This time in Language Day we take up that one very sought after item during hot summer days - ice cream! Being a cold treat, the word “ice” is part of the word in many languages, so we give here also the word for ice, in brackets. Enjoy - your ice cream that is, of any type and flavor! And why not try this summer a vegan ice cream! ARABIC - Buaza (jalid) Continue reading

This time in Language day we embark on an imaginery journey through languages. We introduce one word in one language, and try to find the same word in another language, but meaning something else. We are looking for short stories of linguistic coincidences! When a Greek learns the Finnish word for thank you, Kiitos, he might be thinking of a whale - for that’s what whale is in Greek (although they do say φάλαινα as well). Continue reading

This is the 50th Language Day article, and what better way to celebrate it than do it in honor of Tina Turner who passed away five days ago! We presents here the widely known three words of the song The Best - absolutely one of her most memorable melodies - in all the languages we have here. Kurdish is in for the first time. The song was originally performed by the Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler, but it was Tina who made it a worldwide hit in 1989, and it has never diminished in appeal since then. Continue reading

Let’s have something really fun this time around in Language Day! Winter turning into spring (in the Northern hemisphere), and while there is still snow - and even ice - on the ground in some northern countries, we are seeing more and more of the so pleasantly warming sun, and welcoming the spring once again. But we can still muster a few snowballs, and maybe try to with one of them hit an oak tree that in a few weeks will be getting leaves, and acorns for squirrels to pick up and eat, and store. Continue reading

Every fourth year we have the Summer Olympics. Which happens to always be the same year that the leap year occurs. So, next one will be in 2024, then 2028, and so on. For those of us who are into sports, it is an easy memory rule, easy to remember. But would you know how to say leap year in some other language? Or leap day? Let’s take here the word Leap Day, and then the sentence: I was born on a leap day. Continue reading

Here is something that all our lives depend on. Love. We give you first the word in the languages below, and then for some of them a piece of music about love! Later on more songs will be added here, and you are very welcome to suggest one! CHINESE ?? 愛 Ài - DANISH ?? Kærlighed - DUTCH ?? Liefde - ENGLISH ????????????? Love - Dance Me to the End of Love (Leonard Cohen 1984) - Make You Feel My Love (Bob Dylan 1997, here performed by Adele) Continue reading

A road sign in the two official languages in Wales This time - a month late, sorry about that, but hopefully worth the wait - we concentrate in Language Day on the Welsh language. Well yn hwyrach na byth (see below!). A Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Historically, it has also been known in English as British, Cambrian, and Cymric. It might also be of interest to know about the Welsh people. Continue reading

Living in these days of great uncertainty, let’s have again some uplifting topic here. The article on the Welsh language can wait. Why not have a few - foreign - words about Happiness? That thing that we all strive towards, in our own unique ways. That thing that we sometimes stumble upon. That thing that we can define in so many individual ways. In some languages the word “happiness” may also mean “luck”, in the same way that the word “unhappiness” may also denote accident. Continue reading

Language Day celebrates L I F E - in these somewhat dismal times - big time! By rendering the word for it here in a few languages, and showing some titles of movies and videos (music in bold) where the word “Life” takes center stage. And, whenever possible, in the original language, and possibly even with the lyrics translated! The film links lead you mainly to Wikipedia, and the musical links to YouTube. Continue reading

This time in Language Day we take on a more general approach to what it is to use a language, any language, in our daily lives. And we take on a specific item there, i.e. the simple expression “Language!” And the idea that it is a good idea to once in a while - and in some very specific circumstances - to check ourselves as speakers of a language. How do we express ourselves, how do we say things in ways that may be interpreted by others as offensive? Continue reading

This time in Language Day we concentrate in a very common item, in use all around the world - the pencil! The English word for it comes from Old French pincel, from Medieval Latin pincellus, and from Latin penicillus “painter’s brush, hair-pencil,” literally “little tail,” being diminutive of peniculus “brush,” itself a diminutive of penis “tail”. In 1565 a large deposit of graphite was discovered in England. Extremely pure and solid, it could easily be sawn into sticks. Continue reading

Three gypsy ladies in the 1930’s Helsinki You readers of Language Day have come to see that this article series can contain most anything to do with languages. The lingual possibilities are countless and how could it be otherwise - there are thousands of languages and nations in the world. This time in Language Day, we concentrate on the language spoken by the Romanis. And more precisely, Romanis living in Finland and Sweden. Continue reading

Bula bula! This time in Language Day we have a special treat for all you Survivor fans out there! Some titbits of the Fijian language! An Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family spoken by some 350,000–450,000 ethnic Fijians (i.e. less than half the population) as their first language, and as their second, some 200,000 more. The traditional Fijian language is made up of a number of dialects, with the official interpretation being Bau Fijian. Continue reading

The previous Language Day was published exceptionally already on February 22nd due to the article on Kalevala taking precedence on the 28th, the National Kalevala Day in Finland. But now we are back on the 29th, and this time Language Day deals with a very current topic. War. Let us take an anti-war stance here as well. First the word for war, and then the sentence here below in a few languages. Continue reading

This month we publish Language Day exceptionally before the 29th. For three reasons, really. The obvious reason being that there is no 29th this month. The second reason is that on the 28th, which was to be the exceptional publication day for this month’s Language Day, is occupied by Kalevala Day - more about that later. And the third reason is that today, February 22nd 2022, is the magical day of Twos that just cannot be ignored! Continue reading

Hot air balloon (kuumailmapallo in Finnish) This article is mainly for all you studying the Finnish language, or anyone interested in linguistic idiosyncharies! You might have heard that there are lots of long - very long - words in the Finnish language. That is true. And even though Finnish in no way has a monopoly on long words, their abundance in the language is something you just get used to early on. Continue reading

Countries have different ways of denoting floors in a building. If you’re used to one system, it may be confusing to encounter another one as you travel abroad. This article might help you with that. The European method of naming floor levels starts with zero (0). Zero is the ground floor, and the one above it the first floor (1), two flights up the second floor and so on. Here follows a simple list of floor systems in some countries. Continue reading

Korean stop sign, saying “Jeongji”. But for sure, many do have the English word STOP on them too. Let us stop for a minute and have something else here in Language Day - a quick look at the Korean language for us who know absolutely nothing about it! This is a very simple introduction to Korean, and more precisely, the language spoken in South Korea. Many of us Westerners don’t even know whether the Korean characters are alphabets or logographic characters like the Chinese script, or kanji in Japanese. Continue reading

Mother tongue. The first language we learn, and usually by our mother, and father. Sometimes we get to learn two languages at once if the parents are from different linguistic background. And sometimes the third language enters the picture early on as we enter the school and the language of the land is not that of our parents. So, whatever else we may call the mother tongue - first language, native tongue, parent tongue - it will be the language of feelings and self-expression more than any other language we may learn. Continue reading

The Lingsberg runestone known as U 240, from the 11th century. near Vallentuna, Sweden This time in Language Day an interesting, but not a very current subject: rune stones and the rune alphabet. A fitting subject nevertheless, and certainly something that most of us don’t know a whole lot about! Most runestones date from the late Viking Age and are located in Scandinavia, notably in Sweden. But a few are scattered elsewhere, in places visited by Norsemen. Continue reading