Stories about Language from August, 2008
Blogger of the Week: Siniša Boljanović
Siniša Boljanović had never blogged when he volunteered to report on Serbian blogs for Global Voices in 2007. He read an article about Global Voices in a Serbian online magazine and was so hooked on the idea of contributing, he taught himself to write in English and use Wordpress for the first time in spite of one additional obstacle: Siniša is blind.
Russia: How to Spell ‘Blogger’ in Russian
There are two ways to spell the word ‘blogger’ in Russian – with two g's or with just one. The former seems to prevail among Russian bloggers, according to LJ...
Iraq: Fascination for Language
“I am no linguist, but as far as I can remember I have always held a strange fascination for Language,” notes Iraqi blogger Layla Anwar.
China: Chinese Lies
C. W. Hayford from Chinese History group blog goes into various literature sources for discussing the “Chinese character” in relation to “face” and “lie”. It gives some background about the...
China: Translating New York Times Olympic Report
Black and White Cat shows how the Xinhua has translated the New York Times Olympic Report into Chinese.
Georgia, Russia: Interethnic Relationships
Tbilisi-based LJ user shupaka and Russian war journalist Vadim Rechkalov (LJ user voinodel) share stories about interethnic relationships in Georgia and North Ossetia, Russia, in the time of conflict between the two countries.
Georgia: Russian-Georgian News Item Translations
Exercises in Translation has started translating news items in Russian and Georgian on the conflict between Moscow and Tbilisi over Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In the two most recent posts,...
Laos in the Olympics
The 2008 Beijing Olympics informed many people around the world that Laos is pronounced as Lao (silent ‘s’), as noted by I Eat Padek.
China: Cheering for the race traitors
Those thin-skinned cyber-mobsters must have heatstroke; Chinese coach leads US women's volleyball team to victory against China and gets dissed by a chess grandmaster, then: The majority of the netizens...
Saudi Arabia: It's all in the name
It is common practice for converts to Islam to adopt Muslim names. But is it necessary - and what kind of name is appropriate? One Saudi blogger ponders the question, while some others are thinking about the use of aliases in the blogosphere - and yet another encourages the government to 'name names'.
Kyrgyzstan: Uzbek language TV channels are at a risk of closure in Kyrgyzstan
Tolkun writes about the new language regulations for broadcast mass media in Kyrgyzstan and its possible effects on Uzbek language media of the country.
Guyana: Poems of a Fat Black Woman
Signifyin’ Guyana posts excerpts from Guyanese poet Grace Nichols’ “sexy little collection”, which “tell of a fat black woman's trials and tribulations, as well as her moments of triumph in...
Georgia: A linguistic approach to the country's claimed ‘territorial integrity’
ClubOrlov presents an interesting approach — ‘colored by linguistics’ — and insightful takes on the western claims over Georgia's ‘territorial integrity’.
Morocco: I speak Darija!
Words for Change discusses the difference between standard Arabic and Moroccan darija, and stands up for her dialect.
Nigeria: Contribute to Hausa projects
useibert calls on Hausa speakers to contribute to Hausa projects on the Internet.
Uganda: Firefox in Luganda
ITNewsAfrica reports that Firefox browser has been translated into Luganda, a major language in Uganda.
Jordan: Arabic Harry Potter Banned in Israel
The Arabic version of the Harry Potter series is banned in Israel, reports The Black Iris, from Jordan. According to news sources, the ban is based on a decree from...
Kuwait: Release Hussein Al Fudalah Now
On July 7, Kuwaiti Hussein Al Fudalah left his home to go fishing and was never seen again. A few days later his family got the news that he was detained in neighbouring Iran. And while Kuwait's newspapers are turning a blind eye to Hussein's plight, one Kuwaiti blogger thinks that enough is enough and is running an online campaign to draw more attention to the captured fisherman.
Tajikistan: Saving Shughni Language
Ian tells how a group of scholars at the University of Kentucky is working on a grammar of Shughni language, spoken in the Badakhshan region of Tajikistan.
iSummit2008: The Japanese-English divide
The 2008 iSummit in Sapporo, Japan ended last week after three days of keynotes and lab sessions on open content and open culture. Blogger Shinya Ichinohe (shinyai), who attended the event, reflected on his experiences, noting that while grateful for all that he learned, he also regrets the division which emerged between Japanese-language and English-language tracks.
Belarus: Lukashenka and God
Malishevsky analyses (RUS) Belarussian President's Alyaksandr Lukashenka, relationship to God from his frequent invocations of higher powers in speeches and public appearances, especially when it comes to foreign relations.
