by Osborne Huel | Language
A language is considered ‘dead’ when it has no fluent native speakers remaining, and extinct when no complete records of it remain. Languages have died off or changed beyond recognition throughout history, but in the past 200 years this process has rapidly...
by Osborne Huel | Language
While they might seem irrelevant to the world of commercial translation, constructed languages have a number of benefits beyond adding detail to what is still a fantasy world. Between international languages designed to ease human communication, experimentation...
by Osborne Huel | Language
Linguistics In The News The debate about language is never far away from the news, and the publication this year of The Kingdom of Speech by Tom Wolfe reignited the debate. The author examines the theories of the linguist Daniel Everett and philosopher Noam Chomsky,...
by Osborne Huel | Language
The term creole can trace its origins back to the 16th century. The word has multiple definitions and was used as a generic term to describe descendants of Spanish, Portuguese or French settlers who lived in either the West Indies or Latin America. There are several...
by Osborne Huel | Language
As English speakers it’s hard to understand how other languages can rely so much on tones. We are more than versed in tonal intonation – the way a speaker can use stress or pitch to imply emotion – in fact our rich sarcastic sense of humour makes us masters of it....
by Osborne Huel | Language
The constant development of language is one of the most fascinating phenomena that exists in human culture. In English we see it happen all the time, most recently with the development of online phrasing, abbreviation and slang, and for many it seems to be changing...
