Peeling the library

Today’s word, library, comes from the Old French librairie, a ‘collection of books’, which is a nominal use of adjective librarius, ‘concerning books’, from Latin librarium, ‘chest for books’, from liber (genetive of libri), ‘book, paper, parchment’, originally the ‘inner bark of trees’, probably a derivative of Proto-Indo-European (PIE) base *leub(h) – ‘to strip, to peel’.

In French the word librarie means bookshop. A French library is a bibliothèque, which comes via the Latin bibliothēca, from the Greek βιβλιοθήκη (bibliothêkê), ‘a place to store books’, which breaks down into βίβλος (biblos), ‘book’, and θήκη (thêkê), ‘chest’.

Variations on the theme of bibliothèque are used in a number of other languages, including:

Dutch – bibliotheek
German – Bibliothek
Greek βιβλιοθήκη (bibliothiki)
Italian/Portuguese/Spanish – biblioteca
Russian – библиотека (biblioteka)

In Welsh, a library is a llyfrgell, from llyfr, ‘book’ and cell, ‘cell’, while in Irish it’s leabharlann, from leabhar, ‘book’ and lann (not sure of it’s meaning*). In Chinese, a library is 圖書館 [图书馆] (túshūguăn) = ‘map book house’.

It seems that the word library, or something like it, is not used in it’s English senses in many languages. The only ones I can find are Sesotho and Tswana (laeborari), Tsonga (layiburari) and Venda (laiburari), which appear to be loanwords from English. The Basque word for library, liburutegia, might possibly have Latin or Greek roots.

[Addendum] *lann in Irish is an archaic/obsolete word that means floor, enclosure or church. It comes from the Old Irish lann (building, house, land, plot, plate), from the Proto-Celtic *landā ((open) space, land), from the Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- (land, heath). It is cognate with the Welsh word llan (church, parish, monastery, yard, enclosure, village), the Spanish landa (plain), and the English words land and lawn [source].

Sources: Online Etymology Dictionary, Wiktionnaire, Yawiktionary

Preserving and reviving languages – a high-tech solution

A hand-held device called a Phraselator, that can translate between English and a variety of other languages, has been adapted by a Cherokee business man, Don Thornton, to help with the preservation and revival of Native American languages, according to an article I found today.

You can talk into the Phraselator in English, it recognises your voice, translates your words and then reads the translation aloud. It was originally developed for military use in Afghanistan to translate from English into Dari, Pashto. Quite a few more languages have been added since then and the device is now used by used by the military, police and in disaster relief.

When he read about the Phraselator in 2001, Don Thornton thought that it could be used to help to save indigenous languages. After a long campaign for the right to use the technology, he set up a company, Thornton Media Inc. to do just that, and now works with over 70 tribes. The device is being used by and with elders to record words, phrases, stories and songs in their native languages, along with English translations, and then other members of the tribes are able to use it to learn their languages.

The device enables people to preserve and revive their own languages in their own ways without relying on others. For this reason, because it emulates oral traditions, and because of it’s ease of use, it has be adopted with enthusiasm by many. Thornton acknowledges that it would be better if the languages were passed on in the home from generation to generation, however this is not always possible. This device offers an alternative solution.

Too much time?

Before finding my current job, I spent almost a year searching for work while staying with my parents. During that time, I had great plans to learn languages, the guitar, and various other things. I did manage to acquire a basic knowledge of Welsh and Esperanto, but rushed through the courses with the aim of finishing them, rather than trying to learn the languages as thoroughly as possible. My efforts to learn the guitar didn’t come to much – I learnt a few chords and tunes, but soon got out of the habit of practising regularly. I found myself putting things off, knowing that I could do them later. In the end, I ended up doing not very much. It was as if I had too much time.

A couple of weeks ago, I started learning the guitar again. This time I’m having a lesson once a week, am practising every day, and am trying to learn as much as possible on my own. Finding time to practise the guitar, to study languages, and for all my other hobbies, doesn’t seem to be a problem, even though my spare time is limited.

Name the language

Here’s a sample text in a conlang. Can you work out which language it is and which languages it’s based on?

Si lla der goninew gwollar, lleman tra’ll yspeid, e’ll noeth cadd e’ll diwrn rhump di’n der a’n der, gwan sewenir-nu’ll pobl – ychweilan, dorfen, nascen, e foren – yn mun, yn ddynaldad. Gwan di gi i mheg.

Ynsee Gaelg (Learn Manx)

Ynsee Gaelg is a new site I found this week that contains Manx language lessons, games, stories, news and information about the language. The lessons are available at three levels: Toshiaghteyr (Beginners), Meanagh (Intermediate) and Ard (Advanced) and include sound files for all the phrases and texts, something that’s lacking from other online Manx lessons. The stories and news are in English or Manx.

I’m impressed with this site – it contains a lot of useful, well-presented content, and also looks good. Now if I can just find a bit of time amongst my other activities, I’ll use it to learn some more Manx.

I find Manx texts quite difficult to read due to lack of familiarity with the spelling system. If I read the texts aloud however, I can often understand them better.

Kernewek/Kernowek/Kernuak/Curnoack

Moves are apparently being made to establish a single written form of Cornish, which currently has four different spelling systems. The Cornish Language Partnership has set up a Linguistic Working Group consisting of Cornish speakers with a good knowledge of the language to recommend a solution to this excess of orthographies. A conference will be held this month to discuss this matter. If an agreement is reached on a single written form, it will be used in schools and for official purposes.

I understand that the lack of a standard spelling system is discouraging some people from taking Cornish seriously. If a standard can be agreed on, this could lead to more people learning the language.

Here are a few Cornish-related sites I found yesterday.

Cornish for Absolute Beginners
http://www.howlsedhes.co.uk/dallether/dlan0.shtml

Radyo an Norvys – a pod cast in Cornish
http://www.dasunys.net/podcast.htm

Cornish forum – discussions in and about the Cornish language
http://www.dasunys.net/php/

Tablys leveryans – Cornish pronunciation tables
http://www.dasunys.net/tables.htm

Fflat

Cwrddais i â’r perchennog newydd fy fflat a’r holl tŷ ddoe. Daeth e ar ei hald gyda phobl o ddau asiant ystadau gwahanol i weld y tŷ ac i asesu ei werth e – dw i’n poeni bydd y rhent yn cael ei gynyddu yn fawr cyn bo hir. Mae rhywun o’r asiant gosod wedi dweud wrtha i na fydd y rhent yn newid, ond dw i ddim yn hollol credu unrhyw beth bod nhw’n dweud.

Er enghraifft, dywedon nhw wrth y perchennog bydden nhw’n trwsio rhai o bethau trydanol yn y tŷ – dydyn y pethau ddim wedi cael eu drwsio eto. Maen nhw wedi dod i weld y tŷ sawl waith heb hysbysu mi a’r tenantiaid eraill (doedd dim hysbysiad am ymweliad ddoe), ac maen nhw wedi dod i mewn y fflatiau heb daro ar y drws. Pan dw i’n cwyno, maen nhw’n dweud bod y hysbysiad “yn y post” – fel arfer does dim ôl ohono.

Credodd y perchennog bod fy fflat yn wag, achos dyna ddywedodd rhywun yn yr asiant gosod wrtho fe – camgymeriad bach, dywedwn! Ffoniais i nhw dim ond echddoe i ddweud bod i’n eisiau adnewyddu fy nghontract.

Árasán

Bhuail mé le tiarna talún nua m’árasán agus an teach ar fad inné. Tháinig sé le daoine ó dhá gníomhaire eastáit éagsúla chun an teach a fhéachaint agus luach a chuir air – tá eagla orm go mbeidh mo chíos ag ardú go mór roimh i bhfad. Dúirt duine éigin ón ghníomhaireacht cíos liom, nach mbíodh athrú ar an cíos, ach ní bhím ag creidiúint go hiomlán rud éigin atá siad ag rá.

Mar shampla, dúirt siad leis an tiarna talún nua go bhíodh siad ag deisiú roinnt rudaí leictreach sa teach – níl na rudaí deisithe go fóill. Bíonn siad ag teacht chun an teach a fhéachaint go minic gan mé, nó na tionóntaí eile, a chur ar an eolas faoi (ní raibh fógra ar bith faoin cuairt inné), agus bíonn siad ag teacht isteach gan cnagadh ar an doras. Nuair atá mé ag déanamh gearán faoi, bíonn siad ag rá go bhfuil an fógra “sa phost” – ní bíonn lorg air de ghnáth.

Chreid an tiarna talún go raibh m’árasán gan áitiú – sin é cad é a dúirt duine éigin ón ghníomhaireacht cíos leis – botún beag, déarfainn! Chuir mé glaoch orthu arú inné chun mo chonradh a athnuaigh.

House of Languages

House of Languages

According to Eurolang, the Catalan government (Generalitat de Catalunya) is planning to provide over half a million euros to fund the setting up of Linguamón – Casa de les Llengües (House of Languages), a museum dedicated to the world’s linguistic diversity in Barcelona. The museum will use multimedia systems to allow for high levels of interaction with actual or virtual visitors, and will also have an auditorium, a documentation centre, a specialised library and an area for academic research. It is hoped that the museum will become a “worldwide centre of excellence and innovation”.

There is already a website for the project, which contains information in quite a few different languages, including Catalan, Arabic, Welsh, Hindi, Tamazight and even Catalan Sign Language (Llengua de signes catalana). The sign language version has text in Catalan and videos of the sign language. This is the first sign language version of a website I’ve seen.

Unintentional questions

In many languages a raising inflection at the end of a statement makes it into a question. A post I read the other day on Invading Holland discusses the authors’ struggles with the Dutch language. Particularly the way he adds a raising inflection to the ends of statements, not because he want to make them into questions, but because he’s unsure if he’s saying them correctly and seeks confirmation.

This is often misinterpreted because rather than answering the unspoken question, i.e. “Did I get that right?”, people tend to doubt his sanity when he appears to ask them questions like “I’ll have a coffee?” or “I’d like to go to the station?”. He calls it the ‘The Unintentional Question Effect’.

When speaking foreign, I’ve also been known to unleash unintended questions on unsuspecting interlocutors, and have noticed others doing the same thing.