ties or relationships to any other known living language. No children within the indigenous group are learning the language, and all known Kusunda speakers have married into other tribes.

Whilst Nepal’s Ministry of Culture has no plans to preserve the language, linguistic students are seeking the help of Gyani Maiya Sen to document and learn Kusunda, in the hope of preventing it from dying out completely.

Source: BBC News

Archaeologists working in Turkey have found what they think to be evidence of a long forgotten language. A team of archaeologists working at Ziyaret Tepe, the site of the ancient Assyrian city of Tushan in south eastern Turkey, discovered an ancient clay writing tablet inscribed with Cuneiform characters, in the remains of a palace. Cambridge University researcher, Dr John MacGinnis, who examined and deciphered the tablet, found a list of 60 female names on the artefact. Some names are Assyrian, several more belong to other languages of the period, such as Luwian or Hurrian. Forty five of the names were not recognised as being one of the thousands of known Ancient Middle Eastern names, leading the team to believe that they have discovered evidence of an unidentified language.

Experts are now set to examine the names in further detail to discover if the letters bear any resemblance to existing known Assyrian languages such as Shubrian, which was previously thought to never have been written down.

Whatever the outcome, it’s clear that this tablet has potential to unlock more pieces in the historical puzzle.

The British Library has released the first ever audio CD of clips of Shakespeare plays spoken in the original pronunciation. The recording includes some of Shakespeare’s best known speeches, such as the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet’s To Be Or Not To Be, and the Friends, Romans, countrymen… monologue from Julius Caesar.

The “new” pronunciation makes lines which were meant to rhyme actually rhyme, and demonstrates the importance of pronunciation in communications.

You can listen to some of the clips here. I think the accents used sound like a cross between Yorkshire and West Country styles. What do you think?

If you are further interested, the British Library will be holding an event with actors from the recordings. Shakespeare’s Original Pronunciation – Live! will be held on Friday 4th May. Tickets are available here and are priced £7.50 / £5.

Tomorrow, February 21^st, marks the 12^th annual International Mother Language Day. In honour of this worldwide occasion, we bring you some facts about the day, and what it represents.

· International Mother Language Day was founded by UNESCO in November 1999 to “promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism, and to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.” It has been internationally observed since the year 2000.

· February 21^st was chosen to mark the anniversary, and in recognition of, the death of students from the University of Dhaka in 1952. The students were shot dead by police whilst on a peaceful protest for what is now known as the Bengali Language Movement.

· In Bangladesh, February 21^st is observed as a national holiday, National Language Movement Day.

· To remember the students, there is a monument named Shaheed Minar (Language Martyr’s Monument) on the Dhaka University campus in Bangladesh. There are smaller monuments in every district of Bangladesh.

· There are similar monuments in the UK, in Manchester, Oldham, Birmingham and in Altab Ali Park, in Whitechapel, East London. Another is proposed for Clare Gardens in Cardiff.

· UNESCO Headquarters launches the event and Member States are encouraged to organize educational, cultural and social activities that support linguistic diversity and multilingual education.

· Schools, universities and cultural institutions are especially involved in activities promoting the goals of International Mother Language Day.

· There is a theme attached to each year’s observance. The theme for 2012 is “Mother tongue instruction and inclusive education.”

· A Photo Contest was organised to mark this years’ event. Contestants from all nationalities were invited to submit up to 3 photos which embodied the theme “Languages and Cultures through the Language of Photography.” Winners are due to be announced shortly.

Are you involved in any International Mother Language Day activities? Leave a comment and tell us all about it!

In honour of the 125th anniversary of the language, students in Stoke-on-Trent have started a campaign to promote Esperanto as the second language of choice.

Esperanto is a language which was devised in 1887 by Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof. It is considered to be an easy language to learn, as the grammar has no irregular verbs, and people in almost every country have learned to communicate using it. An estimated 2 million people speak the language worldwide, with almost 1000 of those in the UK.

But why are students in Stoke-on-Trent so interested in Esperanto? Well, the headquarters of the language association is based in the village of Barlaston, just outside Stoke-on-Trent. The offices are based on the campus of Wedgwood Memorial College, which has been teaching courses in Esperanto since 1960. The library there holds over 13,000 books in the language.

Stoke-on-Trent has a road named after the founder of the language, Zamenhof Grove, and there is also an Esperanto pub, The Green Star. It’s even host to the 4 day Esperanto Summer Festival.

More information can be found here.