[This is a guest post from Mok Ling.] Hainanese is rather atypical of Southern Min (閩南) languages, with lots of innovations and retentions not seen in other varieties in the region: it has, for example, implosive consonants (which it shares with Vietnamese), as well as glottal-final 上聲 (a retention from Old Chinese). The atypical feature […]
We've been on the trail of the griffin for some time: "Griffins: the implications of art history for language spread" (8/9/24), "Idle thoughts upon the Ides of March: the feathered man" (3/11/23) — very important (not so idle) observations about griffins in the pre-Classical West by Adrienne Mayor, with illuminating illustrations. Following the leads in […]
Sino-Platonic Papers is pleased to announce the publication of its three-hundred-and-fifty-third issue: "Speaking and Writing: Studies in Vernacular Aspects of Middle Period Chinese Culture" (pdf), edited by Victor H. Mair (August, 2024). ForewordThe three papers in this collection were written for my seminar on Middle Vernacular Sinitic (MVS). They cover a wide variety of topics, from […]
The question of what to call the languages of Taiwan and how to classify them with regard to their sister languages on the mainland has become one of the most exciting areas of discussion on Language Log, and it shows no signs of quieting down yet, especially not when we keep getting stimulating infusions from […]
We have entered a new chapter in the history of the so-called Silk Road. What has happened? For the first time in the history of the field of Silk Road Studies, Chinese archeologists have gone out into the field beyond their own political borders. They are leading their own expeditions and carrying out their own […]
A little over a month ago, People's Daily published an article featuring drone photography of the coastal city of Quanzhou in Fujian Province: Aerial view of legacies along ancient Maritime Silk Road in China's Fujian Xinhua (12/16/23) Upon reading the article, I commented: Journey to the West Sun Wukong and Hanuman This article is especially […]
Here we go again, but this time on a grander and more dramatic scale: Pras Michel of Fugees seeks new trial, contends former attorney used AI for closing argument The hip-hop artist convicted on campaign finance and foreign influence charges seeks to set aside the jury’s guilty verdicts. By Josh Bernstein, Politico (1016/23) Notice the […]
Not Chinese. Do you understand? This has long been a cabbage of contention, but make no mistake about it: fermented kimchee / kimchi (gimchi 김치 (IPA [kim.tɕʰi]) (lit., "soaked [in their own juices of fermentation] vegetables") is not the same thing as pickled paocai / pao tsai 泡菜 (lit., "soaked [in brine] vegetables"). Kimchee and […]
Recent article in Scientific American: This Ancient Language Has the Only Grammar Based Entirely on the Human Body An endangered language family suggests that early humans used their bodies as a model for reality By Anvita Abbi on June 1, 2023 From just a small handful of Andaman Islanders, the last speakers of their languages, […]
The most famous instance of the use of an apostrophe in Hanyu Pinyin romanization is in the place name "Xi'an", the capital of Shaanxi (the doubled "a" is another story) Province. Xī'ān 西安 — two characters signifying "Western Peace" If you don't use an apostrophe to separate the syllables, you end up with the monosyllable […]
OMG, it’s nougat (4/15/23) — "OMG" borrowed into Mandarin A long post on puns, multiscriptal writing, and the difficulties of Hanzi. Puns piled upon puns. Microsoft Translator and Pinyin (4/15/23) Microsoft's not very good character-to-Pinyin conversion. They have the resources and could surely do better.
"Word of the Week: Huminerals (人矿 rén kuàng)", Alexander Boyd, China Digital Times (2/13/23) The new word “humineral” (人矿 rén kuàng) has taken the Chinese internet by storm and is now a sensitive word subject to censorship. First introduced in a now-censored Zhihu [VHM: a forum website] post on January 2, 2023, “humineral”—a portmanteau of […]
"Baby Pikachu? Japan panel weighs accepting unconventional readings of kanji for names" KYODO, STAFF REPORT The Japan Times (May 19, 2022) What’s in a name? In Japanese, that’s complicated. [VHM: You can say that again! One of the hardest tasks in my graduate training as a Sinologist was learning how to pronounce Japanese proper nouns […]