July 24, 2008
by Graham
2 Comments
With this man’s arrest at the weekend, broadcasters are once more having to struggle with the pronunciation of his name. The BBC recommendation, which corresponds to that given in most if not all manuals of pronunciation for Serbian, is to … Continue reading
July 23, 2008
by Graham
5 Comments
It ought to be easy to establish anglicized versions of Spanish names – stress is as important in Spanish as in English, and there are far fewer phonemes in Spanish than in English, so we should be able to find … Continue reading
July 14, 2008
by Graham
5 Comments
Now for something completely different. In April, a French luxury yacht, the Ponant, with thirty crew members on board, was hijacked by pirates in the Gulf. The French government decided to pull out all the stops to mount a rescue. … Continue reading
July 9, 2008
by Graham
4 Comments
Language Log today has an example of amazing French official duplicity, arrogance, ignorance and dishonesty. A representative of the Académie Française claims that the minority languages of France are nothing more than debased dialects, unworthy of being recognised as languages … Continue reading