Acadonea

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Tragedy of the Internet

Communication systems worldwide are moving digitized data at unprecedented and rapidly increasing speeds, especially with the Internet. But most of that data is cast in linguistic form, and the multiplicity of linguistic cultures renders most of it useless to most of the world's population.

Systematic, Conscious, Language Construction

There are those who consider language construction something rare. Yet all languages are under construction by each rising generation.

It's interesting to note that many of the natural languages that we talk about today did not exist as such in the public (or even linguistic) consciousness a hundred or so years ago. In many cases the name did not even exist. Usually more is involved than a new name, per se. Standardization and writing systems play a large role.

Conscious language construction has been a considerable factor in many cases. Standardization of clusters of dialects, and decisions on alphabets and writing system are often key. Poets have played a big role. But in many cases far more creativity and conscious design has been involved. This is a partial list:

Albanian (standardization of dialects)

Bislama (from unstandardized creoles and pidgins)

Bosnian (if such does now exist)

Haitian or "Haitian Creole" (from unstandardized creoles)

Hindi (in its official Bharat, i.e., "non-Hindustani" form)

Indonesian (from unstandardized "Malay" creoles and pidgins)

Norwegian (in its two variant standardizations)

Standard Chinese - from "Peking dialect" but with considerable design applied.

Swahili (as standardized)

Tok Pisin (from unstandardized pidgins and creoles)

Vietnamese (then referred to as Tonkinese, Annamese, etc.)

Yivrit - Modern Hebrew

Other written languages have gone through major reforms (which often involve changing vocabulary and standardizing grammatical features as well).

A few examples:

Azerbaijani (various alphabet changes, vocabulary influx)

Galician (Galego)

Hausa (written form established, dialect compromises)

Japanese (limited use of Sinitic characters, vocabulary influx from western languages.)

Kazakh Cyrillic, vocabulary influx from Russian, etc.)

Korean (discontinued most use of Sinitic characters, vocabulary influx from western languages.)

Kyrgyz Cyrillic, vocabulary influx from Russian, etc.)

Lingala (written form established, dialect compromises)

Mongol ("Outer-Mongolia" - put into Cyrillic, vocabulary influx from Russian, etc.)

Oromo (formerly called "Galla" -- now written)

Papiamentu (spelling standardized)

Russian (spelling reform after the Revolution)

Sardinian (Limba Sarda Unificada)

Somali (standardized, alphabet established)

Tajik Cyrillic, vocabulary influx from Russian, etc.)

Turkish (Ataturk's alphabet change, major vocabulary restructuring)

Turkmen Cyrillic, vocabulary influx from Russian, etc.)

Xhosa (written form established, dialect compromises)

Zhuang

More recently, many dialects that were seldom written have found expression on the Internet.

In most cases, this involved considerable conscious design, given the diverse features of subdialects.

Asturian

Bolognese

Calabrese

Ferrarese

Furlan

Lombard

Mudnés

Neapolitan

Parmigiano

Scots

Tetun

Triestino

Valencian

Venetian

Wallon

Zeneize
many, many more

Then there are all those commercial "constructed languages" like Caterpillar English, etc.

All this reminds us that "language construction" is not just something rare.
It is something people constantly do.

////////////////////////////

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Does Technology Unite Us ?

Does Technology Unite Us ?

Modern technology does often tend to unite us on a global scale,

and not just the internet or cell phones. Words have been flowing around the world for a long time.

Let's take a bit of technology already well over a hundred years old --

The Bicycle.

Here are some present-day language usages:

bicycle [ Aceh=sepeda;

bicycle [ Afrikaans=fiets;

bicycle [ Albanian=biçikletë;

bicycle [ Alemannic=Welo;

bicycle [ Amharic=bisklit;

bicycle [ Arabic=darrāja /bišklīṭa;

bicycle [ Arabic(Lebanon)=bisiklét;

bicycle [ Arabic(Moroccan)=bissaklyte /bešklīt;

bicycle [ Arabic(Tunis)=beskliit;

bicycle [ Armenian=hecaniv;

bicycle [ Asturian=bicicleta

bicycle [ Aukan=baisigii;

bicycle [ Azeri=velosiped /bisiklet;

bicycle [ Balochi=saykal;

bicycle [ Basque=bizikleta;

bicycle [ Belarus= velosipyed /bisiklet;

bicycle [ Bengali=sā'ikēla;

bicycle [ Berber=bissaklite;

bicycle [ Bikol (Bicolano)=bisikléta;

bicycle [ Bislama=baskel;

bicycle [ Bosnian=bicikl /bajk;

bicycle [ Brahui=baysikal;

bicycle [ Breton=bisiklet

bicycle [ Bulgarian=velosiped;

bicycle [ Burmese= cakbhi: /se’bayng;

bicycle [ Calabrese=bricichetta;

bicycle [ Campidanesu=bicicletta;

bicycle [ Cantonese=daan1ce1;

bicycle [ Catalan=bicicleta;

bicycle [ Cebuano=bisekleta /bisikleta;

bicycle [ Chabacano=bicicleta;

bicycle [ Chamorro=bisikleta;

bicycle [ Comorian=bisikleti;

bicycle [ Croatian=dvokolica/bicikl;

bicycle [ Czech=bicykl /jízdní kolo;

bicycle [ Danish=cykel;

bicycle [ Dutch=fiets;

bicycle [ Emiliano =biciclàtta;

bicycle [ Esperanto=biciklo;

bicycle [ Estonian=jalgratas;

bicycle [ Ewe=gasɔ;

bicycle [ Fiji=basikeli;

bicycle [ Finnish=polkupyörä;

bicycle [ Flemish=velo;

bicycle [ French= vélo /bicyclette;

bicycle [ Fulani=bikalet;

bicycle [ Furlan=biciclete;

bicycle [ Galego=bicicleta;

bicycle [ Gawwada=saykile;

bicycle [ Georgian=velosipedi /velo;

bicycle [ German=Fahrrad /Velo;

bicycle [ Glosa=biciklo;

bicycle [ Greek= podí̱lato;

bicycle [ Guarani=apajerekõi;

bicycle [ Gujarati=sāyekele;

bicycle [ Haitian=bisiklèt;

bicycle [ Hausa= keke /báasúkùr;

bicycle [ Hawaiian=paikikala;

bicycle [ Hebrew=ofanáyim;

bicycle [ Hiligaynon=bisikleta;

bicycle [ Hindi=sā'ikila /baaisikal;

bicycle [ Hungarian=bicikli/kerékpár;

bicycle [ Icelandic=reiðhjól;

bicycle [ Idiom Neutral=bisikl;

bicycle [ Ido=biciklo;

bicycle [ Igbo=ígwè;

bicycle [ Ilonggo=bisikleta;

bicycle [ Indonesian=sepeda /bersepeda;

bicycle [ Interlingua=bicycletta;

bicycle [ Irish= rothar;

bicycle [ Italian=bicicletta;

bicycle [ Japanese=jitensha;

bicycle [ Javanese=sepédhah;

bicycle [ Kalanga=bhaisikili;

bicycle [ Kannada=saikal /baisikal;

bicycle [ Kanuri=báskùr;

bicycle [ Kapampangan=bicicleta /bisíncleta;

bicycle [ Kashmiri=bə:skal /bëëskal;

bicycle [ Kashubian=kòło;

bicycle [ Kazakh=velosïped;

bicycle [ Khmer=gaung;

bicycle [ KiKongo=dikâlu /bisikaléti;

bicycle [ Kinyarwanda=igare;

bicycle [ Konkanni=saikel;

bicycle [ Korean= jajeongeo;

bicycle [ Kpelle=bày shookoli;

bicycle [ Kurdish=paysikel /vêlosîpêd;

bicycle [ Kurmanji=bîsîklêt;

bicycle [ Kyrgyz=velosiped;

bicycle [ Labrador Inuttut=paisikal;

bicycle [ Lao=lot thīp;

bicycle [ Latvian= velosipēds;

bicycle [ LFrancaNova= bisicle;

bicycle [ Lingala=nkíngá;

bicycle [ Lithuanian=dviratis;

bicycle [ Logudoresu=brizichetta;

bicycle [ Lombard=bici;

bicycle [ Luganda=eggaali;

bicycle [ Maasai=en-kidéeré /ɛm-básikil;

bicycle [ Macedonian= velosiped;

bicycle [ Malagasy=bisikileta;

bicycle [ Malay=basikal;

bicycle [ Malayalam=saikkiḷ;

bicycle [ Maldivian=basikalu;

bicycle [ Maltese=rota /bajsikil /biċikletta;

bicycle [ Mandarin(Beijing)=zìxíngchē;

bicycle [ Mandarin(Taiwan)=jiǎotàchē;

bicycle [ Mandinka=fooleesuwo /sayikuloo;

bicycle [ Maori=pasikala;

bicycle [ Marathi=sāyakala;

bicycle [ Mirandolese=bicicleta;

bicycle [ Mondlango=biciklo;

bicycle [ Mongolian=unadag dugui;

bicycle [ Nahuatl=omalacatl;

bicycle [ Navajo=dziʼizí;

bicycle [ Nepali=sā'ikala;

bicycle [ Nissart=bicicleta;

bicycle [ Norwegian Bokmål=sikkel;

bicycle [ Norwegian=sykkel;

bicycle [ Novial=bisikle;

bicycle [ Nubi='baisikil;

bicycle [ Occidental=bicicle;

bicycle [ Occitan=bicicleta;

bicycle [ Oriya=sā'ikēl;

bicycle [ Oromo=biskilītī;

bicycle [ Papiamentu=bais /baiskel /bicicleta;

bicycle [ Pashtu=bayeskel;

bicycle [ Persian=do-čarxe;

bicycle [ Polish=rower;

bicycle [ Portuguese=bicicleta /biciclo /ciclo;

bicycle [ Punjabi=sā'īkala /baisaka;

bicycle [ Quechua=bisikilita /wisiclita /iskaymuyu;

bicycle [ Romagnolo= biciclèina;

bicycle [ Romanian=bicicleta /bicicletă;

bicycle [ Romansh=velo /bicicleta;

bicycle [ Russian= vélik /velosiped;

bicycle [ Saami=sihkkel /sihkkelat;

bicycle [ Sakha(Yakut)=belasiped;

bicycle [ Samoan=uila;

bicycle [ Saramaccan=baisígi;

bicycle [ Scottish Gaelic=baidhsagal /baic;

bicycle [ Serbian=bitsikl;

bicycle [ Sesotho=baesekele;

bicycle [ Setswana=baesekele;

bicycle [ Shona=bhaisikoro /bhasikoro;

bicycle [ Sicilian=biscigretta;

bicycle [ Sinhala=bayisikalaya /sáykale;

bicycle [ Slavico=bicikl;

bicycle [ Slovak=bicykel;

bicycle [ Slovenian=koló /bicíkel;

bicycle [ Somali=baskiil /bushkuleeti;

bicycle [ Sorbian=kólaso;

bicycle [ Sotho=baesekele;

bicycle [ Spanish=bicicleta;

bicycle [ Sranan=baysigri;

bicycle [ Swahili=baisikeli;

bicycle [ Swedish=cykel;

bicycle [ Tagalog=bisikléta;

bicycle [ Tajik=dučarxa /velosiped;

bicycle [ Tamil=saikil /caikkiḷ;

bicycle [ Tatar=welosiped;

bicycle [ Telugu=saikalu /saikil /baisikil;

bicycle [ Tetun=bisikleta;

bicycle [ Thai=cạkryān;

bicycle [ Tibetan=rkang sga ril;

bicycle [ Tok Pisin=wilwil /baik;

bicycle [ Tolai=aingau;

bicycle [ Tongan=pasikala;

bicycle [ Turkish=bisiklet;

bicycle [ Turkmen=welosiped;

bicycle [ Twi=baásikere /saákreà;

bicycle [ Ukrainian= velosyped;

bicycle [ Urdu= bā'īsikal /bisikel;

bicycle [ Uyghur=welsipit;

bicycle [ Uzbek=velosiped;

bicycle [ Vietnamese=xe đạp;

bicycle [ Volapük=saikul;

bicycle [ Welsh= beiciau /beic;

bicycle [ Wolof=welo;

bicycle [ Xhosa=ibhayisikili;

bicycle [ Yembe=ba7si7ku;

bicycle [ Yiddish=bitsikl /rover /velosiped /bitsiklet;

bicycle [ Yoeme=visikleeta;

bicycle [ Yoruba=keke /básíkùlù;

bicycle [ Zeneize=biciclétta;

bicycle [ Zulu=-bhayisikili;

bicycle [ Zuni=baysik'o;

///////////////////

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Wild Headline Ambiguity

Wild Headline Ambiguity

Around the turn of the century, Jeff Henning sent out a list of ambiguous headlines. He and I spent some time afterwards analyzing the various reasons for confusion.

The list is dated, but the linguistic problems with the English language remain. Most of these errors could be made in no language other than English.

Here is part of that list. These are actual headlines, innocently printed without a clue as to possible misinterpretation.

>>Prostitutes Appeal to Pope
>>Include your Children when Baking Cookies
>>Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge
>>Teacher Strikes Idle Kids
>>Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
>>Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
>>Safety Experts Say School Bus Passengers Should Be Belted
>>Drunk Gets Nine Months in Violin Case
>>Survivor of Siamese Twins Joins Parents
>>Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
>>Stud Tires Out
>>Farmer Bill Dies in House
>>Iraqi Head Seeks Arms
>>Is There a Ring of Debris around Uranus?
>>Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
>>Soviet Virgin Lands Short of Goal Again
>>British Left Waffles on Falkland Islands
>>Lung Cancer in Women Mushrooms
>>Eye Drops off Shelf
>>Reagan Wins on Budget, But More Lies Ahead
>>Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim
>>Shot Off Woman's Leg Helps Nicklaus to 66
>>Enraged Cow Injures Farmer with Ax
>>Plane Too Close to Ground, Crash Probe Told
>>Miners Refuse to Work after Death
>>Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
>>Stolen Painting Found by Tree
>>Two Sisters Reunited after 18 Years in Checkout Counter
>>Killer Sentenced to Die for Second Time in 10 Years
>>Never Withhold Herpes Infection from Loved One
>>If Strike isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last a While
>>Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
>>Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
>>Man Struck by Lightning Faces Battery Charge
>>New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
>>Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
>>Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
>>Chef Throws His Heart into Helping Feed Needy
>>Arson Suspect is Held in Massachusetts Fire
>>British Union Finds Dwarfs in Short Supply
>>Ban On Soliciting Dead in Trotwood
>>Lansing Residents Can Drop Off Trees
>>New Vaccine May Contain Rabies
>>Man Minus Ear Waives Hearing
>>Deaf College Opens Doors to Hearing Air
>>Prosecutor Releases Probe into Undersheriff
>>Old School Pillars are Replaced by Alumni
>>Bank Drive-in Window Blocked by Board
>>Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors
>>Some Pieces of Rock Hudson Sold at Auction
>>You Can Put Pickles Up Yourself

Perhaps you can add some more recent examples.

Leo

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Balloon to Oz

but first chapters are currently available for FREE,

at the end of the published Mysterious Tintype of Oz.

Use the same coupon to get this preview of the story

of the 17-year-old boy who sails off to Oz, later to

become ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.’

Use the same coupon at

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/284413

Mysterious Tintype of Oz

The Acadon language is presented in the Hidden Chronicles of Oz.

While Acadon is designed for use in our humdrum world called Alpimar, it is also to be found among the elves of Erdavon, the magic world in which the Land of Oz exists.

Mysterious Tintype of Oz,

published February 2013

Available NOW at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/284413

It will be listed at other e-book dealers as well.

-- Price is $4.99

BUT UNTIL MARCH 19 YOU CAN DOWNLOAD IT FOR FREE IF YOU USE THIS COUPON at SMASHWORDS

click

The Mysterious Tintype of Oz

Enter: AA63E (not case sensitive)

100% off first month of issue

issued 2013-02-19; effective immediately; expiration date 2013-03-19

Acadon in a Fantasy Context

The Acadon language is presented in the
Hidden Chronicles of Oz

While Acadon is designed for use in our humdrum world called Alpimar, it is also to be found among the elves of Erdavon, the magic world in which the Land of Oz exists.

Two books of the Hidden Chronicles of Oz are on your way.