How languages evolve

Standard

By looking for regular patterns of sound changes between languages, linguists can begin to determine relationships, trace specific steps in their evolution and even reconstruct earlier languages with no written records.

What was that sound?

Standard

James Chapman, an artist on Tumblr, creates awesome artwork.

Below are a few pieces he’s done, illustrating onomatopoeia in several languages. There are several more on his Tumblr page, where he also mentions that he holds a PhD in physics – “but that’s not important.”

I thought I’d share this guy’s cool, adorably informative work with you. Now you can impress all your friends by knowing that “zan zan,” is the sound of a phone ringing in Bulgarian. I’m not sure when exactly that knowledge will come in handy, but you’re welcome regardless.

If you’re looking for something a little more on the pop culture track, Chapman’s  recently done artwork in homage to the 2014 Oscar Winners.

You can buy his prints from his Etsy shop.  Go check him out!

The words you use and the USA

Standard

On December 21 2013, The New York Times came out with a very intriguing quiz. So intriguing, in fact, that it became their most popular content of 2013… in just 10 days. It’s that good.

The about section of the quiz posted on nytimes.com.

The about section of the quiz posted on The New York Times website.

The 25-question survey asks a series of simple inquiries, such as “How would you address a group of two or more people?” and “How do you pronounce the first syllable of lawyer?” then gives between 1 and 6 options to choose from.

Through a combination  of statistics, smart algorithms, graphics and data visualizations, the quiz compiles the answers and spits out where it believes your dialect places you on the US map. It harbors a few more interactive characteristics that really make it a great piece of engaging content — no wonder it quickly became viral. Funnily enough, I wrote a short post about this phenomena.

Just an example of what you'll see when taking the quiz

Just an example of what you’ll see when taking the quiz.

I remember at one point (I took this quiz the same day it debuted), the amount traffic being pushed to the site was so heavy that the NYTimes servers literally couldn’t handle the pressure and warned users that they may being waiting a while for their results.

But without further ado, take the quiz! How Y’all, Youse and You Guys Talk

Let me know what you guys (and gals) got! Leave a comment.

And if you’re interested in who actually created the quiz, Northwestern University profiled Josh Katz (the maker) in this article.