Here’s a recording of a mystery conlang sent in by Ronald Kyrmse. Can you work out which languages it’s based on.
Dysgwyr agus Gaeilgeoirí
Yr wythnos hon, cwrddais â ferch o’r Weriniaeth Tsiec sy’n dysgu Cymraeg. Mae hi’n gwneud gradd Saesneg mewn prifysgol ym Mrâg ac yn dysgu Cymraeg ar ei phen ei hunan. Daeth hi o hyd i mi trwy fy wefan a dyn ni wedi bod yn sgwrsio yn Saesneg, Tsieceg a Chymraeg arlein yn ddefnyddio Skype. Un o’r grŵp canu ydw i’n mynychu bob nos Fawrth yn y Canolfan Iwerddon Hammersmith yn Llundain ydy Cymro-Cymraeg hefyd. Ymddengys bod dysgwyr a siaradwyr Cymraeg mewn cryn dipyn o leoedd annisgwyl.
Dw i’n gwneud cynnydd da gyda’r gitâr. Dw i wedi dysgu y rhan fwya’r cordiau sylfaenol ar gof a mae fy newidiadau cord yn mynd yn lyfnach a chyflymach yn raddol. Dw i’n mwynhau yn fawr chwarae’r gitâr a dw i’n penderfynol dysgu e yn dda iawn.
An seachtain seo, bhuail mé le cailín as Poblacht na Seice atá ag foghlaim Breatnais. Tá sí ag déanamh céim Béarla in ollscoil i bPrág agus ag foghlaim Breatnais ina haonar. Tháinig sí orm trí mó suíomh idirlín agus bímid ag caint le chéile as Béarla, Seicis agus Breatnais ar an idirlín trí Skype.
Sa rang amhránaíocht sa Lárionad Gaelach i Hammersmith, Londain a bhím páirt a ghlacadh ann, tá beirt Gaeilgeoirí ar a laghad, agus Éireannaich eile gan Gaeilge. Tá mé den bharúil nach bhfuil suim mór ag na Gaeilgeoirí Gaeilge a chaint, ach b’fhéidir go bhfuil cearr agam.
Tá mé ag dul chun cinn go maith leis an giotár. Tá mé i ndiaidh an chuid is mó de na corda bunúsacha ag foghlaim de ghlanmheabhair agus tá m’athraigh corda ag éirigh níos mín agus níos tapa de réir a chéile. Bain mé an sult as an giotár a chluich agus tá rún daingean agam é a fhoghlaim an-mhaith.
Name the language
Here’s a recording of a mystery language sent in by AR. Do you know or can you guess which language it is and where it’s spoken?
Clue: this is an Indo-Ayran language.
Tuning into language
Language and music appear to be processed in the same parts of our brains, according to the results of research undertaken at Georgetown University Medical Center.
The research suggests that one part of the brain in the temporal lobes helps us to memorise information such as words and meanings in language and melodies in music. Meanwhile part of the brain’s frontal lobes helps us to learn and use the rules of language and music, such as sentence syntax and musical harmony.
Some theories of the origins of language, such as this one, argue that singing developed before language and that the brain structures that originally evolved to enable us to sing were later adapted for language. This research provides possible support for such theories.
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.
Language quiz
Here’s a recording of a mystery language. Can you guess or do you know which language it is, and where it’s spoken?
Clue: this language was is occasionally written with the Arabic script.
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.