Remember that sign that I came across in Umeå, for which I wrote an introduction to Ume Sámi? I raised the question over where the word Tehkheilä could have come from, and posted it to the languages and linguistics community over in Bluesky, and received a rather compelling answer. It is perhaps a Finnic language … Continue reading Is this a distinct language or a Finnish dialect group? (Meänkieli)
Month: March 2025
Nominative-accusative? Ergative-absolutive? What do these mean?
In language introduction essays done on this website, you might see these kinds of terminology thrown about without further elaboration given to them. For example, in some languages of Australia, you might have seen ergativity being used, as with the essay on Naukan Yupik and Chukchi. But what are these systems, and what kinds of … Continue reading Nominative-accusative? Ergative-absolutive? What do these mean?
Perhaps the most controversial language — Pirahã
The academic world is not new to controversial findings. From publications with conclusions that contradict long-held paradigms, to downright academic fraud and the direct use of generative artificial intelligence in writing manuscripts, it is safe to say that many of such discoveries and findings have come under heavy scrutiny by other subject matter experts. And … Continue reading Perhaps the most controversial language — Pirahã
How do we talk? — Airstream mechanisms
There is pretty much no denying that all modern natural languages today are predominantly spoken. It is also perhaps the one aspect of language that we pretty much take for granted, and not really paying attention to the various processes underlying how we talk. I have been wanting to cover the fundamentals of phonetics for … Continue reading How do we talk? — Airstream mechanisms
The number systems of hunter-gatherer languages
Continuing from the deep investigation of unconventional number systems around the world, there seems to be an interesting pattern that is worth addressing. Many number systems we are familiar with tend to be in base 5, 10 or 20, with some of them having terms for higher numerals well into the thousands or millions and … Continue reading The number systems of hunter-gatherer languages
The Language Closet 