[This is a guest post by Nathan Hopson] I recently received the following delightful question from Hilary Smith (University of Denver) about the origins of the term for protein in Chinese (dànbáizhì) and Japanese (tanpakushitsu). Thanks to her for pointing me down this lovely rabbit hole! The hanzi/kanji used are identical (蛋白質), though in written […]
From a Facebook page with Army background in Taiwan: Facebook page for Voice of Han Broadcasting Network (漢聲廣播電台 hànshēng guǎngbō diàntái) from Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense
"Not Lost In Translation: How Barbarian Books Laid the Foundation for Japan’s Industrial Revolution", by Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution (July 22, 2024) I am grateful to Alex Tabarrok and his colleague Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution University of George Mason University's Mercatus Center for introducing me to what is one of the most mind-boggling/blowing papers I have read in the last […]
A few years ago (in "…'such matters as Opinion, not real worth, gives a value to'", 11/20/2016), based on reading Mary Astell's 1694 work A serious proposal to the ladies, for the advancement of their true and greatest interest, I asked: Why did authors from Astell's time distribute initial capital letters in the apparently erratic […]
This has become a hot button issue in recent weeks. Do we need such a term? What does it signify? Is there any other kind of Taiwanese? We have Australian English, British English, and American English; we have Canadian / Quebec French and Belgian French and Louisiana French (I love to hear it), and Swiss […]
"Some German tongue-twisters", posted on 21/07/2024 by StephenJones.blog Whereas the mind-boggling “tapeworm words” in my post on Some German mouthfuls are of a practical nature, the realm of fantasy opens up whole new linguistic vistas. In a stimulating article, Deborah Cole introduces the work of the Berlin-based cabaret performer, playwright, and pianist Bodo Wartke.
"Augmenting parametric data synthesis with 3D simulation for OCR on Old Turkic runiform inscriptions: A case study of the Kül Tegin inscription", Mehmet Oğuz Derin and Erdem Uçar, Journal of Old Turkic Studies (7/21/24) Abstract Optical character recognition for historical scripts like Old Turkic runiform script poses significant challenges due to the need for abundant […]
"China deploys censors to create socialist AI: Large language models are being tested by officials to ensure their systems ‘embody core socialist values’", by Ryan McMorrow and Tina Hu in Beijing, Financial Times (July 17 2024) Chinese government officials are testing artificial intelligence companies’ large language models to ensure their systems “embody core socialist values”, […]
Today's xkcd: Mouseover title: IMO the thymus is one of the coolest organs and we should really use it in metaphors more."
From Jeff DeMarco: The fanfic fourth book in the sāntǐ 三体 ("three-body [problem]") series, translated by Ken Liu has the following sentence: Women dressed in flowing silk dresses oared elegant barges over the placid waterways, singing folk ditties in the gentle, refined accents of the Wu topolect …
Chapter 1 A professor in China who is collaborating with a famous American professor of Chinese literature wanted to read one of my Language Log (LL) posts because he had heard that it's being widely discussed around the world. However, because of China's rigid censorship rules, he couldn't open the LL post. The Chinese professor […]
From François Lang: I hope this isn't a well-known question. I searched LL for "good morning" romance and found nothing. So here goes. (1) One can say "good evening" idiomatically in Romance languages, but not "good morning" or "good afternoon". (2) However, all three are idiomatic in Germanic languages. I'm wondering if LL […]