linguistic colonialism

[linguisticcolonialism]

Trailer of a documentary on Algerian languages

[historyinafrica]

[linguisticcolonialism]

Voici la bande-annonce de “Je me suis mordue la langue”, un magnifique court-métrage de 25 minutes réalisé par Nina Khada sur sa quête de la langue algérienne, la langue de son pays d’origine, en prenant un détour par la Tunisie.

[svrcastic]

fresh off the boat, s02e11

[linguisticcolonialism]

[linguisticcolonialism]

Romani loanwords in European languages

[aloeveragel]

I remember in my Arabic class we were going over the alphabet and the teacher was like there’s no ‘P’ etc and this white girl was like wait what but my names Paige and my teacher was like lol then we’d pronounce it as beige and she was so offended I’m crying thinking about it

[gardenvarietybutch]

it’s getting close to Thanksgiving in the US so i wanted to pass around a link to the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project

Donate if you can, and even if you can’t, spend some time this November educating yourself about the history of the very-much-still-alive tribe that sat down with the pilgrims, the continued history of colonization in America, and about the tribe/s whose land you are occupying. 

[fuckyeahdialectics]

“If my mother tongue is shaking the foundations of your state, it probably means that you built your state on my land.”

— Musa Anter, a Kurdish writer who was assassinated by the Turkish government in 1992.

[linguisticcolonialism]

Qongqothwane is a traditional song of the Xhosa people, which is often sung at weddings. In the Xhosa language (as well as other languages of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Tanzania, etc), there are sounds that don't exist in European languages, that linguists have named "click sounds". They are difficult to describe, but if you listen to the video, you'll understand what it's about. Miriam Makeba, South African singer and great figure of the fight against racism and against apartheid, who was nicknamed "Mama Africa", says in this video: “I often get angry, because this is not a noise, it’s my language. For example, people call me Miriam Makeba. But that is not really my name. My name is Zenzile kaMakeba kaQhwashu nguVama Yikhetile Ngxowa Bantwana Balomzi Xa Ufun’Uk’bajabulisa Ubathengele Ibotela Yotshwala. The colonizers of our land, in South Africa, call this song “Click Song” because they are not able to pronounce “Qongqothwane”.” (another transcription i found of her full name was Zenzile ka Makeba ka Qgwashu Nguvama Yiketheli Nxgowa Bantana Balomzi Xa Ufun Ubajabulisa Ubaphekcli Mbiza Yotshwala, i don’t know which one of the two is more correct)

[linguisticcolonialism]

http://teach.italki.com/application

The website “italki” offers the possibility to learn or teach over 130 languages. Each teacher sets their own fees, and it is not necessary to have a degree or certification to teach. There are several million users, and over 5000 English teachers, but very few teachers for African languages such as Yoruba (7 teachers), Tamazight (6 teachers), Wolof (2 teachers), Sudani Arabic (1 teacher), Tigrinya (1 teacher), Somali (1 teacher), Amharic (1 teacher)... No Bambara teacher, no Fula teacher, no Oromo teacher, no Kinyarwanda teacher... Same with several Caribbean, Eastern European, South Asian or West Asian languages : Pashto, Kurdish, Chechen, Tamul, Albanese and Haitian Creole all have less than 20 teachers. Sign language (in all its varieties) also has less than 20 teachers. And almost none of the North, Central or South American indigenous languages that the website offers have any teacher at all : Lakota, Nahuatl, Wayuu, Cherokee, Cree, Choctaw, Navajo (diné bizaad), Guambiano (namtrik/misak)... all of them have 0 teachers. And none of the varieties of Rroma language (Rromani) that the website offers have any teacher either.   Of course because of eurocentric linguistic and cultural hegemony and imperialism, it’s expected that there be less demand for these languages than for English, French or Spanish, and therefore it makes sense that there are less teachers. But still, I feel like someone who speaks one of these languages could get a decent amount of money by teaching online on Italki. There is not much competition so you could get a lot of students. The website charges 15% of your earnings, but you can set your own prices.  For example, one of the only 2 Wolof teachers on the website started teaching in February of this year. She has great reviews and feedback from her students. Since February, she has given 30 half-hour trial lessons for 7,99$, 10 conversation lessons for 10,99$ to 21,99$ depending on duration, and 21 grammar & vocabulary lessons for 11,99$ to 34$ depending on duration. Imagining all the lessons she taught were the shortest (30 minutes) thus cheapest ones, she would have made approximately 500$ teaching Wolof since February, after deducting the 15% commission the website charges. In Senegal, 500$ is a lot of money, almost 1400 times the minimum hourly wage per hour, for teaching 30 hours. And the most likely is that not all of her classes lasted 30 minutes, so she probably made even more than 500$.  So, if you or someone you know  speaks one of these languages and needs money, that could be an interesting option!

[linguisticcolonialism]

a list of words that mean “white person” or “white people” in as many languages as possible

please feel free to reblog with any other words you might know, or correct any mistakes Dakota : wasi'chu Lakota : wasi'chu Nasa Yuwe (paez) : mushka Kabyle, Chaoui (Amazigh languages) : rumi, rumiya, irumiyen Egyptian Arabic : khawag, khawagi, khawaga Algerian Arabic : gawri, gawriya, gwer Moroccan Arabic : nasrani Hassaniya : nasrani Mooré : nasara Pulaar (peul) : toubakou Wolof : toubab Malinke : toubab Medumba : mekat, bah mekat Yoruba : oyibo Akan (Ashanti Twi, Akuapem Twi et Fante) : oburoni, obroni Anyi (Brosa, Aowin) : brofo, brofwe Ga : blofo, blofonyo Ewe : yovo Fon (Fon-gbe) : yovo Mina (Gen, Gen-gbe) : yovo Lingala : mondele, mundele, mindele Tswana : lekgoa Somali : cadaan Amharic : frenji Tigrinya : tseadu, tseada Swahili : mzungu, wazungu Shikomori : mzungu, wazungu Luganda : muzungu, bazungu Chichewa : muzungu, azungu Chinyanja : muzungu, bazungu Kinyarwanda : umuzungu, abazungu Kirundi : umuzungu, abazungu Bemba : musungu, basungu Kisii : omusongo, abasongo Sena : muzungu, azungu Shona : murungu, varungu Xhosa : umlungu Sisiwati : umlungu Ndebele : umlungu Zulu : umlungu, abelungu Malagasy : vazaha Mauritian Creole : zorey, zoreille Reunionese Creole : zorey, zoreille Martiniquan Creole : béké, bétché, bétcha, zorey Guadeloupean Creole : béké Noongar : wadjela Cook Islands Maori : papa'a Maori : pakeha Niuean : palagi Samoan : palagi, papaalagi Tongan : palangi, papaalangi Fijian : vavalangi Hawaiian : haole Urdu : gora, gori Hindi : gora, gori Tamul : வெள்ளைக்காரர் vellaikaarar, வெள்ளைக்காரி vellaikaari, வெள்ளைக்காரன் vellaikaaran, வெள்ளைக்காரர்கள் vellaikaarargal Thaï : farang Khmer : barang Indonesian : bule, totok Vietnamese : mỹ trắng Cantonese : 鬼佬 gweilo, gwailou, 死鬼佬 sei gwailou, 鬼仔 gwaijai, 鬼妹 gwaimui, 鬼婆 gwaipo, 白鬼 baakgwai, 西人 sai yan, 洋人 yeung yan Mandarin : 白人 bairen, 白种人 baizhongren, 老外 laowai, 洋鬼子 Yang guizi Japonese : 白人 haku jin Dari : safed, safeda Turkish : beyaz Greek : aspro Rromni : gadjo, gadji, gadjé Romanian : alb Polish : biały Slovak : bielý German : weiß Dutch : wit, witte mensen Flemish : blank Italian : bianco, bianca, bianchi  Portuguese : branco, branca, os brancos Spanish : blanco, blanca, los blancos, blanco-mestizo, gringo, güero, mono, gabacho, bolillo, guait, guaitero, guaitera French : blanc, blanche, les blancs, babtou, les babtous English : white, whitey, white people, wypeepoo, cracker, mayo

[antiandrogen]

if you can read this rn learn american sign language

[antiandrogen]

as a place to start i strongly recommend Dr. Bill Vicars’ free lessons on youtube and at lifeprint.com (which also has a huge ASL dictionary and lesson plans/outlines). there are also freelance ASL tutors online who can help personalize your learning experience and give you opportunities to observe and practice signing naturally, if you don’t already have Deaf friends/family

[linguisticcolonialism]

[readmorepoets]

“For even now, decades after I first adopted it, English does not pierce my heart the same way that my mother tongue does. The word ‘division’ weighs less than ‘bundan’, and ‘war’ is easier to say than ‘junjeng’.”

— Suki Kim, Without You, There is no Us (via mesogeios)

[linguisticcolonialism]

[linguisticcolonialism]

I’ve Been Mispronouncing My Own Name for 20 Years

I realize now that it’s my responsibility to present my authentic self to others

<3