For the past month or so, we have been on quite a streak with content surrounding Mandarin Chinese, but there are so many relatively obscure things about writing Chinese that many speakers, both native and non-native, often overlook. Today, we introduce the system of simplified Chinese characters that have dodged most people in the years … Continue reading The simplified Chinese characters you probably have never heard about
singapore
Exploring ‘character amnesia’
Here in the Language Closet, we cover a lot about writing systems, and some interesting bits surrounding the way we read and write. But there is one phenomenon I was introduced to back in high school regarding the loss of ability to write because one is too used to typing on text input media like … Continue reading Exploring ‘character amnesia’
Language and my Personal Experiences
I remember being asked about why I had this passion for learning languages, and I kinda regretted not giving a complete answer, or a well-thought response, and having watched this enthusiastβs story, I think itβs about time I write about it. Having spent a considerable portion of my early childhood in the French province of … Continue reading Language and my Personal Experiences
The language with four-cornered letters — Bugis (α¨ α¨ α¨α¨α¨α¨) and the Lontara (α¨α¨α¨α¨) script
Indonesia is amazingly diverse. Hundreds of languages and cultures span the archipelago from Sumatra to the western half of New Guinea, encompassing more than 17 thousand islands. While Bahasa Indonesia is the most widely spoken language, by 80% of the entire country's population, many other Austronesian languages are spoken too, and more than 270 languages … Continue reading The language with four-cornered letters — Bugis (α¨ α¨ α¨α¨α¨α¨) and the Lontara (α¨α¨α¨α¨) script
On Returning
In November 2017, I announced a hiatus, amidst working on my series about Japanese kanji. Two and a half years later, I have decided to return. What happened during this time? A radio silence lasting a couple of years broken by a sudden post, a profile update, a growing urge to return to writing, and … Continue reading On Returning
Speaking “Indian”–My First Impression of Tamil
So it's been about a couple weeks since I started learning Tamil, and I thought that it would be nice to share my first steps in language learning. My focus here would thus be the sounds and script used in Tamil. Tamil is among the longest-surviving classical languages in the world, with literature dating back … Continue reading Speaking “Indian”–My First Impression of Tamil
Singaporean Portuguese – A Brief Post on Kristang
While surfing the web looking through various creoles spoken in the world, one of them caught my eye. A creole spoken in Singapore and Malaysia, but not Singlish nor Manglish. Instead, it was a Portuguese creole, spoken by only a handful of people in the Malayan Peninsula. This is Kristang, known as Portugis to the … Continue reading Singaporean Portuguese – A Brief Post on Kristang
Adventures in Colloquial Singaporean English (Singlish) β Singlish in Society
Our final part of Adventures in Colloquial Singaporean English covers the controversy surrounding this creole of English. In Singapore, you may notice newspaper articles and educational materials are written (or more rather, typed) in grammatically correct English, but the English you hear on the streets tend to be rather ungrammatical (with respect to Standard English). … Continue reading Adventures in Colloquial Singaporean English (Singlish) β Singlish in Society
Adventures in Colloquial Singaporean English (Singlish) β More Particles
We're finally back after the brief intermission where we talked about one of the most well-known indigenous languages, Inuktitut. Now, we will be discussing the hallmark features of Singlish particles, the use of particles like lah, leh, loh etc. We hear it quite often, they're normally used at the end of sentences, and they can … Continue reading Adventures in Colloquial Singaporean English (Singlish) β More Particles
Adventures in Colloquial Singaporean English (Singlish) β The curious case of “already”
Singlish particles truly define this creole, giving it its identity, making it stand out as much as Bislama and Tok Pisin, both of which are other creoles of English spoken in Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea respectively. Singlish particles draw influence mainly from Chinese (and its dialects) and Malay (and one from Tamil). This post … Continue reading Adventures in Colloquial Singaporean English (Singlish) β The curious case of “already”
Adventures in Colloquial Singaporean English (Singlish) – Verbs
Verbs. You know, those action words that bring life to sentences. Some languages conjugate by number, some by tense, some by aspect, mood, gender... yeah you get the point. Some don't even conjugate it at all. This post brings you verbs in Singlish, and how they differ from Standard English. One of the most prominent … Continue reading Adventures in Colloquial Singaporean English (Singlish) – Verbs
Adventures in Colloquial Singaporean English (Singlish) – Topicalisation
Singlish, or more formally known as Colloquial Singaporean English, is an English creole which closely resembles that of Colloquial Malaysian English, drawing influences from the languages represented by the ethnic groups that make up the speakers' population. It's something I encounter almost every day, and I thought it would be good to make some observations … Continue reading Adventures in Colloquial Singaporean English (Singlish) – Topicalisation
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