[This is a guest post by Chau Wu, with additions at the bottom by VHM and others] On the akinakes* (Scythian dagger / short sword) and Xiongnu (Hunnish) horse sacrifice Chinese historical records suggest that the akinakes, transliterated from Greek ἀκῑνάκης, may be endowed with spiritual significance in the eyes of ancient Chinese and Northern […]
This is a passage from chapter 3 of Dan Brown's Digital Fortress (1998) Eventually one of them [VHM: NSA cryptographers] explained what Becker had already surmised. The scrambled text was a code‑a “cipher text”‑groups of numbers and letters representing encrypted words. The cryptographers’ job was to study the code and extract from it the original […]
No, that is not a typo for "A woman". It is meant to be the feminine gendered equivalent of "Amen". Rep. Emanuel Cleaver closes Congress’ opening prayer with ‘amen and awoman’ By Emily Jacobs, New York Post January 4, 2021 A House Democrat tasked with leading the body in an opening prayer for the new […]
From the time I began the systematic study of the language family in the summer of 1990, I have known that the word "laks-" ("salmon") is important for the early history of Indo-European, yet I felt that something was not quite right about the claims put forward in this article: "The English Word That Hasn’t […]
Or maybe "little sticky toes"? 'Tis the season for articles about mistletoe, like this one: Rachel Ehrenberg, "Marvelous Misunderstood Mistletoe", Knowable Magazine 12/18/2020: Some plants are so entwined with tradition that it’s impossible to think of one without the other. Mistletoe is such a plant. But set aside the kissing custom and you’ll find a […]
This is something I wanted to write about back in mid-July, but it fell victim to my backlog of thousands of e-mails. Now, slowly, slowly, slowly, I'm catching up, and I find that it's still a worthy topic to post on. "‘China, master copycat’: uproar in Indonesia at Xinhua’s batik claim" Xinhua released a video […]
I've long been deeply intrigued by the word "macaque". It's an odd-looking term with a murky history, but somehow it just seems to fit the creature that it designates. American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th ed.: French, from Portuguese macaco, of Bantu origin; akin to Kongo makako, monkeys : ma-, pl. n. pref. […]
"Altaic: Rise and Fall of a Linguistic Hypothesis", NativLang (9/28/19) — video is 12:29; extensive discussion after the page break
Mount Kailash, which forms part of the Transhimalaya in Nagari Prefecture of Tibet, is sacred to Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and the native religion of Bon. Aside from the mountain itself, the large lake Manasarovar, which lies at the base of its foothills to the southeast and is fed by its glacial runoff, is also considered […]
Anyone who has studied the history of writing in China is aware that the earliest manifestation of the Sinitic script dates to around the 13th century BC, under the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1600- BC). It is referred to as jiǎgǔwén 甲骨文 ("oracle bone writing") and was used primarily (almost exclusively) for the purpose of divination. […]
I was just thinking how important cows (and their milk) are for Indian people and was surprised that's reflected in such a fundamental word for a family relationship as "daughter" — at least in the popular imagination. Even in a scholarly work such as that of D.N. Jha, The Myth of the Holy Cow (New […]
When is a Qaghan really a Qaghan? It matters, so let's familiarize ourselves with the meaning of the term right off the bat. In Chinese Studies, we call this "zhèngmíng 正名" ("rectification of names"). Confucius was asked what he would do if he was a governor. He said he would "rectify the names" to make […]
Article in The Guardian, "Crooked not courageous: Adani renames Australian group Bravus, mistaking it for 'brave'", by Naaman Zhou (11/5/20): Mining company Adani has changed its name to a Latin word that means “crooked”, “deformed”, “mercenary or assassin”, after mistakenly thinking that it meant “brave”. The controversial mining group, which is responsible for the Carmichael […]