parrot time - issue 13 - january / february 2015

Parrot TimeThe Thinking of Speaking Issue #1 3 January / February 201 5

CChhaattttii nngg iinn LLaanngguuaaggeessPPaarrtt oonnee ooff aann iinnttrroodduuccttiioonn ttoopprraaccttii ss iinngg llaanngguuaaggeess iinn oonn ll ii nnee cchhaattss

TThhee QQuueessttiioonn ooff PPrraaccttii cceeAA llooookk bbaacckk aatt EEssppeerraannttoo''ss ccrreeaattiioonn

WWhhyy DDoo PPeeooppllee LLeeaarrnnLLaanngguuaaggeess??SSoommee rreeaassoonnss ppeeooppllee ssttuuddyyaannootthheerr ttoonngguuee

LLooookk bbeeyyoonnddwwhhaatt yyoouu kknnooww

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Contents

Parrot Time | Issue #13 | January / February 2015 3

32 At the Cinema - Chinese Puzzle

6 Chatting in Languages Online - Text ChatsPractising a language with another person is a crucial part in thelearning process, and using various text chat methods onlinecan greatly help this. However, there are also some issues thatcome with these online chats rooms.

50 Book Look

49 Where Are You?

22 The Question Of Practice - An InternationalLanguage Is Possible

This excerpt from "International Language - Past, Present &Future" by W. J. Clark, 1907, shows us how InternationalAuxiliary Languages were viewed when they were firstintroduced.

Parrot TimeParrot Time is a magazine

covering language, linguisticsand culture of the world around

us.

It is published by ScriveremoPublishing, a division of

Parleremo, the language learningcommunity.

Join Parleremo today. Learn alanguage, make friends, have fun.

Departments

Features

05 Letter From The Editor

Editor: Erik ZidoweckiEmail: [email protected]

Published by Scriveremo Publish-ing, a division of Parleremo.This issue is available online fromhttp://www.parrottime.com

The editor reserves the right toedit all material submitted. Viewsexpressed in Parrot Time are notnecessarily the official views ofParleremo. All rights of reproduc-tion, translation and adaptation re-served for all countries, exceptwhere noted otherwise. All copy-right material posted in the public-ation retains all its rights from theoriginal owner. Parrot Time, Par-leremo, officers and administra-tion accept no responsibilitycollectively or individually for theservice of agencies or persons ad-vertised or announced in thepages of this publication.

Cover: St John's CollegeTower. St John's College is aprivate school for boys inSouth Africa, situated inHoughton, Johannesburg,Gauteng, South Africa. Theyoffer a number of languagecourses to students.

38 Words in Your Mouth - Cheese

36 Celebrations - Fastelavn

1 4 Why Do People Learn Languages?People who study languages beyond just their native one askmany questions regarding which languages are the best orworst to learn. But why do these people actually learn anotherlanguage?

PPaarrlleerreemmoo

LLeeaarrnnaallaanngguuaaggee,,MMaakkeeffrriieennddss,,HHaavveeffuunn!!

wwwwww..ppaarrll eerreemmoo..oorrgg

Letter From The Editor


TThis is the thirteenth issue of Parrot Time. This issignificant because it means we have passed the two yearmark and are still up and running. Many publications failafter just a few issues, so having our first dozen completedis a pretty important milestone.

The number thirteen, however, is considered bad luck insome countries. People go out of the way to avoid anythingwith a count of thirteen, including the number of peopleor items in a group, the day of the month, and thenumber of a room. Many buildings not only don't haverooms numbered thirteen, but even don't have a floornumbered thirteen. Even the group of thirteen treasure seeking dwarves in J.R.R. Tolkien'sclassic "The Hobbit" sought out an extra member so as not to have evil befall them. There iseven a name for the fear of the number thirteen: triskaidekaphobia.

There are a few possible reasons for this belief that thirteen will bring bad luck. One is that atthe Last Supper, where Jesus Christ sat with his Apostles, there were thirteen in attendance.Since one of them betrayed him, the number thirteen could be blamed.

Thirteen was certainly bad luck for the Knights Templar, who were ordered to be arrested byKing Philip IV of France on Friday 13, 1307. Most of them were later tortured and killed. Fridaythe Thirteenth is still feared as day when terrible things will happen.

Not all countries consider thirteen to mean ill fortune. They have their own bad luck numerals.In Italy, some fear Friday the 17th, because if you rearrange the Roman numeral for it, XVII,into VIXI, you get the Latin word for "my life is over".

In China, the pronunciation of the number four is very similar to the one for death, and somany buildings in China omit the fourth floor, similar to the practice in the United States withthe thirteenth floor. This also happens in Japan, where four (shi) and "death" are similar inpronunciation. This also occurs with the words for "nine" (ku) and "torture or suffering".

In Afghanistan, thirty-nine is the evil number. It is translated as "morda-gow", which literallymeans "dead cow". Because there was a pimp nicknamed "39" (after his license plate number),the term has become slang term for a pimp, and thus linked to prostitution.

Perhaps the most evil number comes from the Biblical "number of the beast", 666. It is believedto be the mark of the devil. I admit, even I get a little nervous when I see that number.

We hope that this issue is lucky for us, in that it represents a promise of continuation of themagazine. We also hope we don't have to worry about this again until the six-hundred andsixty-sixth issue, which should be in released in another hundred and nine years.

Thirteen

Erik ZidoweckiERIK ZIDOWECKIEDITOR IN CHIEF

CChhaattttiinngg iinn

LLaanngguuaaggeess

OOnnlliinnee

PPaarrtt 11::

TTeexxtt CChhaattss

o truly gain fluency in a

language, a person needs to

actually use that language with

other people. In traditional

classes, that was normally only

possible with other classmates.

Unless you had other people in

your family or neighbourhood

who also spoke it, you had a hard

time practising the

conversational aspect. You might

establish a penpal relationship, in

which you could write letters to

individuals in other countries,

but that meant waiting for days

and weeks between practice

sessions, which was certainly not

the same as a discussion.

Chatting in Languages Online - Text Chats

8 Parrot Time | Issue #13 | January / February 2015

The advent of the internetchanged all that, however. Itnot only has given people away of getting informationfrom all over the world, it hasgiven them a means to com-municate freely with people ofall races and ethnicity. It al-lows the students of a Ger-man class to actually talk toother German studentsaround the world as well asnative Germans, oftenwithout even leaving theirhouse.

First, people could useelectronic letters and get re-sponses back in hours, some-times minutes. Publicforums, which gave learners achance to post messages andreceive answers in many lan-guages also became preval-ent, allowing for rapidfeedback on their progress.

The real innovation,

however, came in the form ofreal-time chats in which anynumber of people that wereonline at the same time couldwrite something and have areply instantly, like a face-to-face conversation. The onlything this lacked was thephysical presence of the per-son.

The IRCOne of the first and certainlythe most popular widely usedtext chats is the Internet Re-lay Chat, or IRC. It is a sys-tem that is run on variouscomputers called servers overthe internet, allowing forpeople from all parts of theglobe to connect. It normallyrequires a person to down-load a program, called a cli-ent, to connect. However,there are now web page basedapplications, called gate-

ways, that allow people to getinto the IRC without any oth-er software being installed.

The IRC is actually aseries of several interconnec-ted servers sharing the samesetup, creating multiple IRCnetworks. Each network ismaintained by a group of ad-ministrators. These networkscontain several chat areas,called channels, in whichpeople can gather for dis-cussing particular topics.Most networks allow peopleto make and moderate theirown channels. Think of theIRC as a city, and each net-work is a single building. Inthat building, each room is aplace for people to meet andtalk. Now, imagine that thenumber of buildings is largelyunlimited, as is the numberof rooms each can contain,and you can appreciate just

All it takes is a computer, the internet, andsome effort, and you can practise languagewith people around the world.



how powerful the IRC can beas a means of broad commu-nications. Moreover, since themost basic chat system is alltext, even the least advancedcomputer is likely to be ableto join.

I first started using theIRC when in college, beforethe web was created. TheWorld Wide Web (WWW) isthe graphical interface thatsits on the internet. Beforethat, the common method ofusing the internet was usingterminals (essentially, key-boards and monitors thatwere linked into a large, sin-gular computer called a main-frame) . We used it tocommunicate with other

parts of the campus as wellas other universities. At thattime, most people used it forplaying adventure games. Itbegan to show its real powerduring the Gulf War, when itwas used to give updates in-stantly from those close tothe action without having togo through the conventionalmedia. It was also a majorcomponent in getting out in-formation during the attemp-ted Soviet coup attempt in1991 during a media black-out. Now, we look to Twitterand Facebook to fill thoseroles, but it first started withthe IRC.

Practise in Text ChatMany places over variousnetworks of the IRC havebeen created over the years.Many of these are openchannels for practising manylanguages as well as discuss-ing learning languages ingeneral. Specific channels,allowing the people in thoseto focus on a single language,have also become common-place. These allow people atall levels of study to particip-ate and help each other. Inthis way, they are providingthe groups of learners thatwere normally reserved fortraditional classes. An addedbonus is that these channelsnever close; people can use

Now, imagine that the number ofbuildings is largely unlimited, as is the numberof rooms each can contain, and you can appreciate just how powerful the IRCcan be as a means ofbroad communications.

We now have the power to talk to peoplein the local coffee shop, or on the otherside of the world.



them at any time, regardlessof time zones and locality.Enter into one whenever youhave a chance and instantlybe able to converse withsomeone in you language ofstudy.

The IRC is not the onlyplace to have text chats now.As the browser interfaces be-came more powerful, it waspossible to create softwarebased chats on individualwebsites. This has the posit-ive aspect of keeping morecontrol over the chat situ-ation, such as only allowingmembers of website to join. Italso has the downside of pos-sibly using a lot of a websiteresources and not being asaccessible to as many people.For example, having an IRCbased chat makes it easy forpeople to find and join, whilea web based chat will likelyrequire people to find the siteand become a member beforethey can talk to others.

Using a text chat can notonly help you in learning alanguage by talking with oth-ers, but it can also help youmeet people in other culturesand learn more about theworld in general. I have alsopersonally met a number ofpeople in “real life” that I hadonly previously talked to viathe IRC. Some of these be-came very strong friendshipsthat never would havehappened without access tosuch a communication tool.

TrollsHowever, just like any othergathering of people, you aregoing to meet people that arethere to cause problems,maybe even become abusive.These are commonly referredto as “trolls”, and if allowed to

disrupt the channel for toolong, they will drive usersaway. Over the years, I havehad to deal with many trolls,and it is never an easy situ-ation. While you do not wantto restrict people’s interac-tions, some level of civilityhas to be maintained, andthat falls to the administrat-ors. Sometimes, when a per-son who is being disrupted isreprimanded or even re-moved, other members mayget angry, not at the individu-al but at the moderator whoremoved them. These protest-ing members would like to

believe that everyone will justget along nicely without anykind of intervention. Oddlyenough, they are likely tochange their mind if a trolldirectly goes after them.

DominationThere are other language re-lated issues that can affect achat. One complaint I haveheard in a few different mul-tilingual chats is the way acertain language will some-times dominate the channel. Iam not referring to English,which is normally the com-mon language that most

Trolls are people that just liketo stir up trouble. The bestthing is to ignore them.



users change. There willsometimes be a group ofpeople that either all comefrom the same country, allare learning a specific lan-guage, or a combination ofthose, which will seem to takeover. For example, in onechat, it was common forDutch speakers to all startspeaking Dutch at once,making those who did notspeak it feel left out. Thiscaused a backlash againstDutch itself by some.

You would think that thissort of activity would actuallymake people excited. After all,is not this what languagelearning really is about: beingable to come together as agroup and all start speakingthe same language with eachother? That is what theselanguage channels are cre-ated for and it is encouraged

that you speak whatever youwant. Sadly, though, some ofthose people that did not un-derstand it felt imposedupon. It was common enoughfor a few people to startspeaking the same languagein a channel, just that whenit reached a certain numberof speakers that the com-plaints would begin to come.This is something I have nev-er really understood myself,because it seems rather petty.After all, if the languages wasone that the complainersknew, they would be enjoyingthe big conversation likeeveryone else and would beoffended that someone didnot like them doing it.

Tongue EnvyAnother problem is related tothe people who know a greatnumber of languages, nor-

mally referred to as hyper-polyglots. When a new personjoins the chat, they are usu-ally instantly asked whatlanguages they know andwhat languages they arestudying. This is normally apositive situation, with a fewpeople perking up at the listand perhaps even attemptingto speak in one of those lan-guages to the new person.The problem can arise ifsomeone feels threatened bythis new person’s list. Themember might feel they needto challenge the person pub-licly and, if they doubt theirabilities, may start to speakthese doubts to other mem-bers of the chat, while thenew person is present orwhen they are absent. Likeany other accomplishment,language enthusiast can beimpressed and inspired by

When everyone else is speaking a language you don'tunderstand, you feel like completely out of place and isolated.



another person’s abilities orfeel themselves inadequate bycomparison. Even if this doesnot happen immediately, it isa feeling that can poison theatmosphere of any group, of-ten leading to an eventualconfrontation.

One example I can give ofthis is when a female joined amultilingual chat and toldeveryone how many lan-guages she knew. For mostthere, she became somethinglike a demigod; they doted onher and treated her very well.She was even made a moder-ator of the channel, so greatwas this awe of her abilities.

I did not pay much atten-tion to this situation becauseI had other things I was fo-cusing on until one memberof the chat spoke to meprivately. I was told thatsome people doubted this wo-

man’s abilities, and thatwhen she used some of thelanguages she knew, shemade some mistakes.

Now, “knowing” a lan-guage does not mean you area fluent speaker, nor does itmean you will never make amistake. Most people makemistakes when using theirnative language at one pointor another. And of course,there was no rule in the chatthat a person had to speak alllanguages they claimed toknow fluently. If that were thecase, most of the chatterswould be in violation. I didnot get complaints from anyother members regardingthis, but to me, this was obvi-ously a case of “tongue envy”.

The LonerA third situation I have seena few times is when there is a

chatter who only speaks onespecific language, and it isnot English. This person canspeak some English, butrarely does so. This is not aproblem; many people do notfeel confident enough in Eng-lish, which is one reason theycome to the chats: they wishto improve their Englishspeaking capabilities.

What can happen is thatthere may be only one or twoother people that this singu-lar speaker will conversewith. When those people arenot in the channel, the sin-gular speaker never speaks.

This should not be aproblem, but some people doget frustrated. They may feelthat this person should bemore willing to interact withother chatters. This tension isescalated if the singular lan-guage used is one that few

Even in a chat room full oftalkers, a loner can seem tobe lost in space.



others know, leading to thefeelings of being left outagain. Here is a person thatseems to only have “secret”conversations with a few cer-tain people. While it isolatesthat member, it makes othersuncomfortable.

LurkersThere is a more general chatissue that occurs when thereare a number of people in achannel that rarely or neverinteract with anyone else.They are in their all the timebut do not contribute to thechannel. These individualsare called “lurkers”.

Lurkers affect the moral-ity of a channel in differentways. They might upset somepeople since they appear tobe zombies: lifeless, but stillthere. Soulless bodies. If youfocus on them, they can be-

gin to really disturb you, likestanding in a party with onlya few people talking, the restjust staring out into space.Creepy!

On the other hand, lurk-ers can also make a channelseem more full of people, andthus giving chatters a senseof a larger community andthus making them feel moreat home. They envision thelarge party but ignore thatmany are not active. They aretoo busy talking with thosewho are involved.

What are lurkers therefor? Many like being able toread the chat, either whilethey are doing other thing orat a later time if they are log-ging what is said. They do notwant to participate forwhatever reason, but do likebeing part of it in this way.Some actually sit in many

channels at the same time forthis reason, so while theymight be a lurker in onechannel, they might be activein another. Some lurkersnever say anything or evenleave the channel. They re-main mysteries to everyone.

These are some of the is-sues that must be taken intoconsideration when planningto practise your new languagein a text chat online. Someare applicable to much of ba-sic communication online,and they also can play a partin using voice chat systemsas well. I will talk about voicechats in the second part ofthis article in the next issue.PT

The lurkers are the ones that rarely, if ever, speak in a chat,yet seem to be always there. They lurk in the shadows.

WWhhyy DDoo PPeeooppllee

LLeeaarrnn

LLaanngguuaaggeess??

uman language is our

primary form of com-

munication throughout

the world. Most of us

learn what becomes our

native language from our

parents and the people

around us so that we can

communicate easily.

However, for some,

knowing just one lan-

guage is not enough. They

find a desire, and in some

cases, a need, to learn a

second or third language.

Why Do People Learn Languages?


The reason for doing thisis not easy to explain to anon-learner. They might sug-gest that learning anotherlanguage is useless. After all,there is already technology inuse, like Google Translate, toconvert any text needed,right? In that situation, it istempting to respond thatwith that attitude, manythings are unnecessary. “Wehave spelling checkers, so noone needs to learn to spell. ”They would probably agreewith you on that. “We havefrozen dinners and cannedfood, so no one needs tolearn to cook.” They mightnot like that one as much.“We have video games, so noone needs to do sports likefootball. ” That might get youpunched in certain parts ofthe world.

And of course, the onequestion that is likely tomake any language loverwant to draw blood: “Whylearn another language?Everyone speaks Englishalready!”

Why Learn?Part of the population mayhave gone on to actually usea language they acquired, orthey may have been raisedwith a second language,making them bilingual. Itmight help them in theirdaily lives, such as in com-municating with family mem-bers or dealing with others intheir business. To them, it isnot useless, but they do notreally think of it beyond that.

For the serious languagelearner, the one that actively

strives to master not just onenew language but several,there is never really a ques-tion as to the usefulness orpracticality of what theylearn. It is a quest thatjustifies itself, in the sameway that a cook can learn tofeed himself but a chef viewscooking as an art, somethingto be perfected. If you askone of these people why theydo it, they might give you avariety of answers, but theyare really saying to you “Howcan you even ask that?”. Tothem, you are the odd one fornot learning more languages.

The main reason that Ihave found people learningseveral languages is that theywant to communicate withmany different people thatwould normally be outside oftheir cultural group. Soundsobvious, right? Actually,



there are millions of peoplethat do not want to talk toanyone outside of their ownneighbourhood, never mindoutside of their language,culture, or country. I’m nottalking just about the UnitedStates either. Despite thestereotype, there are plentyof non-Americans who arejust as provincial, if not moreso. They are caught up intheir own daily lives and haveno need or desire to exploreanything beyond it.

While in college, therewas a possibility for me tovisit the USSR with a groupof students in one of my Rus-sian history classes. To me,this was a fantastic oppor-tunity that I was definitelynot going to pass up. The tripwas going to cost each stu-dent one thousand dollars,but that seemed like a bar-

gain. I wanted to visit thebeautiful onion domes I hadonly seen in pictures, to walkthe streets of an entirely dif-ferent culture and way of life.I was never one that wascaught up in the cold-war

dramas, so there was no fearin my mind of what was be-hind the “Iron Curtain”. Ieven decided I had betterlearn to drink Vodka, so asnot to offend anyone.

When I shared my enthu-siasm with some fellow class-

mates, I was met with looksof confusion and a bit of fear.No matter how I tried to ex-plain how great this oppor-tunity was, they just gave meblank stares. One asked mehow much it was going tocost, and when I told him, hegasped. “Do you know howmany floppy discs you couldbuy with that amount?” heasked me incredulously (Iwas in a geek school, obvi-ously) . Then it was mychance to stare. While theycould not grasp why I wouldever want to visit anothercountry (in my case, again,because by then I hadalready visited Japan,Canada and Italy) while Icould not understand whythey would not want to.

Perhaps for that differ-ence of view, we never got tomake the trip. Although we

They might find them-selves drawn to a cul-ture or people withouthaving visited it, butthrough their exposurein other ways, like artand media, they desireto learn the language.



tried twice to organize thetrip with my Russian historyprofessor, we were never ableto get more than a few peoplecommitted to going, andmaking the trip with just ahandful of students was noteconomically feasible. Soonafter that, the Soviet Unioncollapsed, removing foreverthe chance to see that em-pire.

Another reason thatpeople love learning new lan-guages is for the challenge aswell as the beauty of it. Forsome people, there is a par-ticular draw to the soundand flow of another tongue.

Wanting to learn aboutother cultures is the third

reason. The language andculture of a county areclosely tied together. An oftenused example of this is therelationship of Eskimos withsnow: “The Eskimos havefifty words for snow”. Whilethe number given is oftenchanged, and even the term“eskimo” itself relates to afew different languages, itdoes show how the worldaround us, our culture andlifestyle, are reflected in ourlanguage.

Many people have trav-elled to another country,fallen in love with it and thepeople, and thus endeav-oured to then learn the lan-guage in order to better relateto it all. They might find

themselves drawn to a cul-ture or people without havingvisited it, but through theirexposure in other ways, likeart and media, they desire tolearn the language.

My grandmother acted asa missionary to Japan for anumber of years, and shealso taught advanced Eng-lish. When I was twelve, shewas invited to return to visitfriends, and so most of myfamily and her travelledaround Japan for two weeks.I loved the experience. It wasmy first real experience in acompletely foreign country. Ihave family in Canada, but tosomeone from the UnitedStates, Canada does notreally feel like a foreign

If you ask one of these people why they do it, they might give you a variety ofanswers, but they are really saying to you "How can you even ask that?".



country.While there, we met many

people, stayed with differentfamilies, and got pulled intothe entire culture. I helpedmake decorations for theTanabata festival, learned toeat with chopsticks, and evenwore a traditional boy’s cos-tume at times. It also gaveme my first exposure toAnime, the Japanese car-toons.

I was too young to under-stand the concept of “uglyAmerican”, the term oftenused to describe how we actwhen abroad: demandingthings be in English, wantingeverything like it is in “backhome”, and generally justrude and ignorant. I em-

braced it all, and did my bestto learn some Japanese. Iwas able to use the basicgreetings and polite phrases,which pleased the people Imet greatly. I wanted to un-derstand more of this greatcountry and the wonderfulpeople I met, so learning evena little of the language wasjust the normal thing, to me,to do.

Some people I have metsince who are learning Ja-panese they are doing so inorder to watch Anime withoutsubtitles or dubbing, so itmay even be a small part ofthe cultures that inspiressomeone to study the lan-guage.

And You?If you are reading this article,you are probably one of thosepeople that is learning an-other language. You may bestudying one now, or havealready learned a few to thepoint you can converse withothers. If that is the case,then I am sure you have yourown reasons for learning.Perhaps for you it is a prac-tical reason, like for a jobposition. More likely,however, it is because youfeel drawn to them. For you,exploring a new language is apassion that you cannot ig-nore. Whatever your reasonis, don’t let anyone stop youfrom following your drive tolearn. PT

Esperanto: 19O5 La Revue de l'Esperanto1905-05-18 - Letter from Esperanto creatorZamenhof to Alfred Michaux, the Presidentof the Boulogne Esperanto group.

Revisted - An International Language Is Possible


he man who says a thingis impossible withouttroubling to find out

whether it has been done ismerely “talking through hishat,” to use an Americanism,and we need not waste muchtime on him. Any one, whomaintains that it isimpossible to transact theordinary business of life andwrite lucid treatises onscientific and other subjectsin an artificial language, issimply in the position of theFrench engineer, who gave afull scientific demonstrationof the fact that an enginecould not possibly travel bysteam.

The plain fact is that notonly one artificial language,but several, already exist,which not only can express,but already have expressedall the ideas current in socialintercourse, business, andserious exposition. It is onlynecessary to state the factsbriefly.

First—Volapük.Three congresses were

held in all for the promotionof this language. The third(Paris, 1889) was the mostimportant. It was attended byVolapükists from many

different nations, who carriedon all their business inVolapük, and found nodifficulty in understandingone another. Besides this,there were a great manynewspapers published inVolapük, which treated of allkinds of subjects.

Secondly—Idiom Neutral,the lineal descendant ofVolapük.

It is regulated by aninternational academy, whichsends round circulars anddoes all its business in IdiomNeutral.

Thirdly—Esperanto.Since the publication of

the language in 1887 it hashad a gradually increasingnumber of adherents, whohave used it for all ordinarypurposes of communication.A great number ofnewspapers and reviews of allkinds are now publishedregularly in Esperanto in agreat variety of countries. Itake up a chance number ofthe Internacia Scienca Revuo,which happens to be on mytable, and find the followingsubjects among the contentsof the month: “Rôle of livingbeings in the generalphysiology of the earth,” “The

carnivorous animals ofSweden,” “The part played byheredity in the etiology ofchronic nephritis,” “Themigration of the lemings,”“Notices of books,” “Notes andcorrespondence,” etc. In fact,the Review has all theappearance of an ordinaryscientific periodical, and thearticles are as clearlyexpressed and as easy to readas those in any similar reviewin a national language.

Even more convincingperhaps, for the uninitiated,is the evidence afforded bythe International Congressesof Esperantists. The first washeld at Boulogne in August1905. It marked an epoch inthe lives of many of theparticipants, whose doubts asto the practical nature of anartificial language there, forgood and all, yielded to thelogic of facts; and it may wellbe that it will some day berather an outstandinglandmark in the history ofcivilization. A briefdescription will, therefore, notbe out of place.

In the little seaport townon the north coast of Francehad come together men andwomen of more than twenty

[The following is an excerpt from "International Language - Past, Present & Future" byW. J. Clark, 1907.

It gives us a look at how the International Auxiliary Languages situation was when theywere first introduced. ]

RReevviissiitteedd

TThhee QQuueessttiioonn OOff PPrraaccttiiccee ——AAnn IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall LLaanngguuaaggee IIss PPoossssiibbllee

Revisited - An International Language Is Possible


different races. Some wereexperts, some werebeginners; but all save a veryfew must have been alike inthis, that they had learnttheir Esperanto at home, and,as far as oral use went, hadonly been able to speak it (ifat all) with members of theirown national groups—that is,with compatriots who hadacquired the language underthe same conditions as topronunciation, etc. , asthemselves. Experts andbeginners, those who frompractical experience knew thegreat possibilities of the newtongue as a written medium,no less than the neophytesand tentative experimenters

who had come to see whetherthe thing was worth takingseriously, they were now tomake the decisive trial—inthe one case to test the faiththat was in them, in the otherto set all doubt at rest in onesense or the other for goodand all.

The town theatre hadbeen generously placed at thedisposal of the Congress, andthe author of the language,Dr. Zamenhof, had left hiseye-patients at Warsaw andcome to preside at the comingout of his kara lingvo, nowwell on in her ’teens, andabout to leave the academicseclusion of scholastic useand emerge into the larger

sphere of social and practicalactivity.

On Saturday evening,August 5, at eight o’clock, theBoulogne Theatre was packedwith a cosmopolitanaudience. The uniqueassembly was pervaded by anindefinable feeling ofexpectancy; as in the lullbefore the thunderstorm,there was the hush ofexcitement, the tense silencecharged with the premonitionof some vast force about to belet loose on the world. After afew preliminaries, there was areally dramatic moment whenDr. Zamenhof stood up forthe first time to address hisworld-audience in the world-

The first World Esperanto Congress in Boulogne-sur-Mer— the exit of the convention hall, 6 August 1905.

It was impressive to see people from half the countries of the world rise fromdifferent corners of the hall and contribute their share to the discussion in themost matter-of-fact way.



tongue. Would theyunderstand him? Was theirhope about to be justified? orwas it all a chimera, “suchstuff as dreams are madeon”?

“Gesinjoroj” (= Ladies andgentlemen)—the greataudience craned forward likeone man, straining eyes andears towards thespeaker,—“Kun grandaplezuro mi akceptis laproponon...” The crowd drankin the words with an almostpathetic agony of anxiety.Gradually, as the clear-cutsentences poured forth in acontinuous stream of perfectlucidity, and the audiencerealized that they were alllistening to and allunderstanding a reallyinternational speech in areally international tongue—atongue which secured tothem, as here in Boulogne sothroughout the world, fullcomprehension and a senseof comradeship and fellow-citizenship on equal termswith all users of it—theanxiety gave way to a scene ofwild enthusiasm. Men shookhands with perfect strangers,and all cheered and cheeredagain. Zamenhof finishedwith a solemn declamation ofone of his hymns (given as anappendix to this volume, withtranslation), embodying thelofty ideal which has inspiredhim all through andsustained him through themany difficulties he has hadto face. When he came to theend, the fine passagebeginning with the words, “Niinter popoloj la murojndetruos” (“we shall throwdown the walls between thepeoples”) , and ending “amokaj vero ekregos sur tero”

(“love and truth shall begintheir reign on earth”) , thewhole concourse rose to theirfeet with prolonged cries of“Vivu Zamenhof!”

No doubt this enthusiasmmay sound rather forced andunreal to those who have notattended a congress, and thecheers may ring hollowacross intervening time andspace. Neither would it begood for this or anymovement to rely upon facileenthusiasm, as easilydamped as aroused. There issomething far more than thisin the international languagemovement.

At the same time, it isimpossible for any one whohas not tried it to realize thethrill—not a weak,

sentimental thrill, but areasonable thrill, startingfrom objective fact andrunning down the marrow ofthings—given by the first realcontact with an internationallanguage in an internationalsetting. There really is afeeling as of a new powerborn into the world.

Those who were presentat the Geneva Congress,1906, will not soon forget thesinging of the song “LaEspero” at the solemn closingof the week’s proceedings.The organ rolled out themelody, and when thegathered thousands thatthronged the floor of the halland packed the galleries tieron tier to the ceiling took upthe opening phrase—

Image on propaganda postcard for the 2nd World Congress of Esperanto.



En la mondon venis novasento,

Tra la mondo iras fortavoko,

they meant every word ofit. It was a fitting summary ofthe impressions left by theevents of the week, and whatthe lips uttered must havebeen in the hearts and mindsof all.

Into the world has come anew feeling,

Through the world goes amighty call.

As an ounce of personalexperience is worth a poundof second-hand recital, a briefstatement may here be givenof the way in which thepresent writer came to takeup Esperanto, and of theexperiences which soon ledhim to the conviction of itsabsolute practicability andutility.

In October, 1905, havingjust returned from anabsence of some years inCanada and the Far East, hehad his attention turned toEsperanto for the first timeby reading an account of theCongress of Boulogne. He hadno previous knowledge of, orleanings towards, a universallanguage; and if he hadthought about it at all, it wasonly to laugh at the idea as awild and visionary scheme. Inshort, his attitude was quitenormal.

But here was a definitestatement, professing to beone of positive accomplishedfact. One of two things: eitherthe newspaper account wasnot true; or else, the factsbeing as represented, here

was a new possibility to bereckoned with. The onlycourse was to send for thebooks and test the thing onits merits. Being somewhat

used to languages, he did nottake long to see that this onewas good enough in itself. Aletter, written in Esperanto,after a few days’ study of thegrammar at odd times, with ahalfpenny Esperanto-Englishkey enclosed, was fullyunderstood by the addressee,though he was ignorant uptill then of the very existenceof Esperanto. This experiencehas often been since

repeated; indeed, thecorrespondent will often writeback after a few days inEsperanto. Such letters havealways been foundintelligible, though in no casedid the correspondent knowEsperanto previously. Theexperiment is instructive andamusing, and can be tried byany one for an expenditure oftwopence for keys and a fewhours for studying the sixteenrules and their application.To many minds these are farsimpler and more easy tograsp for practical use thanthe rules for scoring atbridge.

After a month or two’splaying with the language inspare time, the writer furthertested it, by sending out aflight of postcards to variousselected Esperantists’addresses in different parts ofthe Russian Empire. Theaddressees ranged from St.Petersburg and Helsingforsthrough Poland to theCaucasus and to far Siberia.

Sign at the Esperanto Park in Pécs (Hungary), set on occasion of the22nd International Youth Congress of Esperanto in 1966.

The plain fact is that notonly one artificiallanguage, but several,already exist, which notonly can express, butalready have expressedall the ideas current insocial intercourse,business, and seriousexposition.



In nearly every case answerswere received, and in someinstances the initialinterchange of postcards ledto an extremely interestingcorrespondence, throwingmuch light on the disturbedstate of things in the nativetown or province of thecorrespondent. From a Tiflisdoctor came a graphicaccount of the state of affairsin the Caucasus; while aschool inspector from thedepths of Eastern Siberiapainted a vivid picture of theeffect of political unrest onthe schools—lockouts and“malodorous chemicalobstructions” (Anglice—theschools were stunk out) .Many writers expressedthemselves with greatfreedom, but feared theirletters would not pass thecensor. Judging by theproportion of answers

received, the censorship wasnot at that time efficient. Inno case was there anydifficulty in grasping thewriter’s meaning. All theanswers were in Esperanto.

This was fairlyconvincing, but still havingdoubts on the question ofpronunciation, the writerresolved to attend theEsperanto Congress to beheld at Geneva in August1906. To this end hecontinued to read Esperantoat odd minutes and took inan Esperanto gazette. Aboutthree weeks before thecongress he got a member ofhis family to read aloud tohim every day as far aspossible a page or two ofEsperanto, in order to attunehis ear. He never had anopportunity of speaking thelanguage before the congress,except once for a few

minutes, when he travelledsome distance to attend ameeting of the nearestEnglish group.

Thus equipped, he wentthrough the Congress ofGeneva, and found himselfable to follow most of theproceedings, and to conversefreely, though slowly, withpeople of the most diversenationality. At an early sittingof the congress he foundhimself next to a Russianfrom Kischineff, who hadbeen through the first greatpogrom, and a mostinteresting conversationensued. Another day theneighbours were an Indiannawab and an abbé fromMadrid. Another time it was aBulgarian. At the first officialbanquet he sat next to aFinn, who rejoiced in thename of Attila, and, but forthe civilizing influence of a

20th Colombian Congress of Esperanto, held between the 1st and 3rd of November 2014 in the city of Medellín.



universal language, mighthave been in the sunnysouth, like his namesake ofthe ancient world, on a verydifferent errand from hispresent peaceful one. Yethere he was, rubbing elbowswith Italians, as if there hadnever been such things asHuns or a sack of Rome bynorthern barbarians.

During the meal aFrenchman, finding himselfnear us English and someGermans, proposed a toast tothe “entente cordiale takingin Germany,” which washonoured with greatenthusiasm. This is merelyan instance of the small waysin which such gatheringsmake for peace and good will.

With all these people itwas perfectly easy to conversein the common tongue,pronunciation and nationalidiom being no bar inpractice.

And this experience wasgeneral throughout theduration of the congress. Dayby day sittings were held forthe transaction of all kinds ofbusiness and the discussionof the most varied subjects. Itwas impressive to see peoplefrom half the countries of theworld rise from differentcorners of the hall andcontribute their share to thediscussion in the mostmatter-of-fact way. Day byday the congressists met insocial functions, debates,lectures, and sectional groups(chemical, medical, legal, etc. )for the regulation of matterstouching their specialinterests. Everything wasdone in Esperanto, and neverwas there the slightest hitchor misunderstanding, orfailure to give adequate

expression to opinions owingto defects of language. Thelanguage difficulty wasannihilated.

Perhaps one of the moststriking demonstrations ofthis return to pre-Babelconditions was theperformance of a three-partcomedy by a Frenchman, aRussian, and a Spaniard.Such a thing would inevitably

have been grotesque in anynational language; but herethey met on common neutralground. No one’s accent was“foreign,” and none of thespectators possessed thatmother-tongue acquaintancewith Esperanto that wouldlead them to feel slightdivergences shocking, or evennoticeable without extremeattention to the point. Other

Alfred Michaux and Zamenhof in postcard publishedapproximately 1906 with fake autograph.



theatrical performances weregiven at Geneva, as also atBoulogne, where a play ofMolière was performed inEsperanto by actors of eightnationalities with onerehearsal, and with fullsuccess.

In the face of these facts itis idle to oppose a universalartificial language on thescore of impossibility orinadequacy. The theoreticalpronunciation difficultycompletely crumbled awaybefore the test of practice.

The “war-at-any-priceparty,” the whole-hoggers àtous crins (the juxtapositionof the two national idiomslends a certain realism, andheightens the effect of each),are therefore driven back ontheir second line of attack, ifthe Hibernianism may beexcused. “Yes,” they say,“your language may bepossible, but, after all, why

not learn an existinglanguage, if you’ve got tolearn one anyway?”

Now, quite apart from theobvious fact that the nationswill never agree to give thepreference to the language ofone of them to the prejudice

of the others, this argumentinvolves the suggestion thatan artificial language is noeasier to learn than a naturalone. We thus come to thequestion of ease as aqualification. PT

A 25 Steloj CoinEsperantis Currency - 1965

““TTwweennttyy yyeeaarrss ffrroomm nnooww yyoouu wwiillll

bbee mmoorree ddiissaappppooiinntteedd bbyy tthhee tthhiinnggss

yyoouu ddiiddnn’’tt ddoo tthhaann bbyy tthhee oonneess yyoouu

ddiidd ddoo.. SSoo tthhrrooww ooffff tthhee bboowwlliinneess,,

ssaaiill aawwaayy ffrroomm tthhee ssaaffee hhaarrbboorr..

CCaattcchh tthhee ttrraaddee wwiinnddss iinn yyoouurr ssaaiillss..

EExxpplloorree.. DDrreeaamm.. DDiissccoovveerr.. ””

–– MMaarrkk TTwwaaiinn

IIttaalliiaa

At the Cinema - Chinese Puzzle


he film Chinese Puzzle is thethird film in a romance com-

edy trilogy. The first was L’aubergeEspagnole, which is one of my fa-vourite films [reviewed in ParrotTime #1 ] , in which we meet ourmain character, a Frenchmennamed Xavier, and follow his lifefor a year as he studies in Bar-celona. The second film, RussianDolls, sees Xavier a few years later,meeting up with some of his oldfriends and finding romance withWendy, an English women he metin the first film.

This third film finds Xavier and

Wendy, married and living in France

with two kids, at the end of their mar-

riage. They have “fallen out of love”, as

Xavier narrates. Wendy has an-

nounced that she has met someone in

New York, and moves there to be with

her new man, taking their kids with

them.

This devastates Xavier’s world.

While he accepts the marriage is over,

he doesn’t want to lose contact with

his kids, so he moves to New York as

well. There, he moves in with his Bel-

gian lesbian friend, Isabelle, who is

now living in New York, and her part-

ner, Chinese woman Ju.

Xavier finds several obstacles he

must overcome in order to keep seeing

his kids. Just to get visitation rights,

he needs to hire a lawyer, which is ex-

pensive. Without a work permit, he

must find a job that pays “under the

table”. With just a visa, he cannot re-

main in New York for more than a few

months.

He takes care of the job issue by

becoming a bicycle courier, a position

introduced to him by black New York

native and divorced father, Ray. He

gets around the immigrant status by

marrying a Chinese naturalized cit-

izen, Nancy.

While all this occurs, he is also

reunited with his childhood sweet-

heart from France, Martine, who is

also single now, raising two kids, and

happens to be doing some business in

New York.

Like the previous films, there isn’t

a plot or storyline so much as view of

scenes over the course of a time peri-

od, showing how life is for these char-

acters.

From a language point of view,

AAtt tthhee CCiinneemmaa

CChhiinneessee PPuuzzzzllee

Chinese PuzzleR -1 1 7 minComedy / Drama /Romance1 6 May 201 4 (USA)

Country: France / USA /Belgium

Language: French / English/ Spanish / Chinese /Yiddish

“This third filmfinds Xavier andWendy, marriedand living inFrance with twokids, at the endof their marriage.

Xavier getting married to Nancy to stay inthe US. In front are his kids.



this film offers a few things. First is the number of

languages being used in the film, as in the previ-

ous two. Xavier narrates in French, but there is in-

teraction with various characters in French,

English, Chinese, and even Spanish and Yiddish.

Two scenes also are wonderful bits of language

fun. First is during a business meeting between

Martine and the directors of a tea company with

which she does business. Xavier is there with her,

for moral support, but is completely stunned when

Martine starts speaking fluent Chinese. She asks

them to stop using pesticides to grow their tea,

mainly because organically grown products are

more in demand.

After she speaks, the head man replies to her,

in Chinese, that the Chinese people have been

growing tea for 4000 years, and that she, a for-

eigner, has no right to tell them how to grow their

tea. If they don’t use pesticides, they will get fewer

crops.

Martine is stunned by the response and re-

buke and pauses briefly. Then she begins speak-

ing again, but this time, her Chinese has a very

different, drawn out, tone, while her expression is

almost comical.

She is reciting a famous Chinese poem,

“Climbing Stork Tower”, which is recited in a lyric-

al way. The poem is about putting in an effort to

achieve a greater goal, and so she is telling the

company that they must change their ways to get

better sales. The room is stunned not only by her

ability with Chinese, but also by her understand-

ing of both Chinese culture and literature.

The other scene occurs when Xavier is apply-

ing for the job as courier. A Spanish guy, Miguel,

is very upset that they are hiring him, protesting

that he is a foreigner.

Jefe, the Mexican boss, gets angry at this and

bursts out, “I’m a foreigner. You’re a foreigner.”.

He gestures to the Chinese man in the room be-

hind him, “He’s a foreigner". Then he addresses

the room, “Who in here isn’t a foreigner?”.

Ray chimes up with “Whoa, whoa. I’m not a

foreigner. I’m an American.”Miguel isn’t satisfied, and swears about Xavier

in Spanish. Xavier responds by swearing back in

Spanish. Stunned, Miguel asks if he can speak

Spanish. After that, there is no more problem.

When someone speaks your language, they are no

longer a foreigner.

To be honest, I was disappointed by this film. I

don’t think it had to do with the film itself, but

rather with two of the main characters. I found

their actions so wrong that I became angry.

First is Wendy. In the first film, she was the

sweet English girl who was trying to help everyone

get along as well as keep their shared flat clean.

However, she was also cheating on her English

boyfriend with an American tourist, an action the

entire group of roommates help her cover up in

one of the funniest scenes of the film. In Russian

Dolls, she is having problems with an abusive boy-

Xavier sitting with his three women:Isabelle, Wendy, and Martine.

Martine and Xavier looking out overNew York with their four kids.

Xavier and Martine at a business meeting with a teacompany in New York.



friend, so her character is more sympathetic. In

Chinese Puzzle, however, she is completely selfish,

arrogant and just plain nasty. She is the one that

has thrown away their marriage, dragged them all

to New York and essentially destroyed Xavier’s life,

yet she acts to him and her new boyfriend, John,

like she is some kind of victim, even getting upset

with John when he tries to point out Xavier’s side.

John actually treats Xavier far better than Wendy.

The second problem is Isabelle. Now Isabelle is

pregnant, after getting Xavier to donate sperm, be-

cause she and Ju want to have a baby. Ju is very

considerate, not complaining when Xavier lives

with them for a while. She also aids Xavier by giv-

ing him her old flat and she also helps him and

Nancy fool the immigration official during a ran-

dom check to see if they are truly married. Yet Isa-

belle cheats on Ju by having a sexual affair with

the babysitter they hire. There isn’t a problem

between Isabelle and Ju; Isabelle is just that kind

of person.

Even the peripheral characters - Ju, Nancy,

Ray, and John - are better people than the two

people who have got so much out of Xavier and

claim to be his friends. I can’t help wondering if

that might have been one of the underlying themes

of the film: that strangers can be better than

people we have known for years.

Actually, of the three long-time female friends

of Xavier, Martine turns out to be the best. This is

odd, considering that in the previous films, she

was such an immature, whining, selfish woman

(greatly reminding me of my Italian ex-girlfriend).

Now, she is a successful business woman, raising

two children alone. She also helps Xavier a lot with

dealing with things while she is in New York. I

hated her in the previous film, but in this one, she

is the one that shines.

Many people claim this film is the finest of the

three, and you don’t need to have seen the previ-

ous ones to enjoy this one. If you could only watch

one of the three, though, I would still suggest

L’auberge Espagnole. PT


Celebrations - Fastelavn

astelavn is a very old traditionalDanish celebration. In early days,

Fastelavn was the beginning of a timeof fasting to prepare oneself for Lentby eating very little. Fastelavn wasalso a time to have a lot of fun: play-ing games, dressing up and partying.Now, most people no longer fast onFastelavn. However, children still wearcostumes and play the traditionalFastelavn games. One is ”knockingthe cat out of the barrel” game. Inmedieval times, this game was taken very seriously, and involved placing a livecat in a barrel. The barrel was then beaten with sticks until it broke and the catescaped. The cat was then chased out of the town, and it was believed that itwould take the collective bad luck and evil spirits of the town with it.

Now, fortunately for cats, the game is symbolic and no longer includes any liveanimals. Instead, a barrel (usually with a drawing of a black cat on it) is filledwith candy and hung from a ceiling or a tree. Children then take turns hitting itwith a wooden stick or club until the barrel finally breaks. The child that makesthe barrel finally break (hence, “knocking the cat out of the barrel”) is thencrowned “The King (or Queen) of Cats” and is given a golden paper crown.

One of the popular Fastelavn treats is a special bun that is covered with icing.This is also incorporated inthe tradition by ways of thechildren singing a song “de-manding” the buns from theirneighbours and “threatening”to make trouble if they don’tget any. They also collectcandy or money, which issimilar to the American Hal-loween. PT

Celebrations

Front of a shop in France, showinga variety of cheese in shrink wrap.

Words in Your Mouth - Cheese


opping this month’s art-icle off with a slice of

cheese.So far, we have discussed

some basic foods that arecommon to most cultures:sausage, bread, and milk.This time we are looking atanother one, cheese, whichhas the distinctive feature ofbeing not only a basic food,but also one which we add toother foods.

For example, what do youadd to your pasta dish tomake it tastier? Some gratedcheese, of course. What doyou add to your hamburgersand other sandwiches formore flavour? Cheese again!And when you are enjoying asnack in the afternoon ofwine and crackers, what topsit all off? Cheese!

While cheese is quite ap-pealing to our palates, the de-scription of how it is mademay not be. The EncyclopediaBritannica describes it as:

“When milk sours, it forms

both a protein-rich gel, or curd,and a lactose-rich fluid, orwhey. Coagulation is often fa-cilitated by adding rennin, anenzyme that acts on the milk’schiefprotein, casein. The res-ulting curd is then cut orbroken to release most ofthewhey. Ripening and curingare affected by moisture con-tent, acidity, presence ofmi-cro-organisms, and otherfactors. Products vary accord-

ing to fat content ofthe milk,heating or pasteurization, andaddition ofenzymes or cul-tures ofbacteria, molds, oryeasts.”

See? Bacteria in coagu-lated sour milk. Yum! Just beglad I never went into the de-tails about how sausages aremade.

The etymology for cheeseis rather odd. Normally, we

WWoorrddss iinn YYoouurr MMoouutthh

CChheeeessee

A counter of a cheese market withseveral types of cheese on display.



have found a clear-cut divi-sion of where the words ori-ginated from, with the Italiclanguage words coming fromLatin and Germanic wordscoming from Latin or OldEnglish. This time, however,it seems to be a jumble ofborrowing and changing thewords in a seemingly randomorder.

The basic English“cheese” is taken from theOld West Germanic “kasjus,”which in turn got it from theLatin “caseus.” The Latin wasprobably obtained from theProto-Indo-European [PIE]“kwat,” meaning “to ferment,become sour.” You can seehow the other West Germaniclanguages are similar: Dutch(kaas) , German (Käse) , andYiddish (kez) . The Latin rootalso provides the Spanish(queso) and Portuguese(queijo) .

Now, this is where it getsodd, as I mentioned. TheItalian and French dialects doNOT take their words directlyfrom the Latin root, as did the

Spanish, but instead seem totake it from a Latin phrase“formaticus caseus” or“shaped cheese.” Latin “form-aticum” means “shape,” so bya meaning transfer fromcheese to the definition of it,the French got “formage,”which later became “fro-mage.” From this, other Italiclanguages got their words:Italian (formaggio) , Catalan

(formatge) , and Wallon (frou-madje) . While these covermost of the Italic languages’words, Romanian’s “brânză”is still a mystery.

While the Latin “caseus”may have come from theProto-Indo-European wordmeaning “to become sour,”there was another PIE wordfor simply “sour,” which was“syr” or “sir,” referring to themilk used in the making ofthe cheese. This was adoptedby the Slavic languages astheir base: Polish (ser) , Rus-sian (сыр [syr]) , Serbian (сир[sir]) , Slovenian (sir) . It seemsthe Baltic languages also tooktheir words from this base:Latvian (siers) , Lithuanian(sūris) , Sudovian (sūris) , andPrussian (suris) .

Now, this is largely aguess on my part, but itwould appear that the North-ern Germanic languages alsoadopted the “syr/sir” base,with their own adaptation.First, a “t” was added, givinga more palatalised sound. Iam not familiar enough with

An old fashioned cheese shop showingcheese sliced into smaller sticks.

AA ppll aattee ooff cchh eeeesseess:: RRaaccll eettttee,,

GG oouu dd aa,, aann dd EE mm mm eenn ttaall ..



linguistical transformationsto explain the attaching of the“o”, however. If this is whathappened, it would explainthe North Germanic wordslike Danish (ost) and Faeroese(ostur) .

Japanese “チーズ ” [CHI-IZU] comes directly from theEnglish “cheese,” as theKorean “치즈 ” [chijeu] is alsolikely to be. The Japanesealso have another word, “乾酪[kanraku] ,” but I am told it’snot commonly used in themodern language. The firstcharacter, 乾 , means “dry,cured,” and the second char-acter, 酪 , means “dairyproduct, whey.”

Cheese TypesFor most of the varieties, thenames of cheeses stem fromwhere they are made. Roque-fort is from a village in thesouthwest of France. Stiltonand Cheddar are from placesin England. Parmesan, Ro-mano, and Gorgonzola arefrom Italy (Parma, Rome, andGorgonzola, respectively) .Gruyère is a Swiss town, andI assume you know where“Swiss cheese” comes from.Gouda and Edam are townsin Holland. Limburger is fromLimburg, a province in north-east Belgium. Muenster isfrom Münster, a mountainvalley in Alsace. Neufchatel, atype of soft, white cheese, isfrom Neufchâtel, which is asmall town in Normandy.

SlangWhen someone is having hisor her picture taken, he orshe is often told to say“cheese.” Perhaps this is be-cause saying it causes yourmouth to form into a smileand your teeth to be exposed.

Or perhaps it relates to an-other slang term, “cheese-cake,” which is used todescribe a sexy young wo-man, as in “Wow! Look atthat cheesecake!” Anothercheese reference to young wo-men is “make cheeses.” Thiswas when a schoolgirl wouldspin around rapidly so herpetticoats blew out in a circle,then she would drop downquickly, causing the skirt torest while inflated, resem-bling a wheel of cheese.

A person in charge issometimes called “the BigCheese.” When something is

very poorly done, we say it is“cheesy.” And of course wehave a vulgar usage, “cut thecheese,” which refers to flat-ulence.

ConclusionI am sure it isn’t just myconclusion that cheese,however you call it, is deli-cious. I just hope I haven’tsoured you on it with the de-tails. As always, let me knowyour thoughts on the subject.Recipes including cheese arealso welcome! PT

SS oomm eeoonn ee pprreeppaarrii nn gg aa ppoott ooff ffoonn dd uu ee,,

wwhh ii cchh ii ss aa ttrraadd ii ttii oonn aall cchh eeeessee dd ii pp..



Other pictures related to cheese

From top-left, clockwise: Wheels of cheese in a shop; Cheese sticks in a snack bar inknabberzeug; Wheel of St Pat cheese, sliced open; Wheels of Edam cheese being carriedto the cheese market in the traditional manner; Cheese pizza; Cheese cake.



GERMANICWestern

Afrikaans: kaas melkDutch: kaasEnglish: cheeseFlemish: kaasFrisian: tsi isGerman: KäseLuxembourgish: KéisYiddish: זעק [kez]Swiss German: ChäsAncient high german: sur - sour

Northern

Danish: ostFaeroese: osturIcelandic: osturNorwegian: ostSwedish: ostAncient islandic: surr - sour,

ferment, mold /syr - sour milk

SLAVICWestern

Czech: sýrPolish: serEastern Belorussian: сыр [syr]Russian: сыр [syr]Ukrainian: сир [sir]

Southern

Bulgarian: сирене [sirene] /кашкавал [kaškaval]

Croatian: sirMacedonian: сирење [sirenje]Serbian: сир [sir]Slovenian: sir

ITALIAN DIALECTSBergamo: formàiBologna: furmâiBrescia: fúrmajCalabria: casu / formaggiuFerrarese: maggiuStandard Italian: formaggio / cacioTrieste: formaioVenezia: formaioViestano: furmagg'Zeneize: formaggio

OTHER ROMANCEAsturian: quesuCatalan: formatgeFrench: fromageGalician: queixoLatin: caseusLeonese: queixuOccitan: fromatgePortuguese: queijoRomanian: brânzăRomansh: chaschielSpanish: quesoJudeo-Spanish: ceso / kezo / quesoValencian: formageWallon: froumadje

ALBANIANAlbanian: djathë

GREEKModern Greek: τυρί [tyrí]Ancient Greek: τυρός [tyros]

ALTAICKorean: 치즈Mongolian: бяслаг [bjaslag] /

хурууд [huruud]

TURKICAzeri (Latin Script): pendirTurkish: peynirTurkmen: peÿnir

INDEPENDENTBasque: gaztaJapanese: チーズ

CELTICGoidelic Irish: cáisScots Gaelic: càiseBrythonic Breton: fourmaj / fourmaj-laezh /

keuzWelsh: caws



FINNO-UGRICEstonian: juustFinnish: juustoHungarian: sajtSaami: vuostá

CAUCASIANChechen: nekhcha

MALAYO-POLYNESIANBicolano: keso /quesoCebuano: keso / quesoChavacano: quezoFilipino: keso / quezo / queso /

cheese / chisHawaiian: waiūpakapa'aIndonesian: kejuMalagasy: fromàzyMalay: kejuMaori: ti ihiRapa Nui: pataSamoan: sisiTetun: keijuTongan: siisi

MESO-PHILIPPINETagalog: keso

SEMITICArabic:Hebrew:Maltese: gobon

SINO-TIBETANChinese: 奶酪 [năi lào]

BALTICLatvian: siersLithuanian: sūrisSudovian: sūrisPrussian: suris

KADAIThai: เนยแข็ง

INDO-IRANIANHindi: चीज़Kurdish Kurmanji: penîrKurdish Sorani:

NIGER-KHORDOFANIANShona: chiziSwahili: j ibini

ANDEAN-EQUATORIALQuechua (Peruvian): l lap'inqa / masaraQuechua (Ecuador): makinchu

TUPIGuarani: kesú

OTHER INDO-EUROPEANFarsi:Sanskrit: दधिजंUrdu:

INDIAN LANGUAGESGujarati: ચીઝKonkani: चीज़ीPunjabi: ਪਨੀਰ

OTHERBengali: পিনরDzoratâi: fremâdzo / tomaLadino: ãiajóMaasai: eng'orno naiborMokshan: michkae

CONSTRUCTED LANGUAGESEsperanto: fromaĝoInterlingua: caseoLingua Franca Nova: ceso

نْبُجהניבג

رينپ

رينپ

رينهپ

Where Are You?

49 Parrot Time | Issue #6 | June 2013

This bustling city is not only the largest in its country, it is also the largest in the world, a factwhich should already tell you which it is. It is no surprise then that it is a global financial centreand transport hub and is located at the mouth of a major river on the coast.

While it has been a major shipping and trading town for centuries, it only became a major playeron the European stage in the 19th century. It started out as a meagre fishing village, under theever changing rule of kingdoms as they fought and conquered each other. It became a town in1074, and became more fortified when a second sea wall was built to help maintain its oceancoastline in 1172, where before had been only a dyke.

In 1554, it had its first city wall built to protect it from pirates. It also had its first major City GodTemple build in 1602, which reflect the city's economic importance.

Today, it is a popular tourist destination, with several historical landmarks, both ancient andmodern and is a "showpiece" of a booming economy of its country.

Where Are You?

Last month's answer: Rock of Cashel, Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland

Can you name this location and country?

Book Look

50 Parrot Time | Issue #1 3 | January / February 201 5

Language learners are often alsointerested in alphabets, like an alphabet'shistory and usage. But how did writingitself come into being? "A History ofWriting" digs into this mystery, andbegins with the basic methods of encodinglanguage into the physical world. Some ofthe methods discussed here are knots,notches, and pictography. The historycontinues on to talk in-depth about theway that cuneiform arose from thoseearlier methods and expanded into thenumerous hieroglyphic systems, thenlater into the more formalized "alphabets".

The book goes into great detail about themodern alphabets, focusing not only onthe basic history of each, but also into thefiner points of how and why things werecreated in the way they were. The futureof writing is also discussed, pointing outthe qualities that dictate whether awriting system succeeds or fails.

A History of Writing"isn't a simplereference book forthose that want tostudy a specificalphabet orsyllabary, althoughit is very thorough init's explanations. Itlooks at the evolution of writing not as aseries of unrelated systems but rather asa vivid painting that has been created overtime by many brushes and colors andlayers.

The writing style of the book itself isstraightforward; it neither talks down tothe reader, nor attempts to lecture them.It manages to be entertaining as well,without resorting to pop culturereferences or clever anecdotes. Perhapsthis is due to its British heritage. It is onein a series of books called "Globalities".This series is designed to "reinterpretworld history in a concise yet thoughtfulway". "A History of Writing" manages to doexactly that. PT

The Power of Babel - A Natural History of Language

by John McWhorterLanguage: EnglishI tem Rating:ISBN-1 0: 006052085X - ISBN-1 3: 978-0060520854

BBooookk LLooookk

*****

Book Look

Parrot Time | Issue #1 3 | January / February 201 5 51

When opening a book about languages, Itend to immediately put them into one oftwo categories: a reference guide or ageneral overview. "The Power of Babel"falls into the latter of these categories. Itis not about any particular language, noris it a straightforward "history" as the titlesuggests.

History books normally are full of datesand events which have a generallyuniversal acceptance as truth. This is notas possible with languages, since theychange slowly over long expanses of timein subtle ways. Only a few events inlanguage history can truly be dated, likethe discovery of the Rosetta Stone.

Nor can theories of language change trulybe proven, since we can only observe whathas happened and attempt to trace thereasons.

This is the realm in which "Power ofBabel" lives. The book looks at the manyways in which languages have developedover time and the probable causes forthose changes. In fact, the author arguesthat no real "languages" exist, but ratherjust "dominant dialects" of several relateddialects.

The book isextremely wellwritten, and it isquickly noticeablethe scope oflinguistic knowledgethat the authordraws from in thediscussions.However, as I mentioned at the beginning,this isn't a reference book. It is more of afree flowing walk through languagetheories, discussions, and concepts.

McWhorter writes for the layperson. Thebook is very easy to read, althoughsometimes it does get a little bogged downinto pop cultural references which maynot make sense to all readers. Anotheraspect which may disturb some readers ishow the book can be very abstract atsome points, then shift into very detailedanalysis at others. It's almost as if theauthor is struggling to keep the book onone level, then unknowingly changing toanother.

"The Power of Babel" makes for excellentreading, and I would suggest it for anyonethat truly has an interest in languagesand linguistics as a whole. PT

A History of Writing

by Steven Roger FischerLanguage: EnglishI tem Rating:ISBN-1 0: 1 861 891 01 6 - ISBN-1 3: 978-1 861 891 01 3*****

Credits


Letter From the EditorWriter: Erik ZidoweckiImages: paulgeor: 1 3 pool bal l

Chatting in Languages Online - Text ChatsWriter: Erik ZidoweckiImages:Petey: Keyboard (title); typing hands; laptops and coffee; trol l ; gummy bears; typing on laptop; shadowy lurker

Why Do People Learn Languages?Writer: Erik ZidoweckiImages: Petey: Open book (title); Children outside school; Couple overlooking city; Girls reading; Knowledgeis Power chalkboard

The Question Of Practice — An International Language Is PossibleWriter: Erik ZidoweckiImages:brionv: Esperanto flag flyingnekonata: Propaganda PostcardMelissa Gallo from Pittsburgh, PA, USA: Sign at Esperanto ParkIvan Camilo Quintero Santacruz: 20th Colombian Congress of EsperantoPetey: Esperanto Letter (splash page); First World Esperanto Congress; Alfred Michaux and Zamenhof postcard;Steloj CoinSources:• "International Language - Past, Present & Future" W. J. Clark. London - J. M. Dent & Company. 1 907

At The Cinema - Chinese PuzzleWriter: Erik ZidoweckiSources:• "Chinese Puzzle" Internet Movie Database <http: //www.imdb.com/title/tt1 9371 1 8/>All images are copyright Opposite Field Pictures, Belgacom, Ce Qui Me Meut Motion Pictures (as Ce Qui Me Meut),La Compagnie Cinématographique, Panache Productions

Credits

Parrot Time | Issue #10 | July / August 2014 53

Celebrations - FastelavnWriter: Sonja KrügerImages:Tomasz Sienicki: FastelavnsbollerPetey: Denmark skyline; Children hitting cat boxSources:• "Fastelavn" Wikipedia <http: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fastelavn>• "Fastelavn – The Danish Carnival" LexioPhiles <http: //www. lexiophiles.com/english/fastelavn-the-danish-carnival>

Words in Your Mouth - CheeseWriter: Erik ZidoweckiImages: Petey: Shop in France (splash); Shelves of hard cheese wheels (title); Counter in cheese market;Old fashioned cheese shop; Plate of cheeses; Pot of fondue; Wheels of cheese in a shop; Cheese sticks in a snackbar in knabberzeug; Wheel of St Pat cheese, sl iced open; Wheels of Edam cheese being carried to the cheesemarket in the traditional manner; Cheese pizza; Cheese cake

Where Are You?Writer: Sonja KrügerImages: Petey: Mystery image

Book LookWriter: Erik Zidowecki

All images are Copyright - CC BY-SA (Creative Commons Share Alike) by their respective owners, except forPetey, which is Public Domain (PD) or unless otherwise noted.

parrot time - issue 13 - january / february 2015

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