Featured stories about Language
Stories about Language
6 November 2019
Museums of the mind: Why we should preserve endangered languages
Sustaining endangered languages involves transforming how speakers are perceived in their communities, how languages are portrayed in the local and national media, and how the matter is treated by governments.
19 October 2019
The Indian state of Odisha publishes online dictionaries in 21 indigenous languages
India is home to over 780 languages and approximately 220-250 languages have died over the last 50 years.
18 October 2019
How Ethiopia's ruling coalition created a playbook for disinformation
Manipulation tactics used by Ethiopia's ruling coalition members against each other in their internal power struggle serve as a blueprint for opposition groups to attack their opponents and the government.
16 September 2019
A professor's self-immolation puts the spotlight on the fragile future of Russia's minority languages
Many people discussing Razin's death seem bewildered that anyone would use minority languages in daily life, let alone die for them—an attitude by no means limited to Russia.
13 September 2019
A proposed administrative shift in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church stokes ethnic, religious tensions
Oromo clerics say the EOTC expects Oromo churchgoers to worship in Ge’ez, the church’s liturgical language, or Amharic, the working language of Ethiopia's federal government.
4 September 2019
Unified under one font system as Myanmar prepares to migrate from Zawgyi to Unicode
Myanmar hopes to complete its migration from its use of Zawgyi font to the adoption of a unified system of fonts that conform to the international standard called Unicode.
2 September 2019
Decolonising and demystifying Central Asian literature through translation
"Central Asian literature is still exotic; people appreciate its rareness more than its literary merits. I want readers to move away from thinking 'how unusual!' to thinking 'how beautiful!'"
‘Sacrifice by Fire’: The first translation of ‘Holocaust’ into Cambodia's Khmer language
"When there are no more survivors to talk about what happened, we still need to learn and teach and talk about it on their behalf.”
14 August 2019
‘The external world doesn't know how rich Nepali literature is': An interview with author Dr. Sangita Swechcha
"Not only is [the number of] Nepali writers who write in English slowly growing but the translation of literary works from Nepali to other languages is gaining momentum too."
29 July 2019
A brief history of Taiwan's indigenous Seediq tribe
The Seediq tribe, one of the aboriginal tribes of Taiwan, has a history of fighting for their rights against the Japanese colonial power.
5 July 2019
New York Times ad for Nairobi bureau chief riddled with clichés about Africa
The NYT’s language to describe their ideal Nairobi bureau chief reignited the debate on Western media's perpetual use of tired clichés and tropes about Africa.
25 June 2019
“Language is also a form of resistance”
"As a citizen of the Mexican State, I demand that my language, our languages and peoples, have the same opportunities to survive and exist without the fear of being extinguished....
21 June 2019
‘Is vagina a dirty word?’ Ugandan feminist Stella Nyanzi's court battle continues
Nyanzi battles for her freedom of expression. Besides this case, Nyanzi still faces charges other charges of cyber harassment and offensive communication.
23 May 2019
‘Big tech companies won’t solve the problem for us. We can do it ourselves.’
My 92 year old grandfather, like Nigerians of his generation, can read and write in Yorùbá. But since they are not 'literate' in English, they are digitally excluded.
17 May 2019
In Hong Kong, the sexual connotation of Ikea's new tofu ice cream ad creates controversy
"[The ad] generates the image of a woman wishing for her body to be eaten like tofu."
11 May 2019
The road signs that stirred up Albania-Greece relations yet again
Authorities have stated that the signs violated legislation regulating the order, size, and font in which Albanian and minority languages should be displayed.
10 May 2019
How the word ‘gender’ became a slur in Bulgaria
Homophobia and transphobia are widespread in Bulgaria, whose government has recently cozied up to the extreme right.
3 May 2019
Running counter: An interview with a French publisher of Turkish literature
"Kontr is a publishing house, and a home where one invites the ones he likes, it is not a factory aimed at producing goods, labels or at making money."
19 April 2019
A Global Voices story helps translation competition winners express their passion for the Czech language
An international competition of translation into Czech using a GV story presents awards to global winners.
15 April 2019
“Our languages are not dying, they are being killed”
“Your language is worthless,” they were told repeatedly. “To be a Mexican citizen, you must speak the national language, Spanish. Stop speaking your language.”
