Can language affect how much you spend?
We all know environment plays a part in how we behave, but how does our mother tongue affect our attitude towards money? New research claims the language we speak affects our saving habits. This article gives a summary of the differences between Chinese and English in a financial context. Futureless language Keith Chen, a professor […]
A Linguistic Feature of Rioplatense Spanish: Hablar en capicúa
Rioplatense or River Plate Spanish, the dialect of Spanish spoken in and around Buenos Aires, Argentina, is characterized by a number of features, most notably the use of voseo and Lunfardo slang; however, a lesser-known phenomenon called “hablar en capicúa” or “hablar en sánguche” also exists within the dialect. Hablar en capicúa (known in English […]
Esperanto, The Universal Language, Celebrates its 125th Birthday
What is Esperanto? Despite the international power of the English speaking world, Esperanto (celebrating its 125th birthday this year) is considered to be the universal language of our time by at least two million people who use the language every day just like any other. Created in Warsaw on the 26th July 1887 by the […]
English Language Remained More Stable in the 20th Century
A scientific and linguistic analysis of data culled from digitized books shows that the English language remained relatively stable in the 20th century, with popular words and phrases falling out of favor at a slower pace as compared with past centuries. The increased availability of digital information through initiatives such as Google Books makes quantitative […]
The Field of Translation Ranks among Top Recession-Proof Industries
With the global economy still feeling the effects of the recession, some industries are holding their own while others are floundering. Fortunately, the prospects for the field of translation look extremely promising, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projecting industry growth of 42% during this decade, a figure that exceeds growth estimates for […]
The Meaning of ‘Chamuyar’ / ‘Chamullar’
Argentine Spanish is strewn with words and colorful phrases from Lunfardo, a rich vocabulary born on the streets of Buenos Aires in the second half of the 19th century. Now considered a fixture of the Spanish language in Argentina (especially in and around Buenos Aires) and Uruguay, linguists cite the use of Lunfardo as a […]
New Additions to the Dictionary of the Real Academia Española (DRAE)
Last Friday, the Real Academia Española—the absolute authority on all aspects of the Spanish language—updated its online dictionary by means of 1,697 modifications, including new words, abbreviations, anglicisms and more. This update constitutes the fifth revision to the venerable dictionary since 2001. With an average of more than 2,000,000 visits per day, the DRAE is […]
How Math Can Save a Language from Extinction
With more and more languages fading into obscurity each year, linguists and other interested scholars find themselves frantically trying to record the details of these rare tongues before they completely disappear. Ultimately, while a language’s salvation lies in the hands of its population of current and potential speakers, the field of mathematics may be able […]
Spanish Words Disguised as English
Long before the hybrid Spanglish came on the scene, the two languages—Spanish and English—were mixing it up in dusty border towns and far-flung tropical locales. Over the years, English has been enriched by the addition of numerous Spanish loan words, some borrowed with virtually no changes while others have been anglicized to a certain extent, […]
The Fate of the Spanish Language in the United States
The Spanish language is putting up a valiant fight. With 52 million Hispanics in the U.S. and the number of Spanish speakers on the rise, it looks as though Spanish is here to stay; however, historically speaking, the United States has earned a reputation as the place where good languages go to die. In the […]
