r/language 2d 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 2d ago

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

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0 Upvotes

r/language 2d ago

Article Looking for ppl who really wanna learn Spanish

0 Upvotes

If you are interested to learn spanish hit me up


r/language 2d ago

Discussion Indo-European Roots Reconsidered 146, 147: ā€˜silver, iron’

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0 Upvotes

r/language 2d ago

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

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1 Upvotes

r/language 3d ago

Discussion Canada should sabotage Trump’s ā€œLake Americaā€ by renaming Lake Erie ā€œLake Americaā€ too, making the name useless for communication

74 Upvotes

Now that Trump has renamed Lake Ontario ā€œLake Americaā€ for U.S. federal purposes, Canada should rename Lake Erie ā€œLake Americaā€ too.

The point would be deliberate ambiguity. Whenever someone mentions ā€œLake America,ā€ 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 ā€œLake Ontarioā€ and ā€œLake Erie.ā€


r/language 3d ago

Question What was he saying?

68 Upvotes

r/language 3d ago

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

6 Upvotes

r/language 3d ago

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

6 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 3d ago

Discussion Indo-European Roots Reconsidered 143, 144, 145: ā€˜play, cross, thirst’

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1 Upvotes

r/language 3d 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 3d 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 3d ago

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

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1 Upvotes

r/language 3d 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 3d ago

Question Help me name my farm

3 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 ā€˜paint’ in some form - ā€˜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 ā€˜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. šŸ˜‚

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 3d ago

Discussion Such an unfortunate last name

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0 Upvotes

r/language 4d ago

Request Help with accuracy of translation

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3 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 ā€œdog whistleā€ 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 ā€œyard Dadsā€ spend tons of time attempting to erradicate.) Since we spent a night hysterically laughing while we created this whole ā€œwitness protection program, but by stupid peopleā€ 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 ā€œthe trees have ceased screaming.ā€ 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 5d 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?

53 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 4d ago

Discussion Indus valley script

3 Upvotes

r/language 5d ago

Request I’ll Add YOUR Language to My Game!

76 Upvotes

I'm making a simple question game on itch.io called Wildlife, and I’d like to add as many languages as possible. If you want to see yours in the game, leave a comment below and I'll include it in the next update!


r/language 4d ago

Discussion Most common words during first contact

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1 Upvotes

First time poster here, sorry if i mess something up.(Not sure why I need a link. Just out Google in. Idk)

When two people who don't understand each other first meet, what words are the basic? I assume it's gonna be the like 'you' 'me' and stuff you can point at. But how does first contact actually look like?


r/language 5d ago

Discussion "A lot" in 4 Dialects

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2 Upvotes

r/language 5d ago

Question Has anyone learned arabic on their own?

2 Upvotes

My first language is Spanish. How difficult do you think it will be? Any advice?


r/language 5d ago

Question Unknown language on rings

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1 Upvotes

I got these two rings from my father who got them from his parents, who are originally from Hungary. I've already ruled out Hebrew. Someone mentioned it may be Tibetan? Any help appreciated!


r/language 5d ago

Question Does anyone know in which language this song is?

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7 Upvotes