Word of the Week ... XII

This week's word is one of my favourites. I use it frequently in my writing and even sometimes in my speech.

"indeed"

Meaning: "Indeed" is often used as another word for the expressions "really", "certainly" or "definitely".

Example: It was a sad day indeed.

Can you come up with your own examples?

Irish - Language Overview

When people say Irish, they mean the Gaelic language which was spoken in Ireland before English replaced Irish in everyday use. Nowadays, Irish is official language in the Republic of Ireland again, although only part of the population can read or speak it and it is only used as everyday language in some parts, especially Western Ireland around Galway.

Irish

Geographical Extension

Irish is only spoken in some parts of Ireland, called the Gaeltacht regions. Irish is officially the first language in the Republic of Ireland, and an acknowledged minority language in Northern Ireland.

Spoken by

It is spoken by approximately 1.5 million people.

Language Family and History

Irish belongs to the Goidelic language family, like Scottish Gaelic and Manx. First written records of the Irish language date back to the fourth century AD. The early, or primitive, Irish was written in the Ogham alphabet, also called the "Celtic Tree Alphabet", whose letters consisted of certain notches and strokes. It was named "Celtic Tree Alphabet" because traditions attributed tree names to the letters of the alphabet. Primitive Irish was prevalent throughout Ireland and on the west coast of Great Britain. In the fifth and sixth century, Primitive Irish developed into Old Irish, which then used the Latin alphabet. At around the same time, the former Celtic country started to adopt Christian believes through St. Patrick and other Christian missionaries.

Middle Irish, which evolved from Old Irish during the tenth century, was not only spoken in Ireland but also in Scotland and on the Isle of Man. About two to three centuries later, it split into Modern Irish, Scotish Gaelic and Manx. Modern Irish was used both spoken and in literature thoughout the next centuries.

Under British rule, the use of Irish declined and was associated with poverty since the wealthy elite in Ireland spoke English. The Great Famine 1845-1849 caused a further decline of the Irish speaking population due to death or emmigration.

The Gaelic Revival movement, which started at the end of the 19th century, tried to strengthen the use of Irish again. The Irish language became a symbol of a new-found national identity. In 1922, the Republic of Ireland gained its indepence from British rule. 15 years later, in 1937, Irish became first official language in the Republic of Ireland. Nowadays, Irish is taught at schools and is used in journalism and everyday use again, especially in the Gaeltacht regions.

Grammar Difficulty

Irish grammar shows some of the same grammatical characteristics as Chinese (Mandarin) which, quite honestly, surprised me a lot. It also has grammar structures in common with the Romanic languages. For English natives, Irish grammar may be difficult to grasp due to the great differences in sentence structure, the two genders for nouns, two different verbs for "to be" and other differences.

Pronunciation Difficulty

Irish pronunciation is by far the most difficult pronunciation I have yet encountered. All consonants can be pronounced either as "broad" or "slender" version, with different positions of the tongue. This small distinction in pronunciation also brings different meanings with it which makes it a pitfall for non-native speakers.

Special Facts

Since there were hardly any people around who were still able to write in Irish by the time Irish becamse official language in the Republic of Ireland, spelling and grammar are mostly derived from older written records of Modern Irish as used before British rule.

Irish is strongly influenced by the English language nowadays, especially when it comes to modern words which simply didn't exist in the time Irish was still "naturally" spoken. Some simply use the English words, for example for internet, while others create "Irish" words for it.

In Northern Ireland, Irish was exclusively used by Catholics for a long time and was seen as a symbol of a unified nation. Recently, Protestants in Northern Ireland show an interest in the Irish language as well.

The Basics - Italian

Ok, today, I'll give you some basics in Italian, just because I love the sound of it. To help you all out with pronunciation (and since I was asked for a pronunciation guide last time I posted a short language course), I found something for you:

Italian Pronunciation (English)
Italian Pronunciation (German)

Exercises

Let's begin with the 5 essentials:

Cursing: Merda! (Shit!)

Thank you: Grazie!

I love you: Ti amo.

Cheers: Cincin! / Alla salute!

Help: Aiuto!

Ok, now we can move on to some basic phrases:

Ciao, sono ... (Hi, I'm...)

Come stai? (How are you?)

Come ti chiami?/Come si chiama? (What's your name? - informal/formal)

Sto bene. (I'm fine.)

Mi dispiace, non parlo l'italiano. (I'm sorry, I don't speak Italian.)

Parli/Parla l'inglese? (Do you speak English? - informal/formal)

Scusa! (Sorry!)

Usually, most people will be more friendly if you at least try to speak a few words or phrases in their native language, and will more likely switch to your language if they know it. And, honestly, it's not that difficult to learn a few phrases before your next trip to Italy, but it can make your trip so much easier and more interesting!

Word of the Week ... XI

I read this word in a Facebook post and knew I had seen it before (and profoundly like it):

"blimey"

Meaning: It's a colloquial British expression you use when you want to express incredulity. According to an English friend, it basically means the same as "wow" and is hardly ever used nowadays. I say: What a pity, it's such a nice word! Save the word!

Example: Blimey! You really made it!

What are your examples?

Swedish - Language Overview

I chose Swedish to be my first Scandinavian language since my mom was already learning Danish and I wanted to take a different language. I don't know why exactly I reasoned that way, but I like Swedish so I haven't regretted my choice.

Swedish

Geographical Extension

Swedish is spoken throughout Sweden and in parts of Finland as official language.

Spoken by

Swedish is spoken by about nine million native speakers.

Language Family and History

Swedish belongs to the Scandinavian (or North Germanic) languages, and more extensively, to the Indo-European languages (like almost all European languages, by the way). Its closest relatives are Danish and Norwegian, which can be understood so that speakers of either of the three Scandinavian languages are able to communicate with each other.

The Scandinavic languages began to split from the Germanic language during the 8th century. Only a century later, the mutual Scandinavic language called Old Norse divided into Old West Norse (Norway and Iceland) and Old East Norse (Denmark and Sweden). Over the next centuries, each country developed a distinctive dialect which led to the division of former Old East Norse into Old Swedish and Old Danish from the 13th century onwards. During the Middle Ages, the Catholic church with its monasteries brought many loan words from Greek and Latin to Sweden while the Hanseatic Power and the trade through it brought with it a strong influence by Low and High German. Old Swedish had a grammar complexity that resembled the modern German grammar. In the recent centuries, Swedish experienced a simplification of grammar until it reached the form of modern Swedish in the late 19th century. The main reasons for a simplified and unified Swedish language had been the invention of book printing and therefore a wider distribution of written Swedish (especially the Bible), and the industrialization in Sweden which also brought forth new Swedish writers. The last greater reform of the Swedish language to date was the "you-reform" in the 1950s and 1960s when the way in which you address higher-ranking people was changed to a more liberal way.

Grammar Difficulty

Swedish grammar is similar to English grammar in complexity. Although Swedish still has two genders, its overall complexity has been simplified throughout history so that the Swedish language shouldn't be too difficult to learn for English natives.

Pronunciation Difficulty

Swedish has a rather sing-songy pronunciation which might be difficult to immitate. Apart from that, however, it is quite easy to learn.

Special Facts

Old Swedish was written with runes. The runic alphabet only had 16 letters so that many letters were used for more than one phoneme.

Daily Exercises...Not Only for Muscles

Language skills are pretty similar to muscles: If you don't use them regularly, they shrink.

I have known this for years but never actually acted. Why not? I could come up with reasons like stress, no time, too much work etc., but the truth is: I was probably just too lazy. Let's face it: If I had really wanted to, I could have easily included some minutes of language exercises into my daily routine, just like I include some push-ups or curls into my daily routine no matter how busy I am.

Granted, language skills require brain work whereas push-ups or curls require physical activity, so maybe it's easier for me to do some physical exercises in between my regular "brain work" instead of occupying my brain with even more stuff in a break; still, that's no excuse for letting my language skills get rusty. I know that I'm still perfectly able to understand those languages I don't use regularly; I have problems with actively using it.

From now on, I'll try to include my languages more into my daily life. I don't want to lose the skills I have; on the contrary, I want to improve them even further. Luckily, it takes much less effort to reactivate language skills than to acquire new language skills.

Do you have language skills too which have become rusty? What do you do to prevent losing your language skills?

Watch out for my language exercises--soon to come! (Any preferred language? If so, let me know!)

My Two Cents ... XXII

This week's phrase:

"a penny for your thoughts"

I came across it in a joke, and it stuck with me, so I did my usual research:

What does it mean?

If someone says to you, 'I'd give a penny for your thoughts,' he wants to know what you are thinking. It is mostly used when someone seems to be distracted and "lost in thoughts". It may, however, be used too if someone wants to ask for an opinion on a certain matter.

Where does it come from?

It appears to be quite an old saying, dating back to the middle of the 16th century when a British penny was still worth quite a bit.

My two cents:

I definitely like this phrase. It sounds nicer than to ask, 'What are you thinking?' and I'll try to include it into my everyday vocabulary.