Metaglossia: The Translation World

With the explosion of texts, tweets and posts as a daily form of communication, popular culture seems to accept the shortening and dispensing of the normal rules of written English.

Les contacts de langues ont toujours été et sont des données de notre expérience quotidienne. Les effets linguistiques de ces contacts constituent un moteur essentiel du fonctionnement et de l’évolution des langues et des pratiques langagières. L’objectif de cet ouvrage est d’analyser, au niveau des langues, au niveau des variations linguistiques ou / et au niveau des pratiques langagières, les effets du contact en examinant plus précisément les impacts morphologiques et syntaxiques dans le domaine prédicatif. Dans cet ouvrage, le domaine prédicatif renvoie tant aux éléments fonctionnant comme le noyau central d’un énoncé – qu’il s’agisse d’un verbe ou non – qu’aux modificateurs de ce noyau central. Les auteurs distinguent deux types de phénomènes : d’une part, ils discernent les changements internes des conséquences du contact tout en montrant leurs interactions mutuelles ; d’autre part, ils montrent que ces deux types d’évolution peuvent agir et interagir à différents moments, comme causes ou motivations, dans les processus linguistiques et au niveau des résultats. Ces explications multifactorielles permettent de rendre compte de la complexité du fonctionnement des langues. Chaque chapitre est fondé sur des données recueillies par les auteurs au cours de terrains longs et minutieux. Les situations sont assez diversifiées, et permettent un parcours dans différentes aires géographiques et typologiques : l’Afrique, l’Océan Indien, l’Amérique et l’Europe.

LEXICOGRAPHERS at the Oxford English Dictionary said that Australia's Macquarie Dictionary was merely catching up by expanding the meaning of misogyny.

The move by Macquarie to expand the meaning of misogyny to include "entrenched prejudice against women", following Julia Gillard's description of Tony Abbott as a misogynist, has caused some indignation this week, with Liberal frontbencher Chrisopher Pyne saying that it undermined the Macquarie "in its entirety".

In politics, words can take on new meanings in the blink of an eye. The phrase “binders full of women” had zero currency before the second Obama-Romney debate. Now it’s what many people remember as the debate’s takeaway moment, full of perceived meaning about women, power and the workplace.

In Australia, another word has become caught up in a political storm over the role of women in society and politics.

It was uttered—several times—by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

“I will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny,” Gillard told the Australian parliament.

That was the start of a speech that has rapidly become famous around the globe, thanks to YouTube.

Nationals MPs have mocked a dictionary’s decision to change the definition of ‘‘misogyny’’ in the wake of Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s fiery speech against Tony Abbott last week.
Queensland Senator Barnaby Joyce called the change ‘‘wonderfully convenient,’’ while NSW Senator Fiona Nash has predicted that other political terms will also soon be redefined as a result.
Today, the Macquarie Dictionary announced it is broadening the definition of the word "misogyny".
As it stands, the dictionary, which is regarded as the ‘‘standard reference on Australian English’’, says misogyny is a pathological hatred of women.
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But editor Sue Butler said it’s time that changed to reflect what Ms Gillard really meant last week when she accused the Opposition Leader of sexism and misogyny in Parliament.
According to the new definition - which will appear in the next updated edition of the dictionary - misogyny can also refer to an ‘‘entrenched prejudice against women’’.
But Senator Joyce was unimpressed by the news, suggesting Ms Gillard still got it wrong last week.
‘‘How wonderfully convenient, Macquarie Dictionary changes definition ‘‘misogyny’’ to suit PM Gillard’s misuse of term,’’ he posted on Twitter.
Senator Nash said she was alarmed that parliamentary debates had inspired the change.
“Ms Gillard called Mr Abbott a misogynist. Mr Abbott clearly does not hate women," Senator Nash said today.
“It would seem more logical for the Prime Minister to refine her vocabulary than for the Macquarie Dictionary to keep changing its definitions every time a politician mangles the English language.”

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/nationals-mock-gillard-redefinition-of-misogyny-20121017-27qmy.html#ixzz29lp5mWto

(Reuters) - A fiery speech against sexism by Australia's first woman prime minister has prompted the textbook of Australian English to broaden the definition of "misogyny" to better fit the heated political debate raging downunder.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard last week used a parliamentary debate to launch a strong attack against conservative Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, accusing him of being a misogynist, and her speech has since become an Internet hit.

In response, Australia's Macquarie Dictionary, the authority on the English language in Australia, has decided to broaden the definition of "misogyny" to better match the way the word has been used over the past 30 years.

The dictionary currently defines misogyny as "hatred of women", but will now add a second definition to include "entrenched prejudice against women", suggesting Abbott discriminated against women with his sexist views.

"The language community is using the word in a slightly different way," dictionary editor Sue Butler told Reuters.

In her parliamentary speech, Gillard attacked Abbott, a conservative Catholic, for once suggesting men were better adapted to exercise authority, and for once saying that abortion was "the easy way out". He also stood in front of anti-Gillard protesters with posters saying "ditch the witch".

Abbott has labeled the attack as cheap and personal and part of a government smear campaign against him.

The fallout from Gillard's speech has followed her on an official visit to India, where it was raised during a panel discussion, but she told reporters in New Delhi on Wednesday that she would not give advice on word definitions.

"I have been left in no doubt that a lot of people have clicked on and watched that speech here in India," she said on Wednesday.

"I will leave editing dictionaries to those whose special expertise is language."

But the opposition has ridiculed the dictionary's move, with lawmaker Fiona Nash saying Gillard is the one who needed to be more careful with her words.

Abbott, a super-fit cyclist and swimmer, has been battling perceptions he has a problem with women voters, with his wife and three daughters making public appearances in recent weeks to soften his tough-guy image.

(Reporting by James Grubel; Editing by Nick Macfie)

MACQUARIE dictionary editor Sue Butler is applying the logic of Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. Are we to accept that the word misogyny is what some feminists choose it to mean, neither more nor less?

The idea that the Macquarie would change a word's meaning to lend credence to the Prime Minister's incorrect and hypocritical use in parliament last week and the feminist views of an isolated few is extraordinary.

The evolution of language should enable users to communicate with greater semantic precision, not less. How do we now differentiate between those who demonstrate prejudice against women and those who have a genuine hatred for them? Or has the intellectual Left mandated that there shall no longer be a difference?

I am alarmed that the editors of the dictionary are more concerned with taking a political stance than with safeguarding the English language.

En Suède, le troisième sexe a son pronom
Créé le 08-10-2012 à 11h25 - Mis à jour à 11h25
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STOCKHOLM (AFP) - En Suède, la question de la parité dépasse la simple égalité des salaires, de la représentation et même des rôles assignés aux sexes: elle est entrée dans la langue, où un pronom, le neutre "hen", tente de s'imposer entre "il" et "elle".

"Il n'y a presque rien de plus à faire sur le terrain de la parité alors on lance des idées de plus en plus bizarres", affirme à l'AFP, mi-amusée, mi-irritée, la journaliste indépendante Elise Claesson.

Dans le royaume scandinave, où les femmes ont obtenu le droit de vote dès 1921, deux des 16 mois du congé parental sont réservés à l'autre "parent" afin que l'homme aussi puisse s'impliquer dans l'éducation des nouveaux-nés.

L'utilisation du "hen" est devenue plus fréquente en 2012, après la sortie d'un livre pour enfants, "Kivi och Monsterhund" ("Kivi et le chien monstrueux"), qui a supprimé "han" (il) et "hon" (elle) afin, selon son auteur Jesper Lundqvist, de s'adresser aux enfants et non pas aux petits garçons et aux petites filles.

Le "hen" a été inventé par des linguistes dans les années 60, en pleine vague féministe, alors que la référence à un "il" hypothétique devenait politiquement incorrecte. Il s'agissait de "simplifier la langue" et d'éviter d'écrire "il/elle", indique à l'AFP la linguiste Karin Milles.

Blootered, amazeballs and mummy porn are among dozens of words and terms which have been added to a Glasgow-based online dictionary.

Publisher Collins invited people to become "word-spotters" and suggest new and emerging words for inclusion.

A total of 86 were chosen and can now be seen at www.collinsdictionary.com.

Collins said it received thousands of entries and opening the normally closed process would make recording the English language more democratic.

The online dictionary website was launched last year and is based in Glasgow, where Collins English Dictionary print editions and other best-selling reference titles are produced.

The term mummy porn was coined when the novel Fifty Shades of Grey, by British author EL James, shot to popularity this year.

'Really cool'
The book explores themes of a sexual nature and has a reputation for being popular with women.

Blootered, an adjective commonly used in Scotland to describe someone who is drunk, was added, along with Facebook, cyber bullying and floordrobe, which is defined as "a pile of clothes left on the floor of a room".

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We were...blown away by the volume and variety of submissions”

Alex Brown
Collins Publishers
Tanya Clarke, 30, from Nottingham, submitted the successful entry "amazeballs", which is a slang word for giving approval to something.

"I first saw it on Facebook and I just thought it was really cool," she said.

"My daughter is 10 and she uses it all the time. I think it is one of those words that will be used a lot by teenagers and pre-teens.

"I think the opportunity offered by Collins to submit words is really good as it means people have the chance to give their views on things that people are actually saying and the terms they are using. It will keep things up-to-date."

What are people doing when they're speaking a language?

According to Tufts University linguist Ray Jackendoff, writing in his new book:

"They're making complex sounds that express their thoughts. Words are part of the system in people's heads that they use to build messages."

Jackendoff is quick to add:

"Speakers are constantly expressing all sorts of new thoughts by making new sounds."

He gives some examples of things his wife and daughter have said, such as "I'm all Olympic'd out," and "This is the kind of house that people sell their big houses in Belmont and downsize to." These are sentences they made up on the spot. Neither they nor (probably) you or I had ever heard them before or had ever thought those thoughts. Yet they were produced spontaneously, and you can understand them effortlessly.

Jackendoff's point — this is not original to him — is that our grip on language gives us unlimited expressive power.

This fact of linguistic creativity plays a pivotal role in an argument that, in Jackendoff's words, "serves as the foundational premise of modern linguistics." (He goes on to note that the argument is Chomsky's and that he's made it in myriad publications.) The argument in question goes roughly like this: the only way to explain our open-ended ability to cope with linguistic novelty is to suppose that "in our heads" there is a system of rules that governs the combination and recombination of words into well-formed sentences. To know a language is to have a "mental grammar."

There is something ironic in the fact that Jackendoff explains linguistic creativity by repeating what Chomsky and others have written elsewhere in myriad publications.

But is it even true? It is striking that Jackendoff doesn't offer anything more in defense of the claim about unlimited novelty than I have repeated here. Is this such a straight forward matter? Is it just self-evident that the examples of Jackendoff's wife and daughter demonstrate the existence of the linguistic creativity that plays such an important role in laying the foundations of linguistic theory?

COLUMN

"Born a child." Nigerian children almost never conjugate the verb "bear" to reflect tense when they refer to the act of having babies. So expressions like "my mum born a child yesterday," "my auntie will born twins next month," etc. are very typical. But "born" (or borne) is the past participle of "bear," and the past tense of "bear" is "bore." That means the first sentence should have read "my mum bore a child yesterday" or, better still, "my mum gave birth to a child/had a baby yesterday."

The unconjugated "born" is clearly derived from Nigerian Pidgin English where the word is always uninflected for tense. Examples: "My mama born pikin yesterday" [my mom had a baby yesterday], "My sister go born pikin tomorrow" [my sister will have a baby tomorrow], "The woman dey born pikin now" [the woman is having a baby now], "The woman no fit born pikin" [the woman can't bear a child]. In the above examples, "born" remains unchanged even whether reference is made to the past, the present, or the future.

"Very well." Nigerian children use "very well" to heighten the intensity of what they are saying. For instance, if they want to say their teacher beat them up at school really hard, they would say something like: "my teacher beat me very well." This will confound many native English speakers.

In native-speaker English varieties, the expression "very well" often conveys at least three senses. In the first sense, it's used to mean "quite well" as in: "he did his job very well." Unlike the way Nigerian children sometimes use the expression, it always has a tone of approval; it's never used to intensify negative things. "Very well" is also used to weaken the effect of modal auxiliaries like "may," "might," "can," and "could." Example: "he may very well come." The "very well" in the sentence increases the probability that he will come. It is more assuring than merely saying "he may come." Finally, "very well" is a fixed phrase that usually occurs at the beginning of a sentence when a speaker in a dialogue wants to indicate grudging agreement with something the other speaker says. Example:

Speaker A: I don't want to go home now.

Speaker B: Very well then, let's go home when you're ready.

"Vacate." This is a popular word used in educational institutions in Nigeria to mean "take an official break from school." It is a back-formation from "vacation," the American English word for what British speakers call holiday. (In British English, vacation is only used to indicate the formal, temporary closure of universities and courts of law, not primary or secondary schools).

Languages are continually changing, not just words but also grammar. A recent study examines how such changes happen and what the changes can tell us about how speakers' grammars work.

The study, "The course of actualization", to be published in the September 2012 issue of the scholarly journal Language, is authored by Hendrik De Smet of the University of Leuven /Research Foundation Flanders.

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A preprint version is available online at: http://lsadc.org/info/documents/2012/press-releases/de-smet.pdf

Historical linguists, who document and study language change, have long noticed that language changes have a sneaky quality, starting small and unobtrusive and then gradually conquering more ground, a process termed 'actualization'. De Smet's study investigates how actualization proceeds by tracking and comparing different language changes, using large collections of digitized historical texts. This way, it is shown that any actualization process consists of a series of smaller changes with each new change building on and following from the previous ones, each time making only a minimal adjustment. A crucial role in this is played by similarity.

Consider the development of so-called downtoners – grammatical elements that minimize the force of the word they accompany. Nineteenth-century English saw the emergence of a new downtoner, all but, meaning 'almost'. All but started out being used only with adjectives, as in her escape was all but miraculous. But later it also began to turn up with verbs, as in until his clothes all but dropped from him. In grammatical terms, that is a fairly big leap, but when looked at closely the leap is found to go in smaller steps. Before all but spread to verbs, it appeared with past participles, which very much resemble both adjectives and verbs, as in her breath was all but gone. So, changes can sneak into a language and spread from context to context by exploiting the similarities between contexts.

CALGARY — Canada’s languages watchdog issued a warning to Quebec’s new minority government Friday, saying he is keeping a close eye on moves toward toughening the province’s language laws.

Graham Fraser, a former journalist from Quebec who literally wrote the book on the history of the newly elected Parti Quebecois, says he wants to make sure any changes Pauline Marois makes don’t run afoul of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“I’m going to be watching very carefully,” said Fraser, Canada’s Commissioner of Official Languages, in an interview with The Canadian Press in Calgary.

“The existing Charter of the French Language in Quebec has been tested by the courts and the current version is Charter-proof ... Some things were struck down, others have been adjusted.

“I’ll be watching to see, are they changing it in ways that might change that?”

Premier-elect Marois told reporters this week she will attempt to introduce a language law — a “new Bill 101” — to stop a perceived decline in French around the Montreal and Gatineau area, which she said remains “at the heart of our concerns.” She called language “the centre of my preoccupation.”

Fraser said he is concerned about measures that may damage the institutions important to the English minority such as the changes the PQ promised to make to the junior college system. The PQ promised to limit enrolment for francophones and immigrants at English junior colleges.

“That was part of the PQ’s campaign policy, but this is a minority government. It was not a position that was supported by the other two parties so the decisions that are made by the National Assembly will have to win a consensus of the other parties.”

Fraser said polls indicate that part of the language policy is not a popular one, so he said it may mean it’s not something the government will proceed with.

Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/life/Federal+language+commissioner+keep+changes+Quebec+language+laws/7213491/story.html#ixzz25xDTtReM