Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Once upon a time...



Language allows us to think and communicate our ideas and a tool once critical to survival has become a tool for enjoyment, escapism and education.  The use of language has been evolving for centuries and will continue to do so. It makes sense that humans have language but how often do we appreciate the ability of our brains to learn thousands of sound waves and inscriptions and attach meaning to each and every one of them. Something you and I are doing right now is astounding and a wonderful accomplishment so I just want to give a shout out to the frontal and left temporal lobes because they are the parts of our brain that are responsible for language

Three languages you have probably never heard of



3 languages you have probably never heard of
1.       Akkadian – this language was spoken from around 2800BC to 500AD. It was the language of the first Semitic speaking empire and it originated from Mesopotamia a region in West Asia that previously occupied parts of modern day Iraq, Israel and Turkey.  The region was large so the climate varied. Some places received sufficient rain where others suffered from a lack of precipitation and temperatures averaging over 43 degrees Celsius.

2.       Silbo Gomero – this is a language that is still spoken on the La Gomera Island, one of the Canary Islands. It is a whistle language and messages are heavily dependent on tone and pitch. Silbo Gomero was adapted to suit communication across a long distance as the region is very mountainous.

3.       Sentinelese – this is a language spoken by a population that has no contact with the outside world. The few people that have tried to contact the inhabitants of the tiny North Sentinel Island in Bengal Bay have been shot at by villagers using bows and arrows. Unsurprisingly, this warm welcome means we know little to nothing about the language they speak other than it exists. 


A little bit on Latin



Latin is no longer the official language of any country but that by no means says that Latin is not relevant. Over a million people have a first or second language that came from Latin. Latin originated from a region in the west of Italy called Latium that grew over time to become the focal point and capital of the Roman Empire. Latium was ideally situated beside the river Tiber on rich, volcanic land.  Even before the rise of the empire the rivers influence would have facilitated the spread of Latin because the Latins interacted with many other tribes when travelling and they brought their language with them. 

The geographical factors that allowed the village, hence the language, to flourish include the surrounding mountains that provided protection,  the Mediterranean  climate  that encouraged agriculture and meant foods like olives could be grown, a valuable commodity in ancient Rome.
To conclude; the languages so many of us speak today would be virtually unrecognisable if the location of one river changed. It’s important we give geography credit where credit is due.

Monday, December 11, 2017

5 words you may be pronouncing wrong



5 words you may be pronouncing wrong

No.1 Octopus

The correct plural of octopus is octopuses. Many people are under the impression that it is octopi but this is incorrect because octo is a Greek root and pi is a Latin plural.  If we are to get really technical you could pronounce the plural as octopodes, the Ancient Greek pronunciation but I think most of us will stick to octopuses 



No.2 Beef

Beeves is the plural form of beef. The word beef was used to describe a meat carcass that had been sufficiently fattened up and was ready for slaughter. In this instance when there were more than one of these cows they were called beeves. This is why beeves is the plural of beef.



No.3 Goose

Goose changes to geese because of an old English rule that when the second syllable is also a vowel the vowel changes instead of adding an “s”. Consequentially the spelling and sound of a word change too.

No.4 Opus

Opus is the poor, neglected singular form of opera. The correct pluralisation of opus is opera because opus comes from Latin, however I feel it is worthy of this list because so many people forget that opera is a pluralisation and not a singular word.

No.5 Appendix

Appendix is often pluralised as appendices or appendixes the former being the Latin ending and the latter being the English. This one is different to its predecessors because both options are acceptable, with the English being preferable.