Category Archives: Sprache

Maastricht, Belgien?

Posted on 13. July 2014 by schaefew

Wenn es zur Zeit der Gründung von Belgien eine Volksabstimmung gegeben hätte, wäre Maastricht (sowie die gesamt Provinz Limburg) vermutlich zu Belgien gekommen. Es wurde aber “von oben” bestimmt, dass Maastricht bei den Niederlanden verbleiben sollte. Die Menschen in Maastricht … Continue reading →

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Afrikaans vs. English

Posted on 13. July 2014 by schaefew

In 2004, the new constitution of Namibia declared English the sole official language. Up to then, both English and Afrikaans, as a result of South African control of the country, had been the country’s official languages. The administrative and military … Continue reading →

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Der Gau

Posted on 9. July 2014 by schaefew

In einem wunderbaren Radiobeitrag wird die Entscheidung des ADAC, das Wort Gau aus seiner Satzung zu streichen, kritisch unter die Lupe genommen. Es ist unglaublich, was man über das Wort Gau so alles nicht weiß. Es klingt für viele von uns … Continue reading →

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Brooklynese

Posted on 7. July 2014 by schaefew

Many Americans look down on the speech of New Yorkers, and many New Yorkers themselves don’t like they way they talk. As a matter of fact, until a few decades ago students of Manhattan High Schools were given diagnostic exams … Continue reading →

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Ebonics

Posted on 6. June 2014 by schaefew

It is well known that intelligibility is not enough to decide whether a variety is to be considered a language of its own or not. It leaves out of consideration linguistic attitudes, in particular the question of identity. Norway, Sweden … Continue reading →

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Global English

Posted on 5. June 2014 by schaefew

English has emerged as a world language for extrinsic reasons, not for intrinsic reasons. Popular ideas that English is easy to learn – few inflections, absence of lexical tones, grammatical gender and honorifics – disregard the fact that English is … Continue reading →

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Do you speak English?

Posted on 5. June 2014 by schaefew

How many native speakers of English are there altogether? Perhaps surprisingly, this is not so easy to decide. The figures cited vary between 400 and 500 million – a considerable difference. This is probably chiefly due to differences of opinion … Continue reading →

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Passende Namen?

Posted on 5. June 2014 by schaefew

Da lacht das Herz des Linguisten: Der BVB hat eine italienische Neuverpflichtung, Immobile. Ein perfekter Name für einen Fußballspieler. Demnächst gibt es in den BVB gegen Bayern nicht nur Dante gegen Sokrates, sondern auch Lahm gegen Immobile. Jetzt heißt es, … Continue reading →

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English vs. Chinese

Posted on 5. June 2014 by schaefew

Which is the top language on the internet? The obvious answer seems to be: English. But Chinese seems to be catching up quickly. The question is, of course, what to count: users, sites, clicks, texts? And: what is a text? … Continue reading →

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Welche Qual!

Posted on 1. June 2014 by schaefew

Bei einem Volkslauf in Luxemburg sah man aus der Ferne eine Bushaltestelle, die QUAL 3 hieß. Als ich mich über die überaus passende Namenswahl wunderte und der Haltestelle näher kam, konnte ich das Schild besser lesen. Darauf stand: QUAI 3

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Just talk!?

Posted on 1. June 2014 by schaefew

What happens if you get language learners to just talk? This was done in an experiment in which three learners were asked to do just that: talk. The result was a highly illuminating dialogue. The three learners talked about Tina … Continue reading →

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Sentences? Utterances!

Posted on 1. June 2014 by schaefew

Sentences may contain the same proposition and still be different. As an evident case, a sentence in English and its equivalent in Polish are two different sentences containing the same proposition. A sentence may also contain elements which do not … Continue reading →

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Learning how to iron a shirt

Posted on 1. June 2014 by schaefew

How do you learn how to iron a shirt? In some cases, someone may show you how to do it, giving explanations as they are doing so. That is to say, language is involved. But even if there is no … Continue reading →

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Do it again

Posted on 1. June 2014 by schaefew

What happens if you get a learner to do the same task twice? Will he do better or worse or the same? This was tested in an illuminating experiment in which a learner was asked, without any previous preparation, to … Continue reading →

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A hell of a world

Posted on 1. June 2014 by schaefew

Occasionally teachers learn something from their students. This is what has happend to me twice in the course of the last few days when marking student assignments. In both cases, the etymology of a word was concerned. One student pointed … Continue reading →

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