09 February, 2010
07 February, 2010
a stone
For those of you following my weight loss story I have reached my first milestone - a stone (6.5 kg)! It is my plan to lose another 10 or so kilos before my graduation in April, that's a kilo (2 lbs) a week. When I started this new regime 4 weeks ago I told myself that my goal was to lose a total of 20 kg (44 lbs) by mid-to-late May, so I am roughly a third of the way there now.
Read more...06 February, 2010
why I love linguistics
I came across this lecture on the Pirahã people of the Amazon recently and I wanted to share it with you. Daniel Everett is the author of Don't Sleep, there are Snakes which discusses the anthropological and linguistic ramifications of his research into the Pirahã. The lecture is a joy to watch and encouraged me to order a copy of the book that I received in the post not two days ago (I currently am already reading three other books so this will have to wait a while...though I did sneak a reading of the first two chapters!)
Among the many things that the lecture discusses such as language preservation and making poisonous arrows, Everett talks about evidentiality, existential liminality, counting and kinship. Such matters are very exciting for me and whenever I read about them I know that linguistics is right for me. A linguistics hero of mine is David Harrison who is a field linguist in Siberian Turkic languages*. And with the study of small communities that speak endangered languages comes the study of anthropology, of which ethonology is of particular interest to me. Neurolinguistics, language acquisition, minority languages, ethnology....heaven.
Evidentiality is the manner in which a speaker declares the evidence value of a particular statement. In Pirahã a speaker must declare their information source. The source may be inferential, reportative or direct. In the first case the speaker infers that an event occured. In the secondary case the speaker heard about the event from someone else. And finally, in the third case, the speaker saw it with their own eyes.
In English we can say a phrase such as: Mary took the bus to town. If evidentiality was grammatised in English when might have end up with the following hypothetical examples.
1) Mary tookfer the bus to town (Inferential - I infer that Mary took the bus to town because she is not here, it's raining and she doesn't have a car)
2) Mary tookpor the bus to town (Reportative - Michael told me that Mary took the bus to town)
3) Mary tookrec the bus to town (I saw Mary take the bus to town)
Related to the concept of evidentiality is existential liminality. The Pirahã are very here and now people and the visual and direct experience of an event plays an important part in their language and view of the world. This has implications for how they express such concepts as time as well as their belief in a higher-being. According to Everett the Pirahã have no creation-myth and such an idea is an absurdity for them. The Pirahã are first and foremost concerned with their immediate enviornment and what they can experience through their senses. In their language the Pirahã use the word xibipíío to refer to the boundary of experience. In the video Everett reports the Pirahã referring to the flickering of a match flame as xibipííoing (the flame is going in and out of the boundary of experience). Everett refers to this as the 'immediacy-of-experience principle' which is a reason for their resistance to the development of religion and conversion to Christianity. Their world-view was so strong that they even deconverted Everett!
When it comes to a counting system, Everett has stated that the Pirahã do not have one! Simply put, the Pirahã do not have numbers. In his early publications on the language Everett translated the terms: hói, hoí, and baágiso as 'one', 'two' and 'many'. Such a number system is common in the world's languages. However, upon further investigation Everett discovered that the meanings of the terms are closer to: 'small size or amount', 'somewhat larger size and amount', and 'cause to come together/ many'. Thus the terms refer rather to quantity and do not encode specific numbers. (More on this can be read in this article here [PDF]). It is not true, however, that the Pirahã suffere from some cognitive maladie that prevents them from counting. Any Pirahã that have learned Portugeuse (or another language with numbers) has learned to employ them correctly.
Everett claims that the Pirahã have the smallest kinship system known to any culture. The term baíxi can be translated as either 'mother' or 'father' (think English 'parent') and the people appear not to keep track of any relationships more distant than siblings or children.
More on the language (phonology, syntax, note on colour terms) can be found from the Wikipedia article here. Go here to hear the language spoken, which deals with the lack of recursion. It had been previously thought that all language make use of the feature but, according to Everett, the Pirahã language does not have it. (The matter is discussed in this pdf document).
* He is the author of one of my favourite linguistics books: When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World's Languages and the Erosion of Human Knowledge and has a new book forthcoming: The Last Speakers: The Quest to Save the World's Most Endangered Languages.
04 February, 2010
book and tea
On hommik Eestis. Kahjuks päike ei paista, väljas on külm ja lumi on maas. Õnneks mul on huvitav raamat, mida ma praegu loen. Mulle meeldib heameelega head raamatut lugeda ja rohelist teed juua. Lugedes ja juues läheb aeg kiiresti.
Raamatu nimi on Fox, Swallow, Scarecrow. Éilís Ni Dhuibhne on kirjaniku nimi. Ní Dhuibhne on andekas ja kuulus kirjanik, kes on pärit Iirimaalt. Mu tööülevaataja andis eile mulle selle raamatu. Ta ütles mulle, et talle meeldis see, ja ma loodan et mulle ka meeldib see.
Raamatu üks peakaraktereid Anna on kirjanik, aga ta pole väga kuulus. Ta on abielus, aga ta armub teise mehesse, kellega ta kohtus peol. Ma veel ei tea, mis nüüd siis saab. Pean edasi lugema... Read more...
Raamatu nimi on Fox, Swallow, Scarecrow. Éilís Ni Dhuibhne on kirjaniku nimi. Ní Dhuibhne on andekas ja kuulus kirjanik, kes on pärit Iirimaalt. Mu tööülevaataja andis eile mulle selle raamatu. Ta ütles mulle, et talle meeldis see, ja ma loodan et mulle ka meeldib see.
Raamatu üks peakaraktereid Anna on kirjanik, aga ta pole väga kuulus. Ta on abielus, aga ta armub teise mehesse, kellega ta kohtus peol. Ma veel ei tea, mis nüüd siis saab. Pean edasi lugema... Read more...
03 February, 2010
Burning the Darkness
According to the back cover of the book the oral tradition lives on in Kristiina's work, in which she weaves Finno-Ugric mythology and folklore into her very contemporary poetry. Her poetry is at once modern and primeval.
One of my favourite poems is Ümin Eestile (A Murmur to Estonia in English). The poem deals with the freedom of the Estonians and Ehin refers to the the 24th of February, Independence Day in Estonia.
vabadus on haruldane kala
mida võrguga ei võta
noodaga ei nopi
freedom is a very rare fish
that you can't entrap in a net
or snare in a seine
ja kui saadki ta
õnnekombel õnge otsa
pole ta enam see
haruldane vabadus
siis on ta kinnipüütu
siis on ta vang
and if by great good fortune
you do get it on your hook
it isn't that very rare freedom
any more
it is captive then
it is a prisoner then
At this time of the year, talv (winter), in the snow until my knees, covered and protected from the cold and looking up at the Estonian blue sky, I understand the following:
täna paneb veebruar
varakevadetuuled ulguma
täna ümiseb
jäätunud maa:
today February sets
the early spring winds howling
today the frozen land
murmurs:
vaata seda siinset inimhõimu
aasta külmimal kuul
põhjamaa tähttaeva all
tähistavad nad oma püüdmatusepäeva
look here at this human tribe
in the coldest month of the year
beneath northland's starry sky
today they celebrate that they can't be caught Read more...
An Dorchadas á Dhó
Tá sé scríte ar chlúdach chúl an leabhair go maireann an traidisiúin béil i saothar an fhilí seo, dánta ina bhfitear an mhiotaseolaíocht Fhionn-Úgrach is an béaloideas ina ndéantúis sár-nua-aimseartha. Tá a chuid filíochta nua-aimseartha ach fós cianaoiseach.
Ceann de na dánta is fearr liom ná Ümin Eestile (Monabhar i gcluais na hEastóine as Gaeilge). Baineann an dán seo le saoirse na hEastónach agus tagraíonn Ehin don 24ú lá de mhí Feabhra, Lá an Neamhspleáchais san Eastóin.
vabadus on haruldane kala
mida võrguga ei võta
noodaga ei nopi
iasc an-neamhchoitianta is ea an tsaoirse
nach féidir a cheapadh i líon
i ndol ná i saighean
ja kui saadki ta
õnnekombel õnge otsa
pole ta enam see
haruldane vabadus
siis on ta kinnipüütu
siis on ta vang
agus má bhíonn an t-ádh dearg leat
agus go n-éiríonn leat é a chur ar do dhuán
ní saoirse an-neamhchoitianta é
níos mó
is cime ansin é
is príosúnach ansin é
Ag an t-am seo den bhliain, talv (geimhreadh), sa sneachta go dtí mo ghlúin, clúdaithe agus cosanta ón bhfuacht agus mé ag breathnú ar an spéir gorm Eastónach, tuigim an méid seo a scríobh Ehin:
täna paneb veebruar
varakevadetuuled ulguma
täna ümiseb
jäätunud maa:
cuireann mí Feabhra
gaotha an luathearraigh ag glafarnach inniu
monabhar inniu
ón talamh reoite
vaata seda siinset inimhõimu
aasta külmimal kuul
põhjamaa tähttaeva all
tähistavad nad oma püüdmatusepäeva
féach ar an treibh dhaonna seo
an mhí is fuaire sa bhliain
faoi spéir réaltogach na gcríoch o thuaidh
is iad ag ceiliúradh inniu mar nach féidir breith orthu Read more...
29 January, 2010
Estonia à la Petrone
Just this week I got my hands on a copy of Justin Petrone's My Estonia (Part 1: Passport Forgery, Meat Jelly Eaters and Other Stories). Evidently that is the English and original version of the book. The Estonian version is Mu Eesti (1. osa: Kas lubate elada?).I really liked this book and I'd recommend it to anyone with connections to Estonia, foreigners and Estonians alike. There is a something in there for everyone. Eva devoured the book in a single sitting and I read it over an evening and following day.
What sucked me into the book was how openly Justin talked about his search to discover himself, his feelings of loneliness, and his jump of faith in coming to, and staying in, Estonia despite his parents' and own reservations. As a story of a young man trying to adapt to a new country in order to follow his heart, this story is as it says on the back-cover: romantiline.
As Kristopher said of Justin back in November: In his blog [Itching for Eestimaa], Petrone comes across as a bit of an old Nordic hand. Far from the Justin of 2009, giving interviews on Estonian Radio and TV about his life, his book and his view on Estonian politics, this is 2003 and Justin is wholely unaccustomed to the ways and taste-buds of Estonians. It is during this five-month period (when he over-stayed his 90-day welcome) that Justin discovered kali, tatrahelbed, verivorst, pelmeenid and sült.* Justin changed in many ways through the course of the book. He became a husband and a father. He integrated into Estonian society and went native, at least to the point of not considering himself a foreigner any longer. He progressed from not knowing the difference between üheksa and kaheksa** to holding conversations in the language. He found relative peace in himself amid all the stressful and chaotic changes.
There are a number of humorous points in the book. One such is his battle with a 5 year-old relative-in-law over a bunch of sticks, buying an ice-cream because he felt bad, only to be given out to by the grandmother for spoiling the child's appetite.
However, this is not a book about Estonia. Despite the leeway that one can grant due to the use of the word my/minu this book would gave been better off being called Epp ja mina / Epp and I, Epu järgi / Following Epp or somesuch title. Afterall, this book is about Justin's search for himself as Epp's partner and his many interactions with her family. The fact that the majority of the action took place in Estonia is beside the point. The book starts in Finland and includes time spent in London and New York. What remains constant is not location but companion: Epp.
My second reservation about the book is that is does not reflect the depth of experience that Justin has gathered over the six years since 2003 on Estonian, marriage and fatherhood. I would have liked more input from the present Justin and his adventures carving a more stable life for himself and his family in Estonia, the birth and raising of his children, and his integration in to Epp's family and Estonian society. Combining the 2003 Justin with the one we are more familiar with today into one volume, coupled with some deeper analysis on Estonian society and culture and some backstories that dealt with the familial and historical threads of Epp's family and Justin's Estonian friends and colleagues would have been welcomed. The issues and themes brought up and discussed in the book were nicely touched-upon, but I wish there could have been greater depth.
But I guess that is why there will be a second part. There is much yet to tell. Hopefully in the coming volume there will be much more of the itching at the fabric of Estonian society to get closer to the core of what makes this country and its people tick.
*kvass, buckwheat, blood-sausage, meat-dumplings and meat-jelly. ** nine, eight. Read more...
26 January, 2010
4
It's day 18 on my lose-weight-get-fit regime and I am pleased to report that I have lost 4kg (9lbs) since I started. When I started this I told myself that I wanted to lose 20kgs (44lbs) before the summer. I am thus one fifth of the way through. With the rate I am going I should make my target weight in good time.
That is if I manage to continue to be as good as I have been until now. It hasn't been easy to resist temptation (especially with some treats around, Eva has some now and then before tries not to around me). That said, it hasn't been overly hard either. Once I started to fight the temptation and not give in at the first hurdle it leaves me alone. It isn't so hard to just tell yourself no! And once I did that and achieved some success it is easier to stay focused. I'm hungry. Not hungry for chocolate or ice-cream, but hungry to see the figure on the scale smaller every time I step on it.
It is just the start and I will have to be careful to not become too confident and watch out the loss of the initial enthusiasm. It will be important to keep pushing myself and keep myself on the right track. I've particularly noticed the slimming on my stomach and my sides and somewhat in my face as well.
This new regime doesn't mean I'm eating more poorly. I'm eating well and it's all the good stuff, lots of fresh fruit and veg, grain such as buckwheat and brown rice, fish such as tuna and mackerel and plaice. All these needed vitamins and minerals and essential fatty acids are making me more positive, livelier and healthier.
I think to myself, two more kilos, and that makes a stone! Read more...
That is if I manage to continue to be as good as I have been until now. It hasn't been easy to resist temptation (especially with some treats around, Eva has some now and then before tries not to around me). That said, it hasn't been overly hard either. Once I started to fight the temptation and not give in at the first hurdle it leaves me alone. It isn't so hard to just tell yourself no! And once I did that and achieved some success it is easier to stay focused. I'm hungry. Not hungry for chocolate or ice-cream, but hungry to see the figure on the scale smaller every time I step on it.
It is just the start and I will have to be careful to not become too confident and watch out the loss of the initial enthusiasm. It will be important to keep pushing myself and keep myself on the right track. I've particularly noticed the slimming on my stomach and my sides and somewhat in my face as well.
This new regime doesn't mean I'm eating more poorly. I'm eating well and it's all the good stuff, lots of fresh fruit and veg, grain such as buckwheat and brown rice, fish such as tuna and mackerel and plaice. All these needed vitamins and minerals and essential fatty acids are making me more positive, livelier and healthier.
I think to myself, two more kilos, and that makes a stone! Read more...
21 January, 2010
a new era for Cornish
This story has been travelling the news websites and language blogs for a number of days (see: WalesOnline, TimesOnline, BBC, Omniglot and BlogLingua for example) but I wanted to have my own two cents on the story.
Last Saturday, 16th of January, the doors to the first ever Cornish-language nursery were opened. The nursey is being run by Movyans Skolyow Meythrin (Nursery Schools Movement), a non-for-profit organisation that wishes to establish bilingual Cornish/English nursey across Cornwall.
For those of you who do not know, Cornish is a Celtic language spoken in Cornwall in the UK and is closely related to Welsh (Wales, UK) and Breton (Brittany, France). Since 2002 it has been recognised as a minority language of the UK under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The language ceased to function as a community language in the late C18th and is thought to have died with its last native speaker (Dolly Pentreath) in 1777. However the language survived somehow, passed from generation to generation of learners and unwent a revival movement in the C20th. Notwithstanding the fact that there are some 300+ fluent speakers of Cornish, the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2009) listed the language as extinct.
Most nurseries teach children to share toys and play nicely in the sandpit. At the first Cornish language crèche, opening tomorrow, toddlers will learn to share their tegennow and play nicely in the polltewas.They will sing in Cornish, and learn their numbers, calendar and basic phrases in the language. (TimesOnline). Parents are also being taught Cornish phrases to use with their children in the home.
Interestingly enough, the founder of the Cornish language nursery movement is a woman from France, Emilie Champliau and the teacher is a Welsh man, Rhisiart Tal-e-bot. Champliau's daughter Olwen is currently attending the crèche.
I absolutely love the idea of the Cornish language crèche. I fully support the option for speakers and learners of minority languages to send their children to monolingual and bilingual schools that teach through the minority language. These schools have been immensely popular in relation to Irish in Northern Ireland and the Republic and Welsh in Wales, never mind trilingual Basque-Spanish-English, Catalan-Spanish-English and Frisian-Dutch-English schools in Spain and the Netherlands.
Contrary to common misconceptions about bilingual education, studies and decades of practise have found that the teaching of the minority language in no way negatively affects the acquisition of the state language. In fact, it might be that bilingual education actually improves children's understanding and production of the majority language. That is in addition to all the other linguistic, cultural, sociological and psychological advantages of bilingual education such as language and cultural awareness, self-confidence and cognitive-fuctions, creating bridges between communities and protecting and strenghtening the minority language.
Sadly though, as can be seen from the negative comments of some of the commentators on the TimesOnline piece, not everyone believes resources should be put into teaching children minority languages. Personally I think that bilingual education is under-utilised as a sector and should be made more wide-spread. Researchers into the substanability of the Irish language have for years been calling for the use of Irish in schools as a medium of teaching - teaching come subjects through Irish as a means to develop students' skill in the language and increase their interaction with it. Unfortunately, the Department has been less than keen.
Only time will show whether this movement takes off. However, I wish it all the best to my Celtic cousins across the water.
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