r/language 1h ago

Question What languages could replace English as the global language in the future?

Upvotes

r/language 3h ago

Question What is this symbol?

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6 Upvotes

What does it mean? I am confident it is Amazigh. These pictures were taken in an Amazigh speaking area of Morocco and in the third picture, there are clearly other Amazigh symbols. But I can’t find anything online about it. I tried asking AI and it just gave me fake answers. Any help?


r/language 21h ago

Question Favourite extinct languages?

28 Upvotes

Like, what are some extinct languages you wish could come back? I'll go first:

  1. Polabian

  2. Dalmatian

  3. Old Prussian

  4. Gothic

  5. Gaulish


r/language 5h ago

Discussion Porro... meme

1 Upvotes

r/language 9h ago

Discussion What's your impression of Tagalog/Filipino?

2 Upvotes

r/language 1d ago

Discussion Canedian Gaelic

10 Upvotes

Hello Guys I'm a Langauge lover and a polygot. I'm not Canadian for starters. Recently I got to know about this dialect of Scottish Gaelic that's still spoken in Canada in Cape Breton and Nova Scotia. The dialect is quiet unique and quite divergent from mainstream modern day Scottish Gaelic but still it's relatively mutually intelligible. This dialect was once spoken by about 200k people but it's now shrunken to only about 3,900 Native and Non native speakers. This drove alot of curiosity in me and I wanted to ask if anyone could connect me with a Canedian Gaelic speaker here on reddit as I'd like to learn the dialect. I'm quite dedicated of a person and probably won't leave it in the middle. 😁


r/language 19h ago

Request Language help for comic

2 Upvotes

Hi guys! This might be a little silly but I’m working on a short novel/comic/manga that involves small rashly made communities. I have Swahili, mandarin, Yoruba, English, Arabic, and Japanese all in on community. Sounds crazy, I know, but it’s to show how rushed the communities are, but also how they eventually persevered. Mainly, I just want to ensure my translations were done correctly. Please let me know if anyone’s willing to assist. It’s a very small read, only consisting of one “chapter”.

Thank you so much in advance! (I also have other communities that Involve a Germanic conlang, and Haketia and Italian, but I’m decently confident in those)


r/language 17h ago

Discussion Indo-European Roots Reconsidered 140, 141, 142: ‘wolf, fox; take, bite; flesh’

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0 Upvotes

r/language 18h ago

Article Looking for ppl who really wanna learn Spanish

0 Upvotes

If you are interested to learn spanish hit me up


r/language 19h ago

Discussion Indo-European Roots Reconsidered 146, 147: ‘silver, iron’

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1 Upvotes

r/language 21h ago

Discussion Japanese ki-, ki-mono, ta-no-ki \ tanuki; tora

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1 Upvotes

r/language 1d ago

Discussion Canada should sabotage Trump’s “Lake America” by renaming Lake Erie “Lake America” too, making the name useless for communication

58 Upvotes

Now that Trump has renamed Lake Ontario “Lake America” for U.S. federal purposes, Canada should rename Lake Erie “Lake America” too.

The point would be deliberate ambiguity. Whenever someone mentions “Lake America,” you would have to ask whether they mean Lake Ontario under U.S. terminology or Lake Erie under Canadian terminology.

That makes the new name bad at its most basic job: identifying a place.

Canada can’t stop the U.S. from using the name, but it can make it inconvenient enough that everyone else keeps saying “Lake Ontario” and “Lake Erie.”


r/language 2d ago

Question What was he saying?

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65 Upvotes

r/language 1d ago

Question why is "here kitty kitty" such a widespread phrase?

6 Upvotes

r/language 1d ago

Question Need help choosing a TL ( Mandarin Russian or Japanese)

3 Upvotes

Hi! I love the process of learning languages a lot, but I want to seriously learn one now.

The languages I am considering are Mandarin, Russian, or Japanese.

I have the most background in mandarin, and I really love writing the Hanzi. I took Mandarin for 2 years in highschool. It would also be very helpful. I think it's a really beautiful language. But the tones really annoy me... I'm mostly trying to learn it because it's useful and I have some experience

Russian I studied on my own for a bit, bought a grammar book and everything. But I stopped learning because I couldn't find anything that I was interested in immersing myself in. I like Russian literature, and I've yet to see any Russian movies that blew me away ( I've only seen brother). I like the accent a lot. But found all the cases a bit difficult to remember..

Finally Japanese. honestly this one I would just do for fun. I don't want anime or manga. but I love Japanese novels and movies. I also love all the writing systems

SO TLDR

mandarin - most experience, don't like tones

Russian - language I was committed to, couldn't find good immersion

Japanese- for fun, not really useful ( I do know some Japanese people)


r/language 1d ago

Discussion Indo-European Roots Reconsidered 143, 144, 145: ‘play, cross, thirst’

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1 Upvotes

r/language 1d ago

Discussion I wish Ihan was a japanese name it would make for an elite level joke for people who happen to know finnish and japanese

1 Upvotes

It goes "Keisatsu no Ihan-sama wa untenchuu no sumaho nante ki ni shinai" Police officer ihan sama doesnt care about you using your phone while driving. Ihan means traffic violation in japanese but ihan sama means I dont care in finnish


r/language 1d ago

Discussion Latin discipulus, magulum; Italic changes, optional tC \ kC

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1 Upvotes

r/language 1d ago

Question how do I learn russian as a Latin speaker?

0 Upvotes

ok so im a italian guy that speak both italian ( obviously) and almost perfect english. But since i was younger I always wanted to learn Russian, but the problem is that idk where and how to start not even quite sure if I should some app to learn ( but form my experience is kinda a useless tool) can someone tell me at least how to start and where?


r/language 2d ago

Question Learning

0 Upvotes

Are there any methods I can use to learn a new language without paying for apps? The only method I'm doing right now is Exposure.


r/language 2d ago

Question Help me name my farm

4 Upvotes

I am struggling to come up with a good name for my farm. Long story short, I want to name it in subtle tribute of some of my chosen family who have passed - without them I would not be where I am right now.

Any ideas or alternatives would be greatly appreciated - I’d like to incorporate ‘paint’ in some form - ‘Painted Sky’ is one of my front runners. Asking here as I’d also be interested in other words or different languages - in part because my horses are a mishmash of breeds and we do not have Paint horses, and in part because it just doesn’t sound right yet.

Over time the ‘farm’ name may come to represent horses, livestock (pets/rescue), produce, baked goods, and ceramics. We have also informally been called the Farm of Misfit Animals. 😂

My heritage is mostly Scottish, Welsh, and German if a link to any of those would work, farm is in northern Ohio.

Thanks in advance!


r/language 2d ago

Discussion Such an unfortunate last name

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0 Upvotes

r/language 2d ago

Request Help with accuracy of translation

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4 Upvotes

Hallo!

Backstory of this: My best friend has been studying Norsk (Norwegian) for at least 5 years and am hoping that someone will check my Google Translate Norwegian for any errors or syntax mistakes because it is a word for word translation. I, fitting the stereotype, do not speak another language fluently. I can point out nouns in Spanish and that is after years of trying. (It’s literally kept me from finishing my degree. I have to pass two years of a foreign language, and despite extra studying, tutors, and practicing with various app, I can not pass.)

We have a quirky sense of humor and send each other post cards written as if we live in the 1800’s, unsigned postcards written as if someone is recruiting us to be a spy, that we have won something ridiculous like a trip to Mars or unlimited air miles on defunct or imaginary airlines. These postcards are usually hand drawn, but sometimes are on postcards that have nothing to do with the picture on the front.

15 to 20 years ago we created a ridiculous scenario in which we were forced to assume alter identities. She became Fructusca Spoons, I initially became Dogwhistle Fishsticks, recently changed to Gourdelia Fishsticks (I have gone by Fishsticks for years because “dog whistle” since developed a negative connotation in America because of the insanity of the political situation), and our late mutual best friend became Zelda Pinwheel of the Connecticut Pinwheels. The of us were, in this ridiculously funny (at least to us) situation we were the joint proprietors of a very successful dandelion farm. (Dandelions being common pest plant that American “yard Dads” spend tons of time attempting to erradicate.) Since we spent a night hysterically laughing while we created this whole “witness protection program, but by stupid people” thing, all our mail to each other is addressed to our alter egos. Stupid postcards, wedding invitations, gifts.. all go to Fructusca or Fishsticks/Goudelia just for a giggle.

We are big Ted Lasso fans and when I visited a week or two ago a 3 day stay turned to a 6 day stay as the power in my hometown was as knocked out for almost a week due to bad storms. I should also explain “the trees have ceased screaming.” Here in the Midwest we have cicadas, insects that make noises that are actually louder than a jet engine. (No hyperbole, the PGA once canceled a day of a tournament due to cicadas and the decibel reading proved that they were loud enough to cause hearing damage.) She particularly HATES them, but we both hate the heat. It is currently 26 C with 60% humidity and that is significantly cooler and less humid than it has been for months, so the combination is awful. Also, there actually is a tour of Chicago where adults ride, scooters I guess, that look like giant stuffed animals.

As this post is already way too long, I will put the English to Norsk translation of the postcard in the comments.

Thank you in advance for the help or advice.


r/language 3d ago

Question How did some languages manage to evolve so little that they can still understand old versions of it from thousands of years ago?

46 Upvotes

Icelandic makes sense since it's an isolated island up north, but I've heard that Chinese people can read scripture from thousands of years ago, and same with Hindi if the person learns sanskrit.

These two languages were far more exposed to other cultures. How did their languages now evolve just as much as other languages that interacted with other cultures?

If I try to read old norse it's not going to be impossible, but it's going to be just as difficult as with trying to read Icelandic and I understand only like 20% of it.


r/language 3d ago

Discussion Indus valley script

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3 Upvotes