Tag Archives: language

BOOKS: “Languages: A Very Short Introduction” by Stephen Anderson

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Languages: A Very Short IntroductionLanguages: A Very Short Introduction by Stephen R. Anderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Website

This is a quick guide to the (not so briefly answered) question of how many human languages there are. SPOILER ALERT: There is either one or some number of thousands, depending upon one’s philosophical leanings and a range of factors touched upon by this book. Given that there is clearly not a consensus answer, much of the book deals with what obstructions hinder a clear count, as well as some related questions that influence the number of languages over time.

With respect to the trouble spots of counting languages, the core question is what exactly is a language? Can two people who can understand each other (e.g. as I’ve been told Russians and Ukrainians can) be said to be speaking two different languages? If yes, the number of languages will be higher than if not. But then, how well do you have to understand each other? There are short and simple sentences in German that I understand, but that doesn’t mean I could understand a German, or a German would understand me (well, they probably would because most speak English as an Other Language.)

The related questions dealt with in the book include: why is number of languages shrinking, and is it inevitable? Can a globalized world be consistent with thousands of tribal-scale languages, and — if so — how?

The book also discusses the diversity of sign languages, and how signed languages differ from (and are similar to) spoken languages. The final chapter considers a number of questions, including how language separates humanity from wildlife, or — alternatively stated — what is it that makes human language different from the communication systems of other species of which we’re aware.

This is a readable book that deals in some interesting questions.

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“Untitled” [Pronunciation Poem] by Anonymous* [w/ Audio]

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2 
I take it you already know
  Of tough and bough and cough and dough.
 Others may stumble, but not you,
  On hiccough, thorough, lough and through.
 Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,
  To learn of less familiar traps.

Beware of heard, a dreadful word
  That looks like beard and sounds like bird.
 And dead -- it's said like bed, not bead.
  For goodness sake, don't call it deed!
 Watch out for meat and great and threat.
  They rhyme with suite and straight and debt.

A moth is not a moth in mother,
  Nor both in bother, broth in brother,
 And here is not a match for there,
  Nor dear and fear for pear and bear.
 And then there's dose and rose and lose
  Just look them up -- and goose and choose.

And cork and work and card and ward.
  And font and front and word and sword.
 And do and go, then thwart and cart.
  Come, come I've hardly made a start.

A dreadful language? Man alive,
 I'd mastered it when I was five!

* This poem has come to be attributed to a T.S. Watt with a date of 1954. However, the broad divergence of titles and lack of other publication information suggest the alternate possibility that attribution was invented after the fact and has just been mindlessly copied across the internet. I don’t wish to cheat T.S. Watt, if he or she was an actual person who wrote this clever poem, but I also don’t wish to contribute to the spread of false information that happens regularly across the internet. Hence, this note.

BOOK: “Twenty-Nine Goodbyes” by Timothy Billings

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Twenty-Nine Goodbyes: An Introduction to Chinese PoetryTwenty-Nine Goodbyes: An Introduction to Chinese Poetry by Timothy Billings
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher website

The premise of this book is simple, Billings presents twenty-nine different translations of a famous farewell poem by the Tang Dynasty poetic genius, Li Bai, and compares, contrasts, and critiques them in detail. The included translations weren’t all crafted in the English language, but English translations (of the translations) are presented as needed. There are translations from French, Spanish, Japanese, and even modern Mandarin Chinese — among others.

Despite how that may sound, it is a tremendously readable book. Billings writes with engaging prose, employs humor (especially when critiquing his own contribution in the final chapter,) and uses complicated jargon only when necessary and with comprehensible explanations.

Still, it does take a certain level of passion to read because one is repeatedly examining the same poem, and one has to have an interest in the minutiae of said poem and – more importantly — an interest in the broader lessons conveyed about translation. If whether a color is translated as green or blue (or what symbolic object tumbles on the ground, or what sound a horse makes) doesn’t seem change the emotional experience of the poem for you, then you’ll probably have a hard time getting into this book. That said, the ability to take a longitudinal view –seeing same points in a given poem through the lens of different poets and translators cross time and cultures, does offer insight that one would be unlikely to get from reading any of the twenty-nine translations in isolation as part of a single translator’s collection of translations.

The most useful thing the book did for me was to increase my understanding of the nature of translation and its tradeoffs, as well as to elucidate how easy it is to miss the mark when one is translating from a perspective so different in time and worldview.

I’d highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Tang Dynasty poetry, translation, and the interface of culture and language.

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BOOKS: “Chinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: Just the Basics” ed. by John Pasden

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Chinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: Just the BasicsChinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: Just the Basics by John Pasden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Website

This is the first in a series of books that present the rules and structure of grammar for Mandarin Chinese along with examples. As the subtitle suggests, it covers only the rudiments of sentence structure as well as the most elementary ways of expressing existence, possession, location, number, and a few other basic grammatic functions, as well as teaching the reader how to count and express time and date.

The examples are all presented in characters, pinyin [w/ tone markers,] and the English translation. The explanations are straightforward, and the examples offer basic and useful sentences and phrases.

I found this book to be beneficial, and have obtained the next volume, which expands upon the basics. The book presents a simple and painless approach to Chinese grammar. I’d recommend this book for any fellow neophytes just learning Chinese.

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BOOKS: “Fluent Forever” by Gabriel Wyner

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Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget ItFluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It by Gabriel Wyner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Website

This is one of the most useful books I’ve read in some time. Wyner proposes a method to learn a new language that both removes some of the drudgery while improving retention. Anticipating the skepticism that I would have myself at this point: no, it is not one of those books that makes ridiculous and unfounded claims such as that you can learn a language entirely in your sleep or that you can develop native fluency in seven days. Instead, Wyner’s method is based on sound scientific ideas.

So, what does this method consist of? A few of the key points are: first, one doesn’t skip straight to basic conversational phrases as many books and courses do, but rather places great emphasis on learning how to hear and say the sounds of the target language. This phase is often given short shrift, presumably assuming that this skill will be picked up automatically in the process, but Wyner’s argument is that not being able to hear what’s correct or not great slows progress in the long run. Second, memorization tasks use the “spaced repetition system” (SRS) method whereby you increase the time between exposure to new knowledge as you learn it until it is firmly entrenched in one’s mind. Third, one seeks to build a more visceral connection to the new vocabulary and phrases, and this makes learning more fun while improving retention. This is principally done by making flash cards that tell a story relevant to one’s personal experience (and / or which uses subject matter such as sex [which tends to produce more indelibility of memories.])

Beyond the method presented by the book, one is also presented with a great number of resources that can be helpful. Some of these resources are a part of the author’s own website, but many are external resources (from Anki [an app that allows one to build flashcards and study them on a SRS schedule] to courses of the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute.)

I’ve started to learn Mandarin and have begun employing a number of ideas from this book. I would highly recommend the book for anyone who is interested in learning another language, no matter what said language might be. (This is a book of “how to” learn, not “what to” learn.)

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Five Wise Lines [June 2024]

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The man who says to me, “Believe as I do, or God will damn thee,” will presently say, “Believe as I do, or I shall assassinate thee.”

Voltaire, in On superstition

The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

Marcel proust

The translation of a poem having any depth ends by being one of two things: Either it is the expression of the translator, virtually a new poem, or it is as it were a photograph, as exact as possible, of one side of the statue.

Ezra pound

The people are of supreme importance to the ruler,
food is of supreme importance to the people.

Chinese adage

All translators face two choices: leave the reader in peace and drag the author closer, or leave the author in peace and drag the reader closer.

Friedrich schleiermacher (1768-1834)
[Referenced in Twenty-Nine GOODBYES, ed. by timothy billings]

BOOKS: “Chinese Folktales for Language Learners” by Vivian Ling and Peng Wang

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Chinese Folktales for Language Learners: Famous Folk Stories in Chinese and English (Free online Audio Recordings)Chinese Folktales for Language Learners: Famous Folk Stories in Chinese and English by Vivian Ling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Website

As the title suggests, this is a collection of fifteen Chinese folktales presented bilingually in a manner optimized to language learners. To clarify the “optimized for language learners” comment, these stories are paced differently than they would be if the central objective was to entertain. That old writerly chestnut of “show don’t tell” is often violated and the stories are kept short and sweet in a way that can feel like they sprint through critical moments. This is not criticism. I think it is the best way to give individuals learning Mandarin (or presumably Mandarin speakers learning English) a user-friendly book that doesn’t feature dense blocks of text and overly complicated language. (Note: it’s also not bad for those who just want the quick and dirty version of these tales.)

Each of the stories includes a section with some background information on the history and cultural elements behind the stories (stories which display a range of realism and are from distant times,) a list of terms and phrases in English and Chinese, and a brief set of questions to help the reader develop deeper insight into the stories. These ancillary features are all quite useful to the student of language.

As stories, some of these folktales are more compelling than others. A number of them are dry, but what they lack in intrigue they make up for in insight into the history and culture of China. And some of the stories, e.g. “Judge Bao Takes on the Emperor’s Son-in-Law,” are fascinating.

I’d highly recommend this book for those who are trying to learn Mandarin, but it would also serve those who wish to learn some Chinese folklore in a condensed and readable format.

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Introduction to Spellcasting [Lyric Poem]

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We cast our spells by way of words --
 Each sound, sacred. Its magic blurred
 By mundane ways and untrained ears --
 Failure to feel one's way to tears.

So, we're lost upon silent seas
 Even when one could hear with ease:
 Because boundless is speech's spread,
 And boundless, still, within one's head.

Some seek their way to the magic
 By means that are truly tragic,
 When all they really need to do
 Is listen as it passes through.

PROMPT: Secret

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What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?

This is a trick question that can only logically have one answer. It’s more of a logic / linguistic test than a prompt.

First of all, it can’t be a skill that one has, is secret, and that one blabs about on the internet.

So, the only “secret skill” that one could discuss wishing that one had on the worldwide web must be the ability to keep a secret.

Not really a problem area for me as, being a introvert, I’m pretty tight lipped by nature.

PROMPT: Ban

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If you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?

I would ban the word ban because banning is not a thing that should exist. It is not an impulse one should have.