Post di Elio Esposito

Language Families: finding relevance among languages

According to Ethnologue, 7102 living languages exist throughout the world. These languages can be categorized into several language families such as Indo-European, Niger-Congo and Afro-Asiatic. In Europe, as most languages belong to the Indo-European language family, people can often find similarities and differences in other languages that they speak. These similarities can be seen with […]

The World’s Top 20 Languages—And The Words English Has Borrowed From Them

English is known as a magpie language that picks up words from almost every other language and culture it comes in contact with, from Abenaki to Zulu. And although some languages have understandably widened the English vocabulary more than others, modern English dictionaries contain more of a geographical melting pot than ever before. Listed here—in order by number of native […]

12 Most Embarrasing Mistranslations in History

“I desire the Poles carnally” : Jimmy Carter to the Polish people In 1977, President Jimmy Carter was in Poland for a state visit. While seeking a translator for his time there, the State department hired Steven Seymour, a freelance linguist known for his expertise in translating written Polish.Carter’s opening speech originally said: “I have come […]