The Language Feed - December 31, 2004

Fri Dec 31 17:06:09 UTC 2004

The Language Feed
December 31, 2004

This issue and archives can be read on the web at
http://mason.gmu.edu/~smorris2/feed

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Breaking down barrier
ic Newcastle, December 30
A pioneering programme is helping North East primary schools give pupils
a head start with foreign languages.
http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0700learning/0200pupils/tm_objectid=15025276&method=full&siteid=50081&headline=breaking-down-language-barrier-name_page.html

Indian tribe works to bring back a lost language
Kansas City Star, December 28 (email: language at yahoo.com, password:
language)
When Jose Guzman died in 1934, the ancient Bay Area language called
Chochenyo died with him. Or so it was thought.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/10513441.htm?1c

Baby talk could be key to language
CNN, December 28
A Florida anthropologist believes she can explain the origin of "baby
talk," and claims it could have triggered the development of language
far earlier than commonly believed.
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/12/23/babytalk.evolution/

US Marines Arming Themselves With Arabic
Arab News, December 29
It shouldn’t take a genius to realize that US troops being deployed to
Iraq needed to be armed with a basic and critical skill — Arabic.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=56724&d=29&m=12&y=2004

Learn English, Says Chile, Thinking Upwardly Global
New York Times, December 29, 2004 (username: langfeed6, password: language)
In many parts of Latin America, resistance to cultural domination by the
United States is often synonymous with a reluctance to learn or speak
English. But here, where Salvador Allende was once a beacon for the
left, the current Socialist-led national government has begun a sweeping
effort to make this country bilingual.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/29/international/americas/29letter.html?oref=login

In Ukraine, language is an election issue
International Herald Tribune, December 23
The Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko said Wednesday
that attempts to make Russian the country's second official language had
become a political issue - a remark that is likely to anger voters in
the Russian-speaking eastern part of the country, most of whom support
his opponent.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/12/22/news/ukraine.html

Survey: Nation faces linguistic challenge
China Daily, December 28
A national survey released yesterday indicates that nearly half of the
Chinese population cannot communicate in the standard spoken language,
putonghua.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-12/28/content_403899.htm

EU grapples with translation boom
BBC News, December 28
Making sure delegations from European Union member states understand
each other when they meet in Brussels is no easy feat.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4130737.stm

No joke, Americans fear learning another language
Fort Wayne News Sentinel, December 23
Americans are well-known for their inability to speak any languages
other than English. And they are equally well-known for their discomfort
around people speaking languages they don't understand.
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/10484125.htm

Tribe awarded grant to keep language alive
Peninsulaclarion.com, December 26
The late Peter Kalifornsky, a Native elder that made significant
contributions to keeping the Dena'ina language alive once wrote a story
called "Education."
http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/122604/news_1226new001001.shtml

A language for the borrowers
Sydney Morning Herald, January 1 (username:langfeed, password:language)
What do pyjamas, jodhpurs and shampoo have in common? What about sofa,
safari and algebra? They are all "loan words" (foreign borrowings) from
other languages, in these cases, Indian and Arabic.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Words/A-language-for-the-borrowers/2004/12/31/1104344977745.html?oneclick=true

No need to worry about our robust, living language
Baltimore Sun, December 31 (username: langfeed, password: language)
If you pronounce the letter r after a vowel - car instead of cah, water
instead of watah - you are probably an American. Regional accents have
exceptions, but the postvocalic /r/, as linguists call it, is
characteristic of American speech.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/booksmags/bal-bk.american02dec31,1,3081577.story?coll=bal-society-utility

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