Category: history of languages

HOW INDIVIDUAL LANGUAGES EVOLVE Today, we are going to talk about the historical trajectory of a given language as understood individually, starting from the point when it can be considered independent and distinct from its Sister Languages. In other words, that’s the path that a certain language follows after venturing outside the bulk of its…

PARENT, DAUGHTER, AND SISTER LANGUAGES We are going to stick with language evolution and language history for quite a while, so better pause for a second and take a more rigorous, step-by-step approach. If you remember what we have just seen you will immediately see why it makes sense to speak of “steps”. There will…

LEARNING LANGUAGES FROM SCRATCH Studying abroad, and even more so working in translation and in simultaneous interpreting, I’ve had the chance to learn a number of foreign languages. The one thing I am proud of is not how many of them I know, nor how native I sound in any language (I definitely don’t). What…