Category Archives: Languages

Toponyms & Ethnonyms: a brief ramble

Rambling about toponyms and ethnonyms in various languages.

Posted in Languages | 10 Comments

ελαδιοξιδιολατολαχανοκαρυκευμα

A very brief history of Greek diglossia.

Posted in Ancient Greek, Languages | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

שׂבולת שׂמית

Stream-of-consciousness thoughts about why we say “Semitic” even though the root is “Shem”. And, yes, I know the Hebrew letters in the title say “semitic sibboleth” and not “shemitic shibboleth”.

Posted in Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Languages | Tagged , , , , , , | 14 Comments

大東亞共現代性圏

I just noticed Tyler Cowen had blogged a Boston Globe article about the number of loanwords in various languages (is there something from the press Cowen will not blog ?), and his own take was to ask, which major language has the lowest percentage of foreign … Continue reading

Posted in East Asia, Food, Languages | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Polish Illiquidity Preference

If Monty Python decided to resdesign Slavic phonology, they might take some inspiration from Polish.

Posted in Languages | Tagged , , | 7 Comments