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Africanized versions of the Arabic alphabet are collectively called "Ajami." Much as the Latin-based alphabet is used to write many languages, including English, Ajami is not a language itself, but the alphabetic script used to write a language: Arabic-derived letters to write a non-Arabic-in this case, African-language. "Ajami" derives from the Arabic a'jamiy, which means "foreigner" or, more specifically, "non-Arab." Historically, Arabs used the word to refer to all things Persian or non-Arab, a usage they borrowed from the ancient Greeks. Yet over the last few centuries, across Islamic Africa, "Ajami" came to mean an African language written in Arabic script that was often adapted phonetically to facilitate local usages and pronunciations across the continent, from the Ethiopian highlands in the east to the lush jungles of Sierra Leone in the west. The use of Ajami is tied to the religious spread of Islam. From its beginning, Islam was a literate religion. Iqra' ("read") is the first word of God's revelations to Muhammad that became the Qur'an. Knowledge of Islam meant knowledge of the revealed word of God: the Qur'an. Consequently, wherever Islam went, it established centers of learning, usually attached to mosques, where children learned to read and write Arabic in much the same way that European and American children have often been taught literacy by using the Bible. For members of African societies where oral tradition predominated, Arabic was the first written language to which they had been exposed.

Languages a world apart have a similar habit of borrowing elevated vocabulary from other languages. In 1066, because the ruling class spoke Old French, that set of vocabulary became synonymous with the elite. Everyone else used Old English. During this period, England's society was diglossic: one community, two language sets with distinct social spheres. Today, English-speakers pick and choose from the different word sets-Latinate (largely Old French borrowings) and Germanic (mostly Old English-derived words)-depending on the occasion. Although English is no longer in a diglossic relationship with another language, the Norman-era diglossia remains reflected in the way we choose and mix vocabulary. In informal chat, for example, we might go on to ask something, but in formal speech we'd proceed to inquire. There are hundreds of such pairs: match/correspond, mean/intend, see/perceive, speak/converse. Most of us choose one or the other without even thinking about the history behind the split. Germanic words are often described as earthier, simpler, and friendlier. Latinate vocabulary, on the other hand, is lofty and elite. It's amazing that nine hundred years later, the social and political structure of 12th-century England still affects how we think about and use English. The article also discusses a similar historical phenomenon in India, where much of southern India, just like Norman England, was diglossic between Sanskrit (an Indo-European language used ritually and formally by Hindu elites) and vernacular Dravidian languages. Today, that diglossia is gone, but Sanskrit-derived vocabulary still forms an upper crust, mostly pulled out for formal speech or writing.

This article talks about how one's genetics and one's language could possibly be connected. This study took place in Cape Verde, where people speak Kriolu, a mixture of European and African languages that formed with the trans Atlantic slave trade. Researchers recorded multiple individual's speech and compared the recordings to the individual's DNA. They found that there was a significant correlation between one's ancestry and the words they use - for example, those with more African genetic ancestry used more African derived words. While this doesn't necessarily conclude that linguistic traits are passed on like genetic traits are, it is interesting that in a language that is a mix of other languages, individuals still use more words that are derived from their ethnic backgrounds.

Article explores the findings of biologist Mark Pagel: some of the words most commonly used today may have derived from a common protolanguage. The Washington Post has an interactive feature with sound samples of some of the ultraconserved words: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/national/words-that-last/.

Mark Pagel, at the University of Reading, talks about ultra-conserved words--words that have survived 10K years: I, ashes, woman, even possibly spit. He theorizes that such words derive from a common protolanguage.

One of the language derived from Indo-European. A language spoken in Ireland.

The Beijing dialect of Mandarin Chinese is a victim of language standardization in schools and offices, urban redevelopment and migration. To the untutored ear, the Beijing dialect can sound like someone talking with a mouthful of marbles, inspiring numerous parodies and viral videos. The dialect is a testament to the city's tumultuous history of invasion and foreign rule. The Mongol Empire ruled China in the 13th and 14th centuries. The Manchus, an ethnic group from northeast Asia, ruled from the mid-17th century into the 20th. As a result, the Beijing dialect contains words derived from both Mongolian and Manchurian. The intervening Ming dynasty, which maintained its first capital in Nanjing for several decades before moving to Beijing, introduced southern speech elements.

Chinese New Year, known in China as Spring Festival, has an abundance of unique traditions associated with it. Some of these traditions are more widespread than others. Among the many New Year's customs are a few whose meaning is derived from puns of Mandarin words.

A few of the words recently added to Dictionary.com Deep web: the portion of the Internet that is hidden from conventional search engines, as by encryption; the aggregate of unindexed websites: Dox: Slang. to publish the private personal information of (another person) without the consent of that individual Haptics: the branch of psychology that investigates sensory data and sensation derived from the sense of touch and localized on the skin. Glanceable: noting or relating to information on an electronic screen that can be understood quickly or at a glance:

A lot of different ways to say "Thank you." Fun to identify some of the language groups via the morphology of the phrase (but Tahitian is quite the change!)

Table of Contents The Subjectivity of Experience Aspects of the Music-Language Relationship Music As Language The Vocal Origins of Music Talking About Music Specialized Music Languages Teaching by Example Notes Every input to our senses is a stimulus, available for us to interpret as information[1], and from which we can derive further information.

One of those concepts that has no real English equivalent, the word saudade means the presence of absence. It is a longing for someone or something that you remember fondly but know you can never experience again. It is an awareness of the absence of a person or thing, which puts you in a deep emotional state of sadness. The presence of absence grapples with those who should be here but aren't. It is a form of homesickness and deep yearning. According to history, the word saudade came into being in the 15th century when Portuguese ships sailed to Africa and Asia. A sorrow was felt for those who departed for long journeys, and too often disappeared in shipwrecks or died in battle. Those who stayed behind deeply suffered from their absence. The survivors had a constant feeling of something that was missing in their lives. The word is derived from the Latin plural solitates, meaning solitudes, but it is also influenced by the word salv, meaning safe.

This article has some pictures of Tolkien's notebooks that he created four elvish in. The languages he made for Lord of The Rings were fairly complex. They were all derived from each other and he even created historical evolution throughout the languages.

Although linguists have used for many years the process of deriving pronunciations of obscure words via comparing it to related descendant languages, this method has now been expedited by being scripted into computer code. Thus, scientists can now utilize computer technology to predict pronunciations of obscure words with up to 76% accuracy, which is greatly assisting the documentation of ancient, poorly recorded, or endangered languages in India.

Article was shared by my friend and colleague, Yunus Peer. The etymology of why we call groups of animals a particular noun truly derives from humans' instinctive nature to categorize and compartmentalize identifiers in their brain. For this reason, collective nouns were created to describe particular animal groups. That way, even without the identifying noun of the animal itself, when referring to collective nouns like a shrewdness roaming the jungle, one can safely assume the speaker is talking about a group of apes.

This article explores the Japanese concept of natsukashii: a Japanese word used when something evokes a fond memory from your past. It's a word you exclaim as a smile creeps across your face. For instance, when you hear a song you loved as a teenager, or when you come across an old train ticket stub in your pocket. In some cultures, nostalgia is often full of sadness. But natsukashii - which derives from the verb "natsuku", which means "to keep close and become fond of" - indicates joy and gratitude for the past rather than a desire to return to it. In Japan, natsukashii is a reminder that you are fortunate to have had the experiences you've had in life. The fact that you cannot return to those experiences makes them all the more poignant.

The author examines the meaning of rizz, which is derived from "charisma." This term, rizz, proves how dynamic language is. Rizz also emphasizes the role of online platforms, such as TikTok, where younger people can own and coin their linguistic expressions.