Οι χαμένες γλώσσες, Τα Νέα 7/11/2009

Language, News

Toυ ΓΙΩΡΓΟΥ ΑΓΓΕΛΟΠΟΥΛΟΥ

Κάθε φορά που μια γλώσσα περιπίπτει σε αχρηστία, πεθαίνουν παραδόσεις, γνώσεις, έργα τέχνης. Τα τελευταία χρόνια η προσοχή των γλωσσολόγων έχει στραφεί στη διάσωση γλωσσικών ιδιωμάτων που κινδυνεύουν και η κοινή γνώμη έμαθε ιστορίες ανθρώπων που δεν έχουν πια συνομιλητές, που έχουν απομείνει οι μοναδικοί γνώστες γλωσσών οι οποίες θα πεθάνουν μαζί τους. Πέρα όμως από την καταγγελία των κινδύνων μιας γλωσσικής παγκοσμιοποίησης, οι γλωσσολόγοι προσπαθούν τώρα να δράσουν πρακτικά, για να διαφυλάξουν το λεξιλόγιο και τη μορφολογία των ιδιωμάτων που τείνουν να εξαφανιστούν. Ο Άντονι Άρισταρ είναι ένας από τους γλωσσολόγους αυτούς.

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Κινδυνεύουν 1.800 γλώσσες στον πλανήτη, Τα Νέα 6/2/2010

News

Έσβησε μια λαλιά με τον θάνατο 85χρονης

ΝΕΟ ΔΕΛΧΙ Μια 85χρονη Ινδή, η τελευταία μιας ολόκληρης φυλής που ζούσε στις νήσους του αρχιπελάγους Ανταμάν, έφυγε από τη ζωή παίρνοντας μαζί της στον τάφο μια γλώσσα ηλικίας 65.000 ετών. Η ΜπόαΣρ ανήκε στη γηγενή φυλή των Μπο η οποία αριθμεί πλέον μόλις 52 άτομα, αλλά ήταν η μοναδική ομιλήτρια της πανάρχαιης γλώσσας.

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Speech Gene Shows Its Bossy Nature, New York Times 12/11/2009

News
By NICHOLAS WADE

Of the 20,000 genes in the human genome, few are more fascinating than FOXP2, a gene that underlies the faculty of human speech.

All animals have an FOXP2 gene, but the human version’s product differs at just 2 of its 740 units from that of chimpanzees, suggesting that this tiny evolutionary fix may hold the key to why people can speak and chimps cannot.

FOXP2 came to light in a large London family, half of whose members have severe problems in articulating and understanding speech. All turned out to have a mutation that disrupted this vital gene.

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Skxawng!, The New York Times, 4/12/2009

News
By BEN ZIMMER

When James Cameron’s science-fiction opus “Avatar” comes to the screen this month, audiences will witness meticulously conceived alien characters — speaking a meticulously conceived alien language. To lend extra authenticity to the Na’vi — the tall, blue-skinned, vaguely feline humanoids living on the distant world of Pandora — Cameron enlisted the help of a linguist to construct a full-fledged language, with its own peculiar phonetics, lexicon and syntax. From the mind of Paul Frommer, a professor at the University of Southern California, was born a Na’vi language, with mellifluous vowel clusters, popping ejectives and a grammatical system elaborate enough to make a polyglot blush.

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WOTD: sockdolager

Lexicography, News, Onomasiology, Terminology

Merriam-Webster?s
Word of the Day
September 20
 
sockdolager \sock-DAH-lih-jer\   noun
Meaning: 1 : something that settles a matter : a decisive blow or answer : finisher | *2 : something outstanding or exceptional
Example Sentence: For a while I was completely stumped, but then, all of a sudden, I got a sockdolager of an idea.
Did you know? The verb “sock” (“to punch”) and the noun “doxology” (“a hymn of praise to God”) may seem like an odd pairing, but it is a match that has been promoted by a few word mavens when discussing the origins of the Americanism “sockdolager.” Don’t be too quick to believe the hype, however. When a word’s origin is simply unknown, as is the case with “sockdolager,” there’s a tendency for folks to fill in the gap with an interesting story, whether or not it can be verified. In the case of “sockdolager,” the “sock” part is plausible but unproven, and the “doxology” to “dolager” suggestion is highly questionable. The theory continues to have many fans, but it can’t deliver the knockout punch.

This word of the day, once more, is a very interesting word. I was particularly intrigued by the fact that its origins, much like those of “fatuous” are kind of hazy. So  here is what I found about its etymology from online sources:

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