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    © All Rights Reserved
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    365 views19 pages

    Babel Magazine

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    Babel Magazine

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    Babel ~~... The Language Magazine Sampler issue How meanings change over time Babel meets the creator of Dothraki (Eo www.babelzine.com Babel ~~... The Language Magazine Sampler issue How meanings change over time Babel meets the creator of Dothraki (Eo www.babelzine.com Subscribe to Babel! Love language? Love Babel! Never miss an issue In print and digital formats Take out a print subscription to receive the next four issues of Babel hot off the press. Melannseetsine — NOI2.., | emi ig edo iP eran Take out a digital subscription to receive access to all Babel issues online, Take out a print + digital format to receive the next four issues as they come out, plus access to all issues online. individual Institution PRINT — £27.95 UK £73.95 UK £38.95 Europe £84.95 Europe bin £54.95 Rest of the world £90.95 Rest of the world DIGITAL €23 £69 PRINT & DIGITAL £37.95 UK £103.95 UK £648.95 Europe £114.50 Europe £54.95 Rest of the world £120.95 Rest of the world ‘Alpin prices include pp (64.95 forthe UK, £35.95 or Europe and 2x95 forthe rst ofthe world All digital prices chide VAT VAT does nat apply t print subscriptions Visit babelzine.com to subscribe Advertising your event, course, publication or conference in Babel will reach a wide national and international audience of m ae intelligent and influential readers in the world of linguistics. Contact the editors for full details and rates at tel 0044 (0)113 328 0211. email editors@babelzine.com Full page: 210 x 297mm 1/2 page: 198 x1qimm landscape 1/4 page 975 x 141mm portrait Welcome ‘elcome to this sampler issue of Babel: The Language Magazine. We are delighted that ithas been sucha success and clearly fulfils a need for people interested in language, including teachers and students, The feedback has been very positive and wee grateful for that. Issue 1 of Babel, published in November 2011, ‘was a half-length example of what we hoped and anticipated would be the style, design and quality of the magazine. It was free issue and has become a collectors item for subseribers who want to complete their collection, Now that we havea number of ssues behind us, we decided to produce a new free issue that ‘would take the form ofa‘sampler’ from issues 216. We have chosen articles and features from a range of these issues, so that the prospective subscriber can geta broad experience of what it is lke to read Babel. We are very pleased with the result and hhope that you enjoy it There isa lot more (already) ‘where this came from, both in the back issues, which are available to buy individually and also {in the forthcoming quarterly issues which can be bought in annual subscriptions. All subscriptions can be bought through our website (www. babelzine.com) and enquiries from subscribers and prospective authors can be made to editors@ babelzine.com, (Our editorial team had some discussion about ‘whether to cal this issue ‘sampler or ‘sample? or indeed a taster’ Partly to distinguish this issue from issue 1, which was called a ‘sample’, but also because it isan accurate description, we decided to ‘go with sampler. The Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of sampler’ shows that it was used first in 00 tomean a representative example, and it includes a number of other senses, buthere are the two most relevant to our usage Babel The Language Magazine | Sampler issue Editorial 3.b. A beginner's exercise in embroidery; apiece of camvas embroidered by a gir! or woman asa specimen of skill, usually containing the alphabet and some mottos worked in ornamental characters, with various decorative devices 6. That which contains a sample or representative selection; spec. a gramophone record of examples ofa performer, type of music, ete Sense 3b refers to the embroidery exercises that trained girls in needlework for many centuries, and the attested examplesin the OED range from 1523 to 1819, It scurrently used to refer to this historical practice and also to specialist embroidery. Our front and back covers here are a visual sampler evocative of this sense. Sense 6 seems to bea metaphorical extension ofthe earlier sense, first attested in 1969 and referring ‘most commonly to recorded music albums which, are intended to show a representative range of ‘works defined by composer, genre or artist. Weare taking this metaphor a step further to refer to our sampler issue, which we hope gives a flavour of our magazine ‘We would like to express our very great thanks toll those involved in the production ofthis ‘magazine and Babel in general. These include our editorial panel, our designer Richard Honey, our web designer, Emlyn Glanmér-Harris, our assistant editor, jane Lugea and our Editorial Assistants, ‘Matt Evans and Hazel Price. Lesley Jeffries and Dan Mcintyre Editors 03 Contents FEATURES Contact us PHONE Sweet bully Bottom eptmenninil ‘Some seemingly unusual Shakespearean usages. editors@babezine.com Post 7 F Babel: The Language Magazine The US foreign language deficit School of Music, Humanities and Media The effects of globalisation on language competence in _| joseph Priestley Building Gor the US. University of Huddersfield Queensgate Hluddersteld HO1 30H, UK The art of Konglish Fj saver The Language Magazine Young Writers’ Competition winner Niamh Mulholland hele explores a fusion of English and Korean. Write for Babel We welcome feature articles, REGULARS shorter contributions, book Editorial reviews and biographies. Please contact the editors ifyou would keto write for Babel orig ‘e: editors@babelzine.com Languages of the world Write to us ‘Meet the professionals with your feedback, views, {questions and suggestions using Pull-out poster the contact details above. . : We welcome your letters Lives in language: Samuel Johnson ee edit them for length and content Pane usee coed and to publish ther, Please include contact details (not for ee publication). Letters should not Belonger than aso words Elton BrandAmbassadors Pf Petr French Deen Sot vey Fro sles eee GmrentyelYoRux offence Profan ce Radne rottin cnt ee eo ee Oran rine SonUweny.uK Caren of tga UK Draws dal Downing rot et Tradl Ornelas Adis Panel RicnsousURkcaner™ eso Naoway Editorial Assistants. Teta sien Maen Dee dane ane Desurdashnamatly Gry sR Bean ee eee) Polytechnic of Namib, Prof Katie Wales Gereigatbon, fab eat Neigh UX Linguistic Constant Si ge Drm Drkavin Watson Prt Dad Cal Ref Mideeloite — uch-Urbentst van ofan, rm HI, eee pe reer corany EN eater ae) Pca Ceartit ux Cnkerayof eb UR 0 4 Babel The Language Magazine | Sampler issue Askalinguist that using X to represent akiss was originally a play on the similar pronunciation (especially Babel The Language Magazine | Sampler issue 5 Senet eee ena Ee Sea f A Mise gts Eee sree) Sweet melt eee Peat tac Deut Pw rears ca) Pd eg writing, Keith Johnson esieronesenigy Beliefs about word origins PTC annie Coa ‘etymythology’ ) fo) Babel The Language Magazine | Sampler issue Feature Beliefs about word origins nAMidsummer Night's and the Host. They are all associated with Eton football - a Dream (4218) Flute charactersof humble origin, _version of the game developed at addresses Bottom the and twoofthem(Pistoland the Eton College inthe nineteenth Weaver assweet bully Host, accounting together for century, and in part similar Bottom. Sweet’ and ‘bully’ 88% ofthe usage in Shakespeare) to the modern game of rugby farenotwords which for might be described as members (hence the ‘scrum’, or bully). ussitso well together. Today,a of the drinking classes. Perhaps The origins of the word inthis, bully isanentirely unpleasant the wordhad the kind of cheery _sense are unknown. But the thing. Thereisnothingsweet overtones that make it suitable main meaning of the word today about itatall,although aftera forse inabeery context the — ‘someone who intimidates the moment's thought you might _sortof form of addressone uses weak’ -isthe one that started bring to mind one (reasonably) toa fellow drinker in a pub. life asa term of endearment. Itis ‘modern usage which suggests Inmodern English there associated with the Dutch word Bully bef is something pleasant the phrase arethree separate meanings __boel meaning lover, andthere _tinned beef bullyforyou, which means good of bully. ‘Bully beef is tinned isanassociated wordinmodem and the word foryou',or‘welldone: But in _beef, and the word is probably a German Buhle also meaning is probably ‘general itlooksasif bullyisone corruption of the French ‘bouili’ ‘lover. a comuption ofthese many words which has, meaning’ boiled meat’ think How did the word change __of the French with time, ‘gone tothe dogs: It bouillon). There isalsoasporting so dramatically fromniceto _—_Bouil ‘may have been something nice in usage, most common in the nasty? The path seemstohave meaning Shakespeare's time, butt isnot _verb‘bully off used in hockey _been from ‘lover via ‘good chap’, ‘boiled today. when the ball is put into play. to"Dlusterer (nasty creeping in meat’ (think Shakespeareusesthe word _bullyisascrum,andthewordis here), and hence to our modern bouillon). bully eighteen times. Two of these arein A Midsummer Night's Dream, where Quince and Flute use itasa way of addressing Bottom the Weaver. Allthe other examples bar one are from The Merry Wives of ‘Windsor, and al ofthese from one character, the Host of the Garter Inn Itisa kind of linguistic signature for him. At ‘one point he calls Falstaff bully Hercules (Act 1, Scene 3, line 6 [13.6), anda few lines later bully Hector (13.1), He uses the phrase bully rook several times, a rook being a cheat (think of our ‘modern verb ‘to rook’), and he describes Doctor Caius as bully doctor (23.16). At another point (23,26) he calls Caius bully stale, ‘stale’ being a word for urine, and aname that could be applied to doctor, who inspects patients! ‘urine, The only other use in ‘Shakespeare i by Pistol in Henry V (4.148) Here the context clearly shows that a bully really wasa nice person: love the Tovey bully, Pistol says. So just four characters use the word: Quince, Flute, Pistol Babel The Language Magazine | Sampler issue 07 Feature Beliefs about word origins ‘intimidator ofthe weak’ In ‘may be well associated in the fact, for words, changes like folk imagination, affecting the thisarebynomeanstare,so __perception of what a ‘bully was, ‘uch so that, in his 1964 book, But there isno clear etymological Semantics, Stephen Ullmann put connection between bull andthe forward the view that ‘pejorative bully we have been considering. developments are socommonin (Theresa word bully or bool, language that some...regarded now obsolete, which has ‘cow them asa fundamental tendeney, connection: Itmeans‘eatle fold, asymptom of a “pessimistic and is possibly related to the streak" in the human mind. Latin bovle, But this word bully ‘One interesting route by which is quite separate from the bully ‘words descend is through being we are considering). However, euphemisms. Anexampleis the when it comes to determining ‘word undertaker. In Shakespeare's a word's meaning (and even its, day it meant, simply, ‘someone form, as we shal see below), who takeson atask’ So when linguistic etymological accuracy Lago tells Othello (4.1210): And is not nearly as important as, for Cassio, et me behisundertaker, folk etymology - where people what heis sayingis'lltake care think a word has come from. ‘of Cassio. Atthe beginningof Not etymology at all, infact, but, the eighteenth century, the in the words of the American modern sense of someone who linguist Laurence Horn, arranges funerals came into use, _‘etymythology butasa euphemism. Today thas _Peoplelove to speculate, passed from beinga euphemism often wildly, about the origins tobecome the regular way of —_of words, and to present their describing the funeral arranger. speculations as indisputable Association of ideas is another facts, Here isan example: in path to pejorative meaning Britain, where it sa problem, change. In Latin, the word ‘binge drinking’is often a topic of captivus meant'prisoner. From debate: what causes it, how itean this origin thas cometo mean best be handled. Even the origin in February 2012, aletterto The Guardian newspaper stated as fact an etymological view ‘which surfaces regularly tis that the word comes from the name of the Belgian village of Binche, where a lively festival - the Carnival of Binche - takes place every Shrove Tuesday and doubtless{eads to much, well, bingeing. But this etymology ishighly unlikely, and there is another much more plausible derivation tobe found in Joseph Wright's now famous English Dialect Dictionary. The ‘word is found ina number of British dialects, in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the Midlands. Ainge’ was a corn bin (which iswhere the ‘bin’ part ofthe ‘word comes from), and 'to binge meant ‘to soak: The verb was particularly used in reference to Teaky wooden vessels which were soaked in water to make them swell and close the leaks. An 1890 informant provides an example: ‘chuck that theare bucket ito th’ pond an’ let it binge’, he declaims. A bingeing wasa’soaking’ or ‘drenching. Mistaken etymologies like the Binche one are very ‘common. People would often many unpleasant things. The ofthe word binge ocasionally related Italian word cattvo, comes up for discussion. ‘Thus means bad: The English caiti7 y.piala anche nding eed originally meant a prisoner, but tysimtcbeergcet ep bg ace by Shakespeare's day was used in the sense of ‘villain. In Measure for Measure (2.1166), Constable Elbow says: O thou caitif, O thou varlt, O thow wicked/ Haribal! Elbow, lke others of his profession in Shakespeare, has trouble with words, For Hannibal, read ‘cannibal’ Association may indeed have been the downfall of bully. It is possible that a strong association ‘was built up in the public ‘mind between bully and bull Bulls are, for many, aggressive animals readily associated (tightly or wrongly) with bullying behaviour, So bulls and bullies Babel The Language Magazine | Sampler issue rather invent some apparently meaningful origin fora word than accept what s often the ‘ruth - that it isa relatively arbitrary collection of sounds, Sometimes, etymythologies actually influence the form word takes. An example is crayfish. Thisis from the Middle English crevice or crevise, similar tothe modern French word for a crayfish: éerevisse. The etev’ part of the Middle English word is associated with our ‘crab: But ‘more interesting is the ~isse ending, Because a crevisse was akind of fish, this -visse part ‘was felt to be a corruption of the ‘word ish’ So fish’ it became, ‘Then there is shamefaced Shakespeare uses the word once, in Richard I (2.4140), where the Second Murderer talks about a “blushing shamefaced spirit that ‘mutinies in a man’s bosom”. But the original word was shamefast, and indeed this form continued to exist after Shakespeare's time “The ‘fast part meant ‘firmly fixed inplace, asin our word steadfast, and in the expression stuck fast. But ‘faced’ seem to fit the word's meaning very well - person ‘who was full of shame would show it in their face. So shamefast ‘tumed into shamefaced. Then, finally, there is penthouse. Shakespeare uses the word several times. One ‘occurrence isin The Merchant cof Venice (2.6), Gratiano and Salerio have arranged to meet their friend Lorenzo close to Shylock’s house; the planis that they should help Lorezo elope with Shylock’s daughter Jessica ‘The scene opens with Gratiano’s words: “This is the penthouse under which Lorenzo Desired us to make stand.” “The penthouse heis referring towould be a sloping roof, or Feature Beliefs about word origins alean-to structure alongside Shylock’s house. But the word's ‘etymology has nothing to do with house! Itcomes from the Latin appendicium, meaning an attached building, ora lean-to. The word isassociated with our appendix. in Middle English the form was pentice. Folk etymology associated this with pente (still the Modem French word meaning Slope), plus ‘house, so the word changed from pentice to penthouse ~‘sloping house: ‘Assecond occurrence isin Macbeth, where the First Witch says (1319) “Lill drain hit dry as hay; Sleep shall nether night nor day Hang upon his penthouse lid.” She means eyelid’ The ‘metaphor well captures the ‘sloping roof meaning of the ‘word, as well as vividly describing what an eyelid is like, Where does the modem ‘meaning of luxurious roof- level lat’ come from? Well, it is certainly American, and the ‘OBD's first citation is 1892. ‘This citation makes interesting reading, Itis from the Real Estate Records and Builders’ Guide, 3 December: it would puzzle many of our readers to know ‘what is meant by a Pent-House. Itis the name given to anariel [sic] extension ofa building, by constructing a habitation for a janitor and his family on the roof. It seems that in this early ‘usage, the person who lived high up and got the views was not the affluent owner, but the janitor. Bully for him. § Babel The Language Magazine | Sampler issue Keith Johnson is Emeritus Professor of Linguistics and Language Education at Lancaster University and a Visiting Professor of Applied Linguistics a the University of Huddersfield. His most recent books Shakespeare's English ‘Practical Linguist Guide (Routledge, 201) “Pent-House, It is the name given to an ariel [sic] extension ofa building, by constructing a habitation for a janitor and his family on the roof: It seems that in this early usage, the person who lived high up and got the views was not the affluent owner, but the janitor.” Books Keith Jonson. (2013). Shakespeare's English: Practical Linguistic Guide: Routledge. David Crystal and Ben Crystal. (2004) Shakespeare's Words: A Glossary and Language ‘Companion: Penguin. ‘The term ‘etymythology’ seems to have been used for the first time by Laurence Hor in his 2004 article, ‘Spitten image: etymythology and fluid ‘mechanics, American Speech 79(1): 33-58. 9 10 Languages of the world In the fifth of our series on languages of the world, explains the intricacies of Dholuo Dholuo holuoisthe _Kenyacensusof 2009, the Luo language has borrowed heavily language population were 4,044,000. from Kiswahili and English. spoken bythe — Dholuo language of Kenyahas ‘The borrowed wordsare then Luopeople two main dialects: given Dholuo intonation and ofkenyaand + Trans-Yaladialect-spoken spelling, For example buk comes Northem in Ugenya, Alego Yimboand from English ‘book: The Dholuo “Tanzania; countries situated in parts of Gem. ‘word otas comes from Kiswahili the Eastern partofthe African +The South Nyanzadialect- __karatasi which means ‘paper’: if Continent. The Luo are part spoken in South Nyanza plus you lookatthe Dholuo version, of the group of Nilotes whose parts ofSiaya and Kisumu not you will notice clipping has cradle-land has been located in included inthe Trans-Yala. been done and there isalso Wau of Bahr-el-Ghazal province group. the introduction of at the ofSouth Sudan. Dholuo belongs The two dialects are mutually beginning of the word. The use to the western sub-branch of the intelligible but arealso distinct of oat the beginning of words Nilotic branch of the Eastern enough sothat one canidentify isa common feature in Dholuo Sudanic families. Of the Nilotic _adialectical zone ofaspeakerby evident even in the naming languages of Kenya, only Dholuo how they speak. system. The Luo give names belongs to the Western Nilotic Asthereare close to.4 million largely according to the time of | group. Dholuois closely related speakers of the Dholuo language the day and the season when one to Shiluk, Dinka,and Alurof in Kenyaalone, itcannot be ‘wasbom. Male names generally Sudan and Acholi,Langloand classified as an endangered begin with o whereas female Paghola of Uganda. In Kenya, language. However it isa names begin with a. the speakers ofthis language live minority language especially Itis extremely are to find in Nyanza provincealongthe in Kenya. Thisisbecause the speakers of Dholuo who do caster shores of Lake Victoria; country recognizes English as the not code-switch (see the article the second largest fresh water _ official languageand Kiswahili _on code-switching in Issues lake inthe World, Thelake is as the National language. Due _of Babel) and most Dholuo therefore a very important part tothis, most Dholuo speakers speakers are multi-lingual. The ofthe culture ofthe Luo. The are multi-lingual anddonot languages that are used in code- Dholuo name for Lake Victoria is have to depend on Dholuo switching are Dholuo, English Nam Lolwe(riam being Dholuo alone for communication. In and Kiswahili. For example, In for ‘lake, According to the the formation of words, the the run up to the frst multi- Babel The Language Magazine | Sampler issue Languages of the world ay eee EE eatly morning Omondi Amondi Oyawore: Good morring mid-momingie Onyango ‘Anyango Cimore: Good evening sunrise Nyjinginga?: What is your mane? sunny day Ochieng ‘Achienlg Nyinga Beatrice: My name is Beatrice van day hath Ath a evening Odhiambo Adhiarabo right Otieno ‘Asieno party elections in Kenya in 2002, popullar music group came up with a word unbwogable; looking carefully at the word, you will notice itcanbe broken up into tree morphemes: the English prefix‘un- (indicating negation) the Dholuo word buogo (scare) and the English suffix able (sed in adjective formation). It ‘was used to mean'fearless Dholuois one of the forty two indigenous languages spoken in Kenya. A person learning Dholuo asasecond language may run {nto difficulties ifthey do not ha vans learn the intonation well. This is grazing (their cattle) here?" And but that isnot an easy thing because the language isatonal Speaker B chooses to respond: __to da because lke any other language. Many Dholuo words N'gama kwak kia? meaning how language, Dholuo is dynamic havemorethan one meaning canyounot know the person _and has undergone many depending on the intonation of hugging you?. changes. Interestingly, Dholuo the word, The word class of a In 1963, the period speakers da not borrow words ‘word may also change depending immediately after independence, from other Kenyan indigenous ‘onhow one intones that word, there was only one radio station languages. The Luo are bordered ‘Ancxaraple that easily comes in Kenya, the Kenya Broadcasting to their South by the Abagusii tomindisthe Dholuoword Corporation (KBC) which was and Kuria speakers, to the west kendo,’This word can mean, runbythe government. The __by Abaluhtyia speakers and to marriage (noun) 2, to marry then government sought to the East by Kalenjin speakers, (verb) 3, again or 4. fire-place-This promote the use of indigenous None ofthese languages have featureisoften used to create languages and Dholuo was had any impact on Dholuo in humour in Dholuo literature. For one such language which was terms of borrowing. In fact, the ‘example kira ka means’grazing’ used to broadcast programmes _Suba speakers who also bordered (eg.ofcattle) here butkwaka directed at those who could the Luo to the south soon canalso mean'‘hugme: Inthe understand the language. Later, _got assimilated into speaking creation ofhumouronemay _theairwaves wereliberalized _Dholuoand their language deliberately decide to take the with the coming of multi-party _became extinct. This only serves second meaningof the phrase _politicsandat least four Dholuo to confirm the Kenyan notion thus causing incongruity which speaking radio stationshave_of the Luoasa proud group of then causes the humour. nso come up. These include: Ramogi people. doing, the said sentence becomes FM, Lake Victoria FM, Lolwe ambiguous.Forexampleifa Fm and Radio Osienala. Inthese speaker Aasked a question Nga radio stations, the presenters Author Beatrice Owitisa PHD student makwaka?racaning whois _strivetousestandard Dholuo atthe Uniesy of Huddersfield Babel The Language Magazine | Sampler issue 1 1 “The goal of. linguistics is tolearn how languages can differ, inaddition tohow they do differ-to figure out what les behind the structures we see in natural languages.” 12 Meet the professionals David J. Peterson Language Developer ES THE Q How did you become is key to producing novel a professional language structures that are authentic and developer? plausible. certainly wouldn't be When David Benioffand Dan where Lam today without the Weiss needed a language created wonderful education I received for their Game of Thrones pilot from UC Berkeley and UC San, they went to the Language Diego. Creation Society (LCS). The Q Which languages have you LCS in turn put outa call to developed so far and which is the onlinelanguage creation _—_your favourite? community. applied with many I created over a dozen languages others, utaftertwo rounds of before developing Dothraki for judging, the producers chose Game of Thrones. Since then, ray proposal. After the pilot was Ive gone on to develop High Picked up, !eontinued towork —_Valyrian for Game of Thrones, onthe show. and also Irathient and Castithan Q How important is your for Syfy’s Defiance. Each academic background asa language has ts charms, but | linguist to the development of a _ think lrathient is probably my new language? favourite (certainly closest to my There were three key factors in heart as faras personal language mydevelopmentas alanguage preferences go.

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