Category Archives: Languages/Linguistic curiosities

by Pisana Ferrari – cApStAn Ambassador to the Global Village Since 1982 the Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest has challenged participants to write “an atrocious opening sentence to a hypothetical bad novel”. Every year there are thousands of entries (5,000 this year) and the 2022 list of winners is now out . The contest is named …

“A whimsical literary competition hosted by the San Jose State University, USA, honours the worst first lines in fiction”

Gender-neutral language is a highly controversial issue across the world and the debate is now also becoming part of a culture war in Latin America, says the author of a recent article in The NY Times. In 2021, Uruguay’s public education agency issued a memo limiting the use of inclusive language. Proposals to ban gender-neutral …

“Argentina’s ban on gender-neutral language in schools reignites a debate that is reverberating across the world“

Three books, from three different continents, have recently been translated into English. They all deal with the aftermath of French colonialism, in Tahiti (French Polynesia), Vietnam and Cameroon, through the lens of “anticolonial translation”. What exactly does this mean? In a recent article for NPR (US National Public Radio magazine) writer, critic, and translator Lily …

“Books in English Translation: Three tales touching on French colonialism”

The immensely popular Cambridge Latin Course, which has been used to teach generations of British schoolchildren and has sold over 4 million copies, is undergoing its biggest revision in 20 years to improve the representation of women, minorities and enslaved people. This is in response to a consensus that it needs updating for 21st-century students and …

“Cambridge Latin Course revised to improve representation of female figures and ethnic mix in Roman Empire”

Acclaimed UK poet and translator Nancy Naomi Carlson is the winner of the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize 2022 for the translation from French to English of Mauritian poet, essayist, and semiologist Khal Torabully‘s book titled “Cale d’étoiles: Coolitude?” (1) Torabully’s work narrates the odyssey of “indentured” labourers across the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. The “indenture …

“Translating literary works related to indentured migration as an act of social justice”

Indian author Geetanjali Shree and translator Daisy Rockwell were recently awarded the 2022 International Booker Prize for the novel Tomb of Sand. This prize is awarded annually to a translated work of fiction published in the U.K. or Ireland. The £50,000 prize money is divided equally between author and translator. Winning the 2022 prize  not …

“First ever International Booker Prize for Indian language novel gives boost to Indian literature as a whole”

by Pisana Ferrari – Branding and Social Media Manager Despite progress in recent decades, gender disparity still affects many aspects of economic, social and cultural life. Two researchers at the Information Sciences Institute of the University of Southern California have used AI to uncover a very substantial gender disparity, with a 4:1 male-female imbalance, also …

“New research using AI on a corpus of 3.000 books reveals a 4:1 male-female literary imbalance”

by Pisana Ferrari – Branding and Social Media Manager “CODA”, the winner of the 2022 Oscar for “Best picture”, is one of a number of recent films about the Deaf community (1) (2). It tells the story of a hearing daughter in a Deaf family (“CODA” stands for “ Child Of Deaf Adults”), who helps …

“The surge of sign languages on screen is a sign of better representation for the Deaf community. Or is it?”

by Pisana Ferrari – Branding and Social Media Manager If you are not a linguist or an ethno-anthropologist with a special interest in minorities in the former Soviet republics, you probably don’t know what Chuvash, Udmurt, Komi, Buryat or Kalmyk are. They are just some of the important minority languages (about 135!) spoken by the …

“The role of cultural and linguistic heritage in skirting censorship around sensitive issues and in the face of oppression”

by Pisana Ferrari – Branding and Social Media Manager Foreign-born workers may face language barriers that compromise their ability to understand training materials, signage, safety and hazard alerts as well as verbal instructions, and can potentially increase their risk of on-the-job injury. Languages also have different dialects, and workforces can include people with different literacy …

“Adequate communication is essential to guarantee health and safety at work: this poses an additional challenge when you have a multilingual workforce”

by Pisana Ferrari – cApStAn Ambassador to the Global Village Never before has translation been as important as during the coronavirus pandemic. Understanding relevant medical terms is vital at all times but all the more so during a global health crisis, where compliance to containment measures is critical in order to protect individuals and the …

“COVIDLatino, a project to disseminate critical, timely, culturally sensitive, entertaining and relatable COVID-19 information for minority communities”

by Pisana Ferrari – cApStAn Ambassador to the Global Village The “Best film” Oscar was won by “Coda”, a film about a hearing daughter in a deaf family who helps her family’s business while pursuing her own aspiration of becoming a singer. The film has a cast of largely deaf actors. At the Awards ceremony …

“The Academy Awards have long been criticized for lack of representation but the 2022 edition was a celebration of diversity”