From the time I started learning Chinese more than half a century ago, I had a hard time lining up the many Chinese terms for different types of citrus with the corresponding words in English. For example, I always wanted to call oranges "júzi 橘子", but it is technically (botanically) more correct to call […]
There are scores of words in Sinitic languages that regularly get translated into English as "barbarian". One of the most conspicuous and pervasive is hú 胡, which we have often discussed on Language Log, perhaps most extensively and intensively in "The bearded barbarian" (8/26/15), with detailed etymological, orthographical, morphological, and philological notes. The term came […]
From David Brophy: I’ve often wondered why the Uyghur word for carrot is sewze, etc., which comes from P. sabz “green”. I know carrots range from orange to yellow, and maybe occasionally purple, but I’m pretty sure there’ve never been green carrots. It's a good question. One thing I do know is that, whenever I […]
[This is a guest post by Mark Metcalf] Recently read a short story by Chinese sci-fi author Ma Boyong (translated by Ken Liu) entitled "City of Silence" (Jìjìng zhī chéng 寂静之城) — a tale about a highly dystopian future in ("not") China. The story was referenced in an article in Wired. Haven't been able to […]
[This is a guest post by Stephen Plant] I came across 'connorant' the other day, as in “gannets, connorants, vultures” in Ulysses. It was on the Guardian website. In my Penguin copy of Ulysses (p 526) it's spelt 'cormorant' (perhaps editions differ?). There are a surprising number of references to 'connorant' on line. I suppose […]
It is well known that the PRC had a one-child policy from 1979-2015. This means that, for most Chinese children born during this period, they would have no brothers and sisters. As such, they were inestimably precious in a country that lacks adequate social benefits for people to live on after retirement, but who — […]
The May 2020 issue of a scientific journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases, shows a rank badge of Qing Dynasty officialdom. There are five bats in this piece of ornate embroidery (can you spot them?): Artist Unknown. Rank Badge with Leopard, Wave and Sun Motifs, late 18th century. Silk, metallic thread. 10 3/4 in x 11 1/4 in […]
Three decades ago, in 1990, I attended a five-week summer institute on Indo-European linguistics and archeology at the University of Texas (Austin). The institute was organized by Edgar Polomé (1920 [b. Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Brussels, Belgium]-2000) and Winfred Lehmann (1916 [b. Surprise, Nebraska]-2000) and was supported by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. […]
From Gillian Hochmuth: Thank you for your great explanation of the reasons behind the famous Kennedy "crisis" misquote. When I was in high school, I had a friend who was Chinese and spoke Mandarin fluently, who explained it to my US History class after the teacher quoted Kennedy. That was over 20 years ago and […]
I've been familiar with the country name "Bosnia and Herzegovina" for quite some time, but until this morning I've never seen it referred to as BiH. I came upon this usage in news reports about the delivery of PRC medical supplies to that country, e.g., here. Although the Chinese printing on the boxes in the […]
[This is a guest post by Pamela Crossley] I was recently doing something with my old undergraduate major, Old English, and was reminded of the word Salmonath (Solmonath), which put me in mind of this old conversation on your blog: "Mud season in Russia: Putin, Rasputin" (3/31/18) So you’ll like this one. Like the others […]
Here at Language Log, we are quite familiar with Singapore English, which comes in two registers: Singapore Standard English (SSE) and Singapore Colloquial English (Singlish). The term we are discussing today can be used in either register. This multipurpose expression is featured in connection with the COVID-19 crisis in two recent articles in The Independent: […]
By chance, I came across this interesting Uyghur word for "onion" that derives from Persian: Uyghur پىياز (piyaz), from Persian پیاز (source) It's piyoz (пиёз) in Uzbek also, which is closely related to Uyghur.