Recommendations I

Matthew — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:11:26 +0000

Today I decided to share some recommendations with you. Give some of these a try. I personally guarantee they all rock.

Anime/Manga-Axis Powers Hetalia http://hetalia.com/index.htm

Axis Powers Hetalia is a (very, very slightly) historical manga. The main characters are the personifications of countries, especially the Axis and Allies from WWII, although it explores other time periods as well. It’s very character-driven, with a lot of the humor coming from stereotypes the characters represent and the way they interact with each other. You might even learn something from it, though I stress you shouldn’t take it as a history textbook. Nevertheless, it’s funny, well-written, and has a pretty good fanbase. There are episodes online here: http://www.watchanimeon.com/anime/axis-powers-hetalia/ and two volumes of the manga have been translated into English and published, with a third coming soon. The episodes are just five minutes long, so give it a watch. As for me, my favorite character is, probably unsurprisingly, Prussia, though China’s a close second. I can empathize with China best…

Books-Empires of the Word by Nicholas Ostler http://www.amazon.com/Empires-Word-Language-History-World/dp/0066210860

I love this book. Empires of the Word is a history of languages. It’s really fascinating. I love languages and how they change and grow, so when I found this book, it was destiny. This is the sort of book I would like to write. Nicholas Ostler is really talented, and the book is gripping from beginning to end. It focuses on big families and languages; Japanese is probably the most minor language that gets a section, but if you’re interested in how languages and language-communities change, give it a read. He also wrote Ad Infinitum, which is a history of Latin.

Movies-Saving Face http://www.sonyclassics.com/savingface/

I love this movie, as everyone who knows me should know by now. I’ve made enough people watch it. It’s about Wilhelmina and her mother. I don’t want to spoil too much, but they both have their own things to deal with. It’s not a romantic comedy, but it is a funny romance. This is also the movie I watched before I kissed my now-wife for the first time, so it has a special place in my heart because of that. It’s best with friends. I first saw it at the campus cinema, and everyone was laughing. I much prefer watching it with friends than alone. It might be a bit hard to find, but you can definitely find a copy if you search.

Music-Cynthia Lin http://www.cynthialin.com/

Cynthia Lin’s a great musician, and super-friendly. The first time I ordered a CD from her, she emailed me back asking whether I wanted it signed. The first time I saw her play, she gave me a hug and talked to my friends and I for a while. She’s sort of folksy and jazzy. I think she calls herself folk and acoustic blues…or something similar. Unfortunately she doesn’t visit Texas, so I haven’t seen her since Chicago, but she’s still my favorite musician. She has a few CDs out, and some singles as well. She also has a good sense of humor, as shown by this picture of her doing a kazoo solo. She’s a great musician, and a great person. Check out her music, and if you like it, support her by buying a CD or two.

Well, that’s all for now. Hope you give some of this stuff a try! Enjoy!

Learning history through language

Andreas Kluth — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 04:01:38 +0000

As you know, I love language and I love history. So what would I think of a book that is not just a history of language but a language history–ie, world history as told from the point of view of its various languages? I would love it, of course.

The book is Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World, by Nicholas Ostler.

Fist bumps to Tom for recommending it first, and to Jag for reminding us. Language lovers unite! (Jag’s book on language is imminent.)

I will not try to summarize 559 pages, but do let me try to get you to think: What would you say determines which languages spread and which die out?

I bet some of you said conquest. Fair enough. Let’s review (this is a partial list!):

Languages successfully spread by conquest:

Latin in Gaul and Iberia
Arabic in Mesopotamia and northern Africa
German (meaning Saxon, Frisian, Jutish and Anglish) in Britain
Spanish and Portuguese in Latin America

So conquest is the answer, right? Well, let’s try:

Languages not spread, despite conquest:

Latin in Britain and the eastern Mediterranean
Arabic in Iberia, Persia and beyond
Mongol, and later Manchu, in China
Mongol (and Tartar and Hunnish) almost anywhere
German in France, Iberia, Italy or nothern Africa (meaning: Frankish in Gaul; Ostrogoth and Lombard in Italy; Vandal and Visigoth in Iberia; Vandal in northern Africa)
Dutch in Indonesia

My point here is simply that history and language are far from obvious and thus infinitely mysterious and fascinating. Unravelling the reasons for the rise and fall of the various languages is a great way to understand, really understand, history.

Bonus 1:

The Hannibal Blog has weighed in on Alexander the Great and on Patanjali, but I hardly thought it possible that the two might have been aware of each other. Well, along comes a footnote on page 245, in which I discover that Patanjali (who, incidentally, wrote a famous grammar of Sanskrit besides his Yoga Sutras), noted that Alexander’s phalanxes were getting awfully close when he wrote “The Greek has besieged Saketa.”

Bonus 2: