Russian has a word for light blue and a word for dark blue, but no word for a general shade of blue. So when interpreters translate "blue" into Russian, they’re forced to pick a shade. It’s one of the many complexities of translation David Bellos explores in his new book, Is That a Fish in Your Ear?
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/14/142309214/meaning-of-everything-often-lost-in-translation?sc=tw
Tagged with language translation npr
Professor Jean Aitchison delivers her first Reith Lecture from her series entitled ‘The Language Web’. She explores whether our language really is in decay and argues that we need to understand language, not try to control it.
Tagged with bbc reith lectures language words english book:author=jean aitchison
rofessor Jean Aitchison delivers her second Reith Lecture from her series entitled ‘The Language Web’. She examines the origin of language in the human species and explains how a fresh look at the role of language has led to new ideas about how it started.
Professor Jean Aitchison delivers her fifth and final Reith Lecture from her series entitled ‘The Language Web’. She looks at the possibilities and the pitfalls of the way we use language, and how it can shape as well as distort our view of the world.
Tagged with bbc reith lectures language words book:author=jean aitchison
Professor Jean Aitchison delivers her fourth Reith Lecture from her series entitled ‘The Language Web’. She examines the word-learning ability inbuilt in humans, and explains how we manage to recall words at speed when we need them.
Andrew Marr talks to the science fiction writer China Mieville, whose latest planetary creation explores the links between language and thought, and asks what it means to have no concept of lying. A N Wilson explores a world closer to home, but no less alien, medieval Florence, as he tries to uncover the life and work of Dante. Jonathan Bate’s play, Being Shakespeare, also attempts to bring to life the work of the Bard and the real man behind the legend, by placing him in his historical context. And the prize-winning poet Jo Shapcott argues for the transformative nature of poetry.
Start The Week sets the cultural agenda for the week ahead, with high-profile guests discussing the ideas behind their work in the fields of art, literature, film, science, history, society and politics.
Professor Jean Aitchison delivers her third Reith Lecture from her series entitled ‘The Language Web’. She examines the predictable way in which the language web develops in children and how adults can help, and sometimes slow down, a child’s progress.
Humans evolved a brain with an extraordinary knack for language, but just how and when we began using language is still largely a mystery. Early human communication may have been in sign language or song, and scientists are studying other animals to learn how human language evolved.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129155123
Tagged with language evolution communication science linguistics culture
Most people know a good sentence when they read one, but New York Times columnist Stanley Fish says most of us don’t really know how to write them ourselves. His new book, How To Write A Sentence: And How To Read One, is part ode, part how-to guide to the art of the well-constructed sentence.
http://www.npr.org/2011/01/25/133214521/stanley-fish-demystifies-how-to-write-a-sentence
In "Wordcatcher: An Odyssey into the World of Weird and Wonderful Words," Phil Cousineau delves into the curious etymologies of words ranging from the seemingly straightforward to the utterly obscure. Cousineau joins us in studio to discuss the hidden histories and meanings of the 250 words profiled in his book. An author and filmmaker, Cousineau has published 26 nonfiction books and has 15 scriptwriting credits to his name.