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For those of us who teach and research the Chinese language, it is often difficult to describe how the Chinese characters function in conveying meaning and sound, and it’s always a particular challenge to explain how the writing system differs from the alphabetic systems we are more familiar with. The issues are complex and multi-layered, and have important implications for

There’s an old controversy over the word “momentarily” or, more precisely, over one of its most familiar usages.

Coined by professional puzzle-writer Francis Heaney, editor of GAMES Magazine and former editor of Enigma (the publication of the National Puzzlers Lea...

In early September, China’s National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) issued a new regulatory notice on “Further Strengthening Management of Cultural Programs and their Staff.” The regulation directs media outlets to “resolutely reject persons who violate laws and morality” including those who exhibit “abnormal aesthetics” (畸形审美, jixing shenmei) (NRTA, September 2; China Law Translate, September 2). The notice offers only …

Coined by professional puzzle-writer Francis Heaney, editor of GAMES Magazine and former editor of Enigma (the publication of the National Puzzlers Lea...

Women have white matter, men have duct tape. Or so implies Louann Brizendine's latest book, the Male Brain, dissected in this post and comments at Language Log:

Just a few. • Good Samaritan Watch.  Whenever a Talk 10(h) violation makes it into the news (i.e., slips past the mainstream-media watchdogs while one of them is distracted or dozing), I get a slew of emails congratulating me on the quality of my advice. Here is the latest instance, a particularly nasty one.  Thanks to all readers who alerted me to it. https://t.co/cfFBlt6Z0k So much for helping anyone anymore.— SaltySusan -Florida MAGA - Family, God & Integrity (@Susan77237285) May 23, 2...

Ace Linguist January 24, 2020 The PIN-PEN Merger The PIN-PEN merger, where words like "pen", "Lenin", and "hem" sound like "pin," "linen," and "him," is one of the most ubiquitous mergers in American English - but it only started spreading a century ago. Its expansion has been silent, as entire regions of the United States acquire the merger while avoiding societal scrutiny. Today well be taking a look at this common merger and the history behind its appearance, its spread, and how its regarded...

Yuval Pinter writes: When an English speaker doesnt understand a word one says, its "Greek to me". When a Hebrew speaker encounters this difficulty, it "sounds like Chinese". Ive been told the Korean equivalent is "sounds like Hebrew". Has there been a study of this phrase phenomenon, relating different languages on some kind of Directed Graph? Well, theres a Wikipedia article on the topic "Greek to me" with a table of correspondences, a page at Omniglot "Its all Greek to me" with a similar t...