Today, I want to do a little thought experiment, one that is based on a televised gameshow. Wheel of Fortune is perhaps one of the most iconic televised gameshows in America, and perhaps, the world, with over 7000 episodes aired in its ~40 years of history. Currently hosted by Pat Sajak and Vanna White, Wheel … Continue reading How might a Japanese version of Wheel of Fortune work?
kana
The rise of RΕmaji in post-war Japan
Correlating what is spoken with what is written -- that is the long-standing challenge faced by many writing systems across the world. Some use the alphabet, and using certain letter combinations to represent more sounds, while others use logographic or ideographic writing systems to express more along the lines of ideas and things rather than … Continue reading The rise of RΕmaji in post-war Japan
Speaking Japanese — What Exactly is Rendaku?
When learning Japanese, you would have encountered several patterns in speech. For example, while a person in Japanese is δΊΊ (γ²γ¨, hito), the plural may be δΊΊγ (γ²γ¨γ³γ¨, hitobito). In a rather similar fashion, time is ζ (γ¨γ, toki), while sometimes is ζγ (γ¨γγ©γ, tokidoki). You may be asking, what is the pattern here? Notice … Continue reading Speaking Japanese — What Exactly is Rendaku?
Writing in Africa — Neo-Nsibidi’s “kana”
Disclaimer: This post describes an ongoing project to modernise the Nsibidi script, which as of writing, is not the finalised form. The accuracy of information is true as of 29 July 2020, so several things would have changed in the project by the time of this post. We will update this post when more information … Continue reading Writing in Africa — Neo-Nsibidi’s “kana”
The Language Closet 