Stories about Language from July, 2011
Russia: Science Fiction Vocabulary
Yelena of Russian Blog addresses a few of the new Russian words adopted with the increasing popularity of science fiction in the 1990s.
Estonia: Tower of Babel
Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa discusses how Estonia – contrary to preconceptions – is very much of a multilingual country, not least because of tourism but also in daily practicalities.
Jamaica: Public Outbursts from Diasporan Women
“How can we not say to ourselves – was any enterprise ever so doomed to failure? Was anything ever so sad?”: An eye-opening post from Under the Saltine Flag about the underlying issues that could possibly have sparked public tirades by two Jamaican women.
Trinidad & Tobago: A Poem for Amy
“I’ve never met Amy Winehouse. I’m not a musician. I’m not British or anything even remotely connected to her. I only discovered her music about three years ago and, honestly, there were people who were more ardent fans”: Still, Lisa Allen-Agostini was inspired to write a poem for the late...
Jamaica, Haiti: On Creole Language
“Well, I’ve always known that my views on Jamaican Creole or Patwa, the native language here, were contentious but sound”: Annie Paul is vindicated.
Jamaica: Rivers & Mountains
“One of my favourite Caribbean proverbs comes from Haiti…‘Deye mon genmon’. Translated: behind the mountains there are mountains. It is such a fantastic description of the landscapes of both Jamaica and Haiti…Our hills roll on forever. Our mountains never end”: Under the Saltire Flag reflects on music, landscapes and the...
China: Why Weibo?
Charlie from Chengdu living explains to his readers the benefits of using Weibo.
Africa: Of Misunderstandings, the Best Laid Plans and Language Challenge
Find out about what's on the minds of a variety of African bloggers with Global Voices author Paula Odhiambo.
Montenegro: Serbian not spoken here?
M. Bozinovich of Serbianna discusses a recent Montenegro census saying that 20% of Montenegrins no longer speak Serbian, and whether this is an actual result or caused by nationalism.
Russia: Popular Curse Temporarily Becomes a Worldwide Twitter Trend
#хуи [ru], Russian swearword for penis (plural), for a few hours became a global trend. Lenta.ru notes [ru] that the sudden appearance of this hashtag marks the launch of Cyrillic hashtag functionality.
China: Political Terms
Qian Gang analyses Chinese President Hu Jintao’s report delivered on July 1, 2011, to the conference commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by looking into the frequency of CCP leaders’ trademark political terms in his speech.
Trydar y Cymry! The Welsh Language Thrives Online
"Trydar y Cymry" means "the twittering of the Welsh" or "the Welsh twitterers" (the verb "trydar" now being used in connection with Twitter) and is an example of the Welsh language adapting and developing as it is used online. Global Voices has spoken to blogger and researcher Rhodri ap Dyfrig about Welsh-language blogging and tweeting and the challenges Welsh speakers face online.
Nepal: Creative Names Of Educational Institutions
The fascination some Nepali colleges have with an English name is interesting. Bhumika Ghimire wonders whether these educational institutions deliver international standard as they sound with their title.
