aiming higher

inactive

[studyingespresso]

it’s been a while since i last posted but i moved and am in college now!

[swarnpert]

what the fuck is dark academia isnt the normal school system traumatizing enough

[figues]

reading Voltaire in bed kind of day

[studybrickbybrick]

30・09・2020

Today for some reason I woke up quite inspired to write?? So I wrote part of my review on Georg Simmel bc there’ll be a test on his work next month

[study-to-rule-the-world]

Sie hat nicht alle Tassen im Schrank.

Literally: she hasn't got all cups in the cupboard

Meaning of the idiom: she is crazy

[magidioma]

[in french:] Il n’a pas la lumière à tous les étages.

Literally: he doesn’t have light on every floor.

Same meaning: to be crazy

[sayitaliano]

Non ha tutte le rotelle a posto (also: gli/le manca qualche rotella)

Literally: s/he hasn’t all the screws in place (also: s/he misses some screws)

Same meaning: to be crazy or at least quite bizarre, odd

[langsandlit]

Another way to say it in Italian would also be...

Ha qualche rotella fuori posto (or also: ...che non gli/le funziona)

Same or very similar meaning as above

[tiredbiostudent]

oslo’s new Deichmanske library is HEAVENLY. i’m a huge proponent of libraries as community hubs and this place truly brings that vision to life- diverse areas to sit, study, and socialize, a minitheatre, spaces to sew and knit and paint and craft, beautiful & intelligent design, and BOOKS!!! libraries are so undervalued as one of the few public spaces you can just be in for free and it was really awesome to see how many people were excitedly exploring it when I went (there was a line up out the door to enter, busiest place by far on a sunny saturday afternoon in oslo!!)  

[essayisms]

Found a new study spot today, there’s a lot of shade and a lot of hidden corners to sit in (×)

[aangarchy]

Anyways donate to the red cross in Beirut to help the wounded from that aweful explosion. Lebanon has a corrupt government and any strange donation links could just be handing money to the goverment. The red cross is safe and is a guaranteed way of helping those affected by the explosion.

[neonprotagonist]

a massive explosion just rocked the capital city of lebanon, beirut. footage of the explosion has been captured, and it is horrific and terrifying. dozens and maybe even hundreds of people have been injured and the reports have confirmed at least 10 people dead. reports are still coming in.

hospitals are overwhelmed. the lebanese red cross has sent out an urgent message in need of blood donations of all blood types. open transfusion centers to help aid in this disaster are currently

tripoli

jouneih

antelias

spears

zahle

saida

nabatieh

if you have loved ones in lebanon or you are aware of someone who has loved ones in lebanon, i strongly urge you to reach out to them as soon as possible. if you don’t have loved ones in lebanon, i hope you at least spread the word to help others and keep beirut in your thoughts today.

this all started just barely two hours ago, and the reports are still coming in with updates. keep an eye on the news, if you can. stay safe. 

[injerinya-deactivated20200819]

Also just a friendly reminder to the linguistics and language oriented sides of Tumblr:

Many speakers of languages which are commonly referred to as belonging to a family called B—er, don’t like that term. For many, it is a slur. There’s another, appropriate term for the family and speakers that the speakers on average prefer which is Amazigh. In fact, one of the most comprehensive works on the phonology of the family is called “The Phonology of Amazigh” (this is a translation btw). Yes, not all speakers feel the same way about the term B—er. They are indeed not a monolith. That doesn’t mean you actively seek to find those individuals so as to validate your lack of giving a fuck about the terminology you use to refer to people when you are given a readily accepted term or set of terms that are far more preferable and chosen by the wider array of communities that fall into said set of terms. Calling people Imazighen, and calling their languages Amazigh languages, really wont kill you. If you really feel so strongly about using what is considered by many to be a slur, maybe you should be more interested in evaluating yourself than evaluating anything regarding Amazigh languages.

[injerinya-deactivated20200819]

To add to this, I found another work today while looking for stuff to read up on that clearly refers to the family as Amazigh, “The Amazigh Word for Fire” (2018) by Maarten Kossmann.

While Kossmann does normally use B—er in his work, this one may have the advantage that it was published via a Moroccan institution and thus, the recognition of the term as a slur is likely much more apparent than it would be via European and American institutions where the offensive nature of the term treated as a nonfactor.

Also, to quote from El Aissati (2001:58), for those who want an academic basis to why the change in terminology needs to happen:

[injerabae-deactivated20190818]

Do you have any ideas on what would make the average person more interested in languages unrelated to their own? Say, not someone particularly interested in linguistics, but still a person who has some interest in learning another language but will only learn an Indo-European language because they see those as their only options? Maybe it's an obvious question, but I'm just interested in what you think - your influence in this community is a great one

I’m glad you’re asking me about this and stating it’s an obvious question all at once because yes, it kinda is but it isn’t.

Mind you, most people on Langblr tend to view languages as inherently utilitarian and thus, are interesting because they’re “useful”. You can watch Disney movies in German. Go to Germany, talk to average Germans in standard High German like a weirdo. You can read books in German—but you can’t do that in many other languages. It’s that utilitarian mindset that makes people rather uninterested in my opinion more than exposure does. Because if we’re to be frank, people see the European in Indo-European as useful and interesting, not necessarily the “Indo” part of the name. While I would argue from being exposed to Urdu against my will on a daily basis the language is hugely useful in many regards, people will make a litany of excuses to focus on languages in Europe. European languages are useful over others due to the fact of history and all the undoubtedly unfair factors that made European languages just all the more accessible and hence, societally useful—but there’s nothing inherently special about languages in Europe.

But you don’t have to be interested in linguistics to be interested in languages, as you noted even if indirectly. And given this may just be a thing of exposure too—you could be interested in phonology and find syntax abhorrent, like myself. Actual linguists don’t like all of linguistics, from my experience. Everyone has their own little niche interest or preference in the study but this being said the same can go for language enthusiasts who don’t realize they might be great linguists if they narrow down their interests. (mind you do not refer to me as an actual linguist, I have yet to finish my degree)

Why am I saying all this first? When it comes to both of these things, sometimes it just takes to step out of the zone of familiarity after self analyzing why you are placing these artificial limitations on what interests you. On what you deem interesting. Once you’re honest with yourself and subsequently others about it you may find it easier to step out of those boundaries of familiarity and utilitarianism, and the subsequent limitations that places on your interests. But as I’ll always say, you don’t have to learn a language to find it interesting or to educate others about it. I’ll always advocate for that before I even suggest you languages to go learn that aren’t languages from Europe.

[culmaer]

I think the notion of exposure is very relevant here. like the average American who only consumes American media will be aware of Spanish. and they may have heard, like, La vie en rose or some Italian song in the background of a romcom, and thus French and Italian subconsciously also become options, if they ever decide to learn a language. but no westerner accidentality encounters Setswana or Sundanese, for example. 

so Nebi’s advice to read more widely linguistically/academically and to extend your comfort zone is good, but aside form that, I think it’s also just about consciously learning more about the world in general. Not with the express goal of finding an “exotic” language to learn, but just to enjoy west African music, or Persian poetry, or east Asian cinema, or whatever, the same way one enjoys any media and art (and ofc this subconsciously exposes one to many more languages)

And so, when you’ve developed a sincere interest in a particular culture, and decide to learn another language, the choice will feel obvious and meaningful… rather than just picking a non-IE language at random for the sake of diversity

[rotzaprachim]

I also think that long term post-colonial power dynamics and views of what languages are “elegant,” or “proper” or “educated” have, in some cases, as much impact as everyday exposure- in combination with the educational system and availability of resources. I live in the suburban southern UK, where the standard languages on offer are French, German and (European) Spanish- and I think those are likely the most commonly learned by UK langblrs. 

Yet I can count the number of times I’ve heard German spoken in my decently sized town on one hand, and there aren’t huge profusions of Spanish or French speakers or culture either. In contrast, I personally know multiple Sudanese Arabic speakers. You can watch two or three Indian films - in Bengali, Hindi, Tamil- at our standard chain cinema.The used bookstore has many French books, obviously, but definitely more Polish and Chinese books than German or Spanish. Of European languages, the most common are probably Polish and Romanian. There are Turkish/Balkan, Polish, and Halal marts with almost no English signage, and Tamil language masses at the local church. If it was just about exposure- the languages available in terms of print media, the ones heard in the street and in supermarkets- I think Yoruba, Arabic, Farsi, Romanian, and Bengali would have a much more marked affect on Langblr- although of course, exposure has strongly influences the languages I want to study (wouldn’t have really considered Bengali or Romanian before moving here.) 

So I don’t have definitive answers, but I think that on the whole, immigration patterns and the diverse realities of most modern cities mean even many Western langblrs have had contact of some sort with non-Indoeuropean languages. There’s complexity in utility too- German, French, and Spanish are ingrained in the educational system as “useful” languages, but few are doubting the economic prospects/employment help of Mandarin, Arabic, and Persian these days, and many companies look to hire those languages. And it may be harder to find resources, but I’ve purchased books and grammars for Arabic, Serbo-Bosnian-Croat, and Romanian for a pound each- while langblr goes gaga for Western European languages that aren’t super easy to find books for like Finnish, Norwegian, and Icelandic. (Depending on where they live, I also think it’s far more likely that most have met more Somali, Malyalam, and Armenian speakers than Icelandic as well.)  Ideas of what languages are useful and worth FINDING the materials for influence the languages people choose to study- and for white UK linguists, that tends strongly towards European languages they consider “cultured.” 

[injerabae-deactivated20190818]

[langsandlit]

Categorising Romance Languages

One way to classify Romance languages is by looking at what Latin verb is used to express ownership or possession. Some Romance languages express it by using either tenere “to hold” (such as Spanish, Portuguese or Neapolitan) or habere “to have” (such as Italian, Romanian or French).

Medieval Spanish uses both tenere and habere. Tenere expresses physical ownership whereas habere expresses a more abstract possession (such as hunger, thirst, fear, etc.). In later stages of the language, forms of tenere prevailed so that tener is used to express both concepts in modern Spanish. Haber however is used as the auxiliary (helping) verb to build perfect tenses.

Neapolitan uses a similar system but not with every abstract noun. Nouns such as raggiona “reason” and paura “fear” select avé, whereas physical possession select tené/ténere. Avé is also used to construct perfect tenses and express obligation, e.g. aggio visto “I have seen”, aggio ‘a ascì “I have to go out”.

Another way to categorise Romance languages is by looking at which verb is used to express ownership, build perfect tenses, and express existential statements (“there is a woman”). For example, Italian and Romanian use forms of habere for both possession and perfect tenses, but esse to express existential statements. Sardinian, Occitan and French on the other hand would use habere for all three.

Neapolitan is a special outlier: possession is expressed mainly by tenere (and only exceptionally by habere); perfect tenses are mostly built with habere (intransitive verbs however might select esse, like Italian, but not reflexive verbs); and existential statements are made with stare.

Tengo n’aniello “I have a ring”

Aggio vevuto “I have drunk” (cf. M’aggio assettato “I’ve sat down”);  Ammo juto “We have gone” (but Simmo jute)

Ce sta n’ommo “there is a man” 

[gostle]

compare yourself only to your previous self

[goodreadss]

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

Eleanor Roosevelt, This is My Story (via goodreadss)

[castlead-deactivated20230405]

15th July - Do you have a specific goal for this summer?

my ultimate goal is to read more, like i once did when i was in elementary school - stayed up till 3am reading. i miss that so much. (currently reading emma by jane austen)

[wildesappho-deactivated20201031]

classics are like: you went so extremely hard with the misogyny that it turned into homoeroticism

[oldangeliloqui]

“i hate women so much that i only kiss men”

[galina]

📓 🔅