#I love languages and linguistics and history and I think it would be cool (<- understatement)

[ocdhuacheng]

Would be so fucking badass and sexy for someone to dub Vinland saga accurately in old Norse w old english/welsh/french etc (incl mi’kmaq bc im on copium that we will be getting a complete anime adaptation eventually) anyway that would be insanely awesome I know it’s not gonna happen obviously but a bitch can dream

[gu6chan]

work related question does anyone have any fun anime for likely 12-14 year olds that to their ulta-conservative conspiracy theory parents would have no objectionable content whatsoever that's not like . pokemon. i live in the most conservative area in michigan btw /hj

[evegwood]

Nosferatu’s Contracts: A Linguistic Deepdive

(This is one half of a blogpost I put on my website! Read the full thing for a full list of sources and even MORE information on the contract from the 1922 film).

So I saw the new Nosferatu film the other day and while I didn't think it was all that fantastic (I loved the first half okay, calm down) the one thing that did stick out to me was the absolutely gorgeous scripts used for the contract that Thomas has to sign. Thank you to this Reddit post for sharing a picture of the entire thing:

The BEAUTIFUL red calligraphy is called Vyaz, a form of decorative Cyrillic calligraphy. In Vyaz script, letters are all joined and interwoven together to create a beautiful, ornamental typographical piece. The Wikipedia page about it is fucking pathetic but it does feature this example of text with a coloured breakdown of the individual words that comprise the piece:

Obviously this itched my language brain like crazy. The best resource I have found since to learn more about Vyaz is this full, free guide written by Viktor Pushkarev. He has also released a 254 page PDF for 25 euros called the Modern Slavic Vyaz Calligraphy Workbook and I think I'm going to have to buy it. His examples look stunning and I would love to learn more about this style of calligraphy. Thank you, Nosferatu.

The Vyaz calligraphy is only one style of writing used in that contract. The other is a completely different style of writing and, surprisingly (or not, maybe?) the best place to look for answers turned out to once again be Reddit. This commenter suggests it's another form of Cyrillic:

Here's some Glagolitic, to compare:

In a different thread, this commenter claims to have cracked it:

This commenter replies with an addition:

So that's cool! In that same thread, this commenter says that the contract looks like a Romanian hrisov, or medieval chancellery charter, and recommends this video explaining how they were written. As you can see from the example below that the commenter shared, these traditional contracts look pretty damn similar to Orlok's contract! So let's talk about them real quick, because it's interesting!

The video is by Adrian Gheorghe, a historian whose speciality is the editing and translation of all documents regarding Vlad the Impaler. He talks about how unlike letters, which would be written in Latin, these charters were written in Slavonic, a liturgical and "literary language, based on Slavic dialects of the Balkans, developed by monks in the 9th century" (X). Viktor Pushkarev suggests a book called Grammar of the Church Slavonic Language if you want to learn more about the grammar and syntax. Slavonic was often written in Glagolitic and hey, we've seen that before!

These charters also had explicit and strict structures that they adhered to. This strict standard served to not only prove the legitimacy of a document, but that "the document was drawn up with all due solemnity" (X). Interestingly, each charter would invoke God in the opening lines or would simply have a cross at the beginning, and according to the translations given above Count Orlok's contract does not seem to include this. I recommend checking out the video in its entirety to hear more about this cool bit of history.

But of course... that's not all that's written on the contract, is it? Thomas signs it, and he signs it in Kurrent script, an old traditional form of German cursive. If you'd like to learn how to write in Kurrent, there's a free guide by Margarete Mücke right here! Here's a screenshot I took of the scene along with a Kurrent alphabet for comparison:

Kurrent has a really interesting history. It evolved from gothic cursive at the beginning of the 16th century, which saw a lot of use in the medieval ages. Compared to the vast variety of gothic cursive writing styles, Kurrent was "beautiful, fast to write and comparatively legible" (X). It soon moved out of use solely in chancelleries and into everyday use, becoming more and more standardised.

This script saw a bit of a rollercoaster of popularity; in the early 1900s it was established and taught in all German schools, then steadily became seen as "antiquated and ugly", then the Nazis declared other writing scripts "Un-German" and promoted gothic typography until 1941 when Hitler declared Kurrent and its sister writing style Fraktur "to be of 'Jewish origin' and therefore taboo". More information about this can be found on this page about the history of Old German Script (another name for Kurrent).

So that's that! Count Orlok's contract is based on traditional charters of the region with set structures to highlight their legitimacy and importance as documents, using traditional scripts and handwriting of the time, and is also a style of document that is directly tied to Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for Dracula and ultimately Nosferatu. Extremely cool and also totally makes sense considering Robert Eggers interest in authentic linguistic detail (like I didn't even mention the language that Orlok speaks throughout the film, which is Dacian, an extinct ancestor of Romanian). Lots of really tasty stuff to look at and I had a blast putting it all together.

Except.......... it's not the end. There's a whole second saga to be told about the contract from the 1922 film, and if you wanna read that (I get deep into talking occult symbols and angel languages) you're gonna have to read the original post on my site!

[madamedevien]

I desperately want to write a LADs University Professors AU.

I want a bright and bubbly main character who does some sort of specialisation like The World Wars, particularly something like The Third Reich. Something dark that doesn't fit with their sunshine smile.

🐟 Rafayel has to be an Art professor, duh. Although I think it'd be fun to see him in Linguistics or Literature too - gasp! OR THEATRE!!!! Art History would also be fun!!!

⭐ Xavier I can see teaching something like Planetary Exploration with Astronomy and Astrobiology - oh, or Classics! (If I were to write this and MC was teaching History, I'd have Xavier likely in Classics/Ancient History so that they're in the same department to keep it kinda loosely with the LADs story for funsies!)

❄️ I don't need to mention what Zayne would be teaching, let's be real. Although, if not Medicine, I think it'd be really cool to have him in Philosophy and/or Theology 👉🏻👈🏻

🍎 Caleb has gotta be Engineering of some description if we're trying to keep them all realistically at the same university. Aerospace Engineering or something like that (although Culinary Arts would be TOO CUTE - oh no, STAHP, I'm giving myself ideas!!!)

🐦‍⬛ The hardest for me is Sylus just because there's so much that I could see him doing - Engineering, Computer Sciences, Modern Languages, Literature (stop, can you imagine him specialising in something like Asian Literature and maybe a niche subject like Chinese Mythology?! 😭💖), Business Studies, Psychology, Criminology, Economics, Finance, Law, Social Sciences! A true renaissance man!!! If I had to pick though, I think I'd want him in Literature because I love the thought of MC being like, 'omg he's scary - wait, he's reciting poetry by Li Bai off by heart?!'

[docholligay]

When you hear an accent/dialect/we're not going to get into that debate here that sounds 'odd' to your ear, think about that! Not even in a "Wow, I hate that" way, or a "I need to examine my classism/racism/etc way I am a bad person way, but in a secret third way called, "curiosity and openness to experience"

I was EXTREMELY EXTREMELY FORTUNATE to have a required class in college called "History of the English Language" which was one of the 'weeder classes' for the English majors at my school. It was very very difficult, but the man who taught it had an INSANE passion for English. He LOVED IT, he would talk about it all goddamn day, and it taught me so much about how and why things get changed and said the way they do, and it made me so CURIOUS about why something is unusual or fun for my brain to listen to.

So now, anytime I hear someone pronounce something or verbalize something in a way I think of as "odd" I get so excited and curious*. What is it I haven't heard before? Sometimes my tongue will move around my mouth trying to figure out how they make that sound (I am REAL bad at this. Accents are in no no no way my forte, which is annoying because I'm very good at HEARING them and hearing the differences between them, I just can't DO it) because it is so interesting and cool all the different ways one fucking language has been DONE over so many years.

Anyway I so far off track I am no longer a train, but looking at dialects as you might look at an interesting bug instead of like a pop song on the radio or a sign font is a really good way to start opening your mind to language as something other than a value marker. And that doesn't HAVE to be another way of whipping yourself for being a piece of shit--I assume you have plenty of reasons--but a way of going, "Oh, something unexpected!"

*Also not to attempt to introduce nuance on the 'no nuance we die like men' website, but I think there is a big difference between loving teasing and mockery/cruelty. I don't actually mind if friends, especially ones with VASTLY different ways of speaking, imitate my accent I think it's fuckin funny as hell! Jetty has the WORST rural western accent on the planet, and I love to make fun of whatever the fuck she's got going on there, but it is FUN and there is a sense of LOVE that comes with it. And it's not even a "well yeah, Holligay, when you've known someone for a long time" No no, I once sat in a shitty pub on the east end, now closed (rip) and me and my mom ending up striking up a conversation with two old-school cockney guys, and as soon as he tried to say "Montana" the way I did, the race was ON, and it was FUNNY, and we all laughed and had a good time, it is about attitude.

And I know I'm gonna get something about "well how do you KNOW and that is why i turned off reblogs but come on y'all, 9 times out of 10 you can tell when something is done with deep affection or camaraderie or because even just something feels cool in your mouth it's fun to try. I can't do 87% of the linguistic features I think FUCK SEVERELY (intrusive R, the way a word that genuinely does not start with the letter h has a different sound than a word when the h is uptaken (this has a fucking word and I cannot find it it's making me nuts)) but I LOVE them.

Quick quiz to help though: Are you affecting this accent to in some way sound stupid/ridiculous? We can go back and forth about that a little: one of my buddies says "well shiiiiit" exactly the way I do, for funsies, but it just...feels neat. What I'm saying is you have to use some discernment here and I know we are all allergic to that but give it a shot/go/whatever the hell Australians say for this.

Post script: All of this reminds me also about how I studied the phonemes and linguistics of English with intense fervor in college, and got REAL COCKY, and then in the Orkneys had my very first ever, in life, "We are both speaking English but damn" moment. Normally I am The One for this. I am unruffled. My wife gets confused by the word takeaway (she is smart I swear) but I'm rock-solid. Until. Hubris.

This guy is rollin on up in his van, which is the 'bus system' on Rapness, and it's cute as hell as a system, but I ask him something stupid about the timetable, and he answers me in what I can only describe as a Nordic-flavored Scottish accent. It is actually really remarkable and I went on a weird deep dive of the Orkneys afterward because I had never heard anything like it but I digress. I DID NOT GET A FUCKING WORD. And so, because I panic, I do what I always do when I feel flustered or emotional or angry: I sound like Yosemite fucking Sam. So now he can't understand what I am asking him!

Good news is, we both give a little bit of a laugh, I go, 'Let's try that again" and I do manage to exchange that this van picks up outside of the Pierowall hotel in time for the ferry.

[ranseur]

would love to hear your thoughts on Stargate Atlantis! i actually thought that the show did a good job of having the main characters not always do the Good/Right thing (although it admittedly almost always is the Cool thing) and generally be kind of selfish and complicated

Hiya anon thanks for asking! Sorry if you've been waiting or thought I was ignoring you- I let this message sit in my inbox for a couple days because i needed time to assemble some thoughts and notes i had about the show. But I’m not sure how to keep it brief- I worry that whether I’m too vague or too specific, I’ll be airing my personal griefs over a show that's quite well liked and popular. But I hope that I’m being fair in what I’m saying. So- with the firm disclaimer that I don't expect everyone to agree with me- maybe I can start with vague complaints and then break down a specific episode. Also I want to make clear- I usually get nitpicky when I want to enjoy a show but feel like it doesn't quite win me over. So my griefs are coming from a place of feeling... like I can't let out a sneeze, idk, like I’m disappointed that I’m disappointed. Lastly: the last episode I watched was S02E05, which is still pretty early. It is totally fair if I’m speaking too soon. So I’m mostly going to speak on my thoughts on Season 1. Ahh before you hit 'read more' this got long. Sorry in advance.

My general feelings about the show- I don't really /love/ any of the characters. Compared to SG1, Sheppard's main team doesn't feel as much like single entity of well-oiled parts that synergize with their unique strengths and expertise. For comparison's sake I'll describe what I love about SG1's Jack, Samantha, Daniel, and Teal'C (and Jonas). They all bring their own expertise to the table- they each have skills the other members of the team lacks, and their personalities complement and fill in for each other. Jack is the leader who assesses risk and keeps the team safe and focused, and it's frequently pointed out that he is not book-smart, but he has keen situational awareness on missions. Sam is the science brains, quick as a whip, and can do all the tech-related tasks they need. Daniel is the civilian linguistics and history buff, the team relies on him to interpret ancient text and draw connections between separate threads to complete a picture. Teal'C is an incredible fighter, and has invaluable knowledge of the Jaffa and Goa'uld- their politics, their culture, their language, the Jaffa rebellion. (Jonas was such a good lad. Smart, eager, capable- pretty well rounded across the board. Very 'polite-cat.jpg', I love him.) If someone on the team is gun-forward, another pushes a peaceful solution. If one person is spurred by emotions, another stands back to think things through. But they always feel like they push each other for the best outcome, and they trust each other even as they disagree or bicker. As the series goes, you get a sense that they've become friends who have come to care about each other outside of their work. In SGA, Sheppard usually comes across as the most correct, the most capable, and doesn't feel like he really needs his team unless they're scientists- but even then he can do some science things competently enough for solo missions, like on the Season 1 finale. He is the leader, the pilot, the soldier, the speaker, the chosen one with special genes. He’s often taking the spotlight and doing all the cool stuff that I think that writers could spread out to other members on his team more. I mean, what does Ford do that Sheppard can't do better? And I would love for Weir to take a seat at the table for diplomacy more often- sometimes Sheppard acts without her input at all, knowing she can't do anything about it when he’s off-world.

Teyla's contribution is... sticks. I’m so sorry but what does she DO- i want her to do something important so badly. (I vaguely remember she throws a spear at an alien ship in the season 1 finale, like, come on. writers. please.) I wish she could guide the team more with her knowledge of the galaxy/wraiths, if they could have had her stick-kata fighting skills really come in clutch against the invisible wraith. Maybe show us how her disciplined and honed warrior's mind is more adept at resisting psychic wraith influence. All this to say- fighting the wraiths and besting them physically and mentally should be so meaningful and personal to her. Maybe I just forgot but I don't think I saw that character beat take the spotlight- they skip over it- my girl often feels like an afterthought. And in addition to her training Sheppard at stick fighting, I want to see how seriously she takes training with guns and explosives, so there's an equivalent exchange of skills and respect between these two fighters from different galaxies.

Rodney McKay is unfortunately the character I like the most, and that's not to say exactly that I really like him, because every now and again he will be a real creep to women. But I do find him the most interesting just because he is written to do more. He definitely has skills Sheppard relies on him for, and he's the only (or one of the few characters) defined by his flaws. And those flaws, in turn, means he relies on others in some way to compensate for his shortcomings. He’s arrogant, he's abrasive, he's not always brave/calm, but despite those things- Sheppard’s (and others) belief and trust in him, as well as his own determination to have the last word and not die being proved wrong about something, drags him forwards to success. And we do see that he can be willing to sacrifice himself for others. I think that's all great- there's layers going on with him. But some of the comedy punchlines that are at his expense kind of feel like, he's set up to be unlikable for perceived emasculating characteristics. Especially when the joke is often 'Sheppard is the manlier one', it just comes across as a certain attitude the writers have about masculinity. Like 'McKay is definitely smarter than Sheppard in certain respects, but don't worry he's a sweaty loser nerd and worse than Sheppard at everything important- like being tough'. If I'm making sense. Another general complaint, so many conversations in this show feel unnecessarily combative. There’s often some kind of one-up-man-ship going on, and someone is trying to mic-drop the other person. McKay is just an abrasive guy who insults everyone around him- so this is normal for him- but really so many other characters are so combative for no reason. When they’re brainstorming a solution during a crisis, or trying to come to an agreement, the writers don’t really write dialogue where members have a supportive team dynamic like, ‘Yes! And…’ or ‘We are in this together! You do what you do best and I will have your back.’ Instead a lot of it is, ‘You’re so stupid for suggesting THAT idea. Didn’t you consider THIS THING?’ or ‘I am very correct and I will disregard your reasonable suggestion because you are holding me back from doing what I want.’ Like the tone and the vibe of this dialogue writing style is, I assume, to stir tension and drama. But it does not do much to convince me that these characters even like each other, or have a reason to rely on one other.

(aside: I will add that SG1's most insufferable comp-het-romance-of-the-week tropes are NOT present in SGA, so big thumbs up to SGA for that. As far as i remember, if there is a romance of the week in SGA, it's well paced and sweet and believable. And iirc they don't go for the romance route every time, which is so refreshing) ~~

For Weir's role in this show, I think a lot of my griefs with her character writing culminated in the episode 'Before I Sleep'. We first meet her character in SG1, so I kinda got attached to her and how she acted in those episodes. In SGA she sort of feels like she’s just there to agree with Sheppard or lose every argument against Sheppard (meanwhile I WANT them to be super-loyal-devoted-bros). And I felt that her impact in her own character-centric episode was non-existent by the time the full story was told. I started this episode with high hopes and I felt let down by the end. In this episode, S01E15 Before I Sleep, we learn that the SGA team's arrival at Atlantis was originally a complete disaster. Several beloved characters of the SGA team try and fail keep the power on or find any solution to save the city. iirc, every attempt ends in brutal failures back to back- our friends die valiantly but nothing they did meaningfully affected the outcome of the shuttle escaping. Instead, I really wish they each had some impact. If the brilliant handpicked specialists of this expedition team were able to eke out just a little bit extra power, just a little bit of extra time, just a little bit of hope- so that this catastrophe could be like a relay race, where everyone contributes a part into getting the few people, with the best chance to see their mission through, out in a shuttle. If I rework the episode: >McKay could be the main guy responsible for staying in the command room- learning the systems quickly enough to reroute extra power and succeeds in procuring the extra seconds they need to enter the shuttle, and maybe escape the city

>Sheppard is the best pilot they have. he's got the skills to maneuver around obstacles and danger and the Lantean genes to operate ancients tech

>Zelenka gets into the guts of their escape shuttle to find out if the ship has features that would be useful in their escape or rescuing others. he discovers the ship has tech he's never seen before- he begins to try to get it up in working order same as in the original episode, they activate the thing- because even if they don't know what it does- what could it hurt to try it. the machine zaps them back in time. they were underwater, and now they inexplicably find themselves floating in space looking at strange alien ships which begin to attack them >but with Sheppard's dogfighting experience and airmanship, he recovers quickly from the shock and disorientation of the situation, and reacts quickly to return fire and execute evasive maneuvers >Zelenka hurries to try to reroute power from other ship functions to bolster their shields >in doing so, Zelenka discovers the cloaking mechanism, which Sheppard activates, unfortunately not before the shields are drained and their shuttle is struck >a crash is imminent, but Sheppard makes a heroic effort to pilot the cloaked shuttle down to Atlantis, fighting until the bitter end to stabilize the shuttle to make their landing is as safe/smooth as he can. (maybe there's just enough fuel/power to activate the reverse thrust at the right moment) >Zelenka is elbow deep in the wire panels trying to get shields up- even if they only have shields for a second, it might reduce the force of their impact >Sheppard yells to brace, activate reverse thrust+shields, they crash and we cut to black. we see Sheppard and Zelenka are at the front half of the shuttle- while Weir is strapped in the back

>Weir survives the impact thanks to Sheppard and Zelenka's joint efforts, and her position at the rear of the shuttle >Weir wakes up in Atlantis, she learns she has gone 10,000 years in the past In the original episode, I think Rodney fiddles on an ipad thing desperately before the room floods and he simply dies without succeeding. Zelenka in the shuttle says 'this shuttle is different' and turns on the machine. They go back in time, get zapped, and I think we just cut to black- Sheppard is piloting the shuttle but we only hear afterwards that he died off screen. A very anticlimactic way for an action-hero guy like him to go out IMHO. Dude would never settle for anything less than a glorious death (to keep Weir safe). And even if I acquiesce that we don't have the screen time or budget for the 'epic fight and escape and dying in a blaze of glory' death I want for Sheppard and Zelenka, I still think that it wouldn't have been hard to make some little changes even only to spoken dialogue, so the dying SGA team's efforts contributed to pushing Weir over the finish line. So it matters more that by providence the rest would be up to her, the SGA specialist in diplomacy and political negotiations, to convince the war-weary, resigned Ancients of Atlantis to help her prevent the disaster she just lived through. If I continue to rework the episode: >I think Weir should've been able to use her words to convince the Ancients to help her, instead of stonewall her

>with her knowledge of what had gone wrong in the future, Weir should have majorly contributed to providing ideas on what they would need

>Weir should say herself that they ran out of power and needed more. that their way through the Stargate was a one way trip- they don’t have ZPMs. then the city flooded and killed everyone when the barriers failed- could the city not implode and turn into a death trap please?

>Weir and Janus work as a team to bring those ideas to life. with this information he can provide the extra power, list ZPM locations, and come up with the idea for the failsafe to have the city resurface instead of flood when the barrier is gone.

>and then I would have wanted Weir, who said in her plea with the Lantean Council that she is an explorer, to actually spend time exploring and learning more about Atlantis during her 10,000 years stay. It’s what she came all this way for >lots of power and advanced tech in the city is dedicated to keep her alive and healthy, maybe prolonging her natural life beyond normal human life. so she can do the necessary maintenance to keep the city running and go on exploratory trips

>she can explore for her own curiosity, but also to find information to give her team the best shot they can have for the next time they try >she has a lifetime to think about why the Lanteans failed and how they could avoid the same mistakes they made >she ought to have documented the ZPM locations, notes about interesting rooms and features in the city, interesting gate locations in the galaxy, pour over Lantean libraries to learn their language and learn about the Wraiths, etc.

>I wonder if it would be neat to have her put her findings in writing, which she would’ve kept physically in some journals/diaries or on the Atlantis server/machines, if she can do that (i forget if she has the ability to use them). Maybe these journals/diaries can act as a guide for the team in future episodes. From it, they cross reference her findings with their own, follow new leads, etc.

>they can't initially read all of her diaries because; perhaps over the centuries Weir developed her own shorthand or cipher to keep her knowledge safe from anyone who isn’t the next Weir. possibly she did not record everything in English, as she speaks multiple languages and could have learned more Ancient during this time >maybe the Next Weir holds the key to unlocking the cipher, because the key is something personal to her, and she (and a team) have to spend time translating this big document?

>maybe another reason they can’t access the all the diaries is that certain volumes of the set are physically scattered throughout the city and need to be found. Or, if the diaries were written on the machines, the main compiled diary file was corrupted during the power surges. Different segments of the diary file are backed up locally in distant areas of the city, but SGA has to send teams to physically go find them and upload them back into the server cloud (I confess I just want them to have an excuse to explore the city more just in general ahhh)

 (>in the season finale Seige they find out about a Satellite out in space that comes in handy for the Wraith invasion- i forget how they learn about it in the show- but this could be a good example of helpful information from Old Weir’s Diary that the new team utilizes. if the writers say that a character randomly finds it while they muck around in the database anyway. why not learn about it from the Weir Diary, Di-weir-y.)

>this is getting so self-indulgent but I also would have found it neat if Weir was more conscious of the long length of time, and we see some angst about the burden of being immortal and alone in Atlantis >when the 10,000 years is past, Weir has accepted her time is over and that she's done the best that she can. even though her life is prolonged and her body kept free of disease or illness, she is So Tired

>she hung on to sanity for as long as she did in order to see everyone safe again. she insists on seeing them all- and grieves that she cannot meet the ones who have already died in this timeline. Old Weir asks to hear about how they died. New Weir of course knows their names and deaths by heart, and tells her. >Old Weir dies in peace, knowing her efforts in preparing Atlantis for their arrival was successful, and she leaves behind a gift, a well of information to help them in the future >she has finally repaid the debt she owes her long dead friends from her own timeline, for their sacrifices in getting her this far. now with her duty as a leader fulfilled and the Diary passed onto her Other Self, Old Weir whispers, at long last she can join her team in the truest, longest sleep

Jumping back to summarize the events of the actual episode, the ancient council flat out refuse to help Weir. Janus tells her that the proof that his time machine worked is awesome so he wants to help her, and HE is the one who does all the idea generating and HE puts in all the work to make sure Atlantis is safe. Weir is instructed to do some maintenance stuff every few centuries, so she just wakes up, does the thing, goes back to sleep. She's got a note in her hand with cryptic Stargate locations I think? And the end of the episode reveals that they are ZPM locations. Like, she just took naps with a note in her hand? That's all? This could have been an email, or a better email with more details. They could at least write down 'List of Known ZPM Locations' on the paper so it’s not just, in hindsight, a cheaply manufactured mystery that the writers contrived for suspense. What if she didn't live to see everyone, and could not tell them in person what the note is for? She very nearly died before they found her because McKay unknowingly routed power away from her stasis pod. Also, in my re-imagined version, I do envision Weir having her lifespan extended and being conscious of the experience of being stretched thinly over the millennia. But going by the original episode set-up, I think it could have been neat if we had a story beat, about Weir's POV when she goes to sleep and wakes up from the chamber thing, instantly decades older. Maybe we can draw a parallel to the way Wraiths consume their victims, how they age quickly as their life is drained. The city of Atlantis is sustaining Weir, but her life is being exchanged to keep it alive in turn.

Or, cutting out my admittedly self-indulgent suggestions with the Weir Diaries and Immortality Angst, my main complaint is that we can easily remove Weir from this episode for all that she actually did. The way the writers did it, I think any random person from SGA could have taken the time machine back, fail to convince the Ancients to help them, follow Janus' instructions, hold a piece of paper in their hand, and we would have gotten the same results. I wish that it mattered more it was Weir specifically, that she was the best person who could have gone back, that she stepped up as a leader, and fully lived up to that responsibility. But ... it just felt like the writers made every effort to not allow her to be crucial to the story. She failed her persuasion check, and all the credit to prepare Atlantis was given to Janus. Like why did the writers focus on Weir specifically just to rob her of her moment. So like, thus far, at least where I am in the show, Sheppard feels like he’s the only main character who is allowed to be both super awesome AND heroic when he gets the chance. Say if HE survived the crash and stuck around for 10 000 years, I really don't think the writers would have had him input zero ideas, sleep in a pod, and not be more pro-active. He definitely feels like the writers’ favourite child in that sense. And I wish other characters got that same enthusiasm from the writers to be uplifted and celebrated for their successes, instead of failing as much as they do or having their accomplishment be downplayed by others, compared to Sheppard. Or if he can also share equally in the times he fails and has to rely on his team. ANYWAY. If anyone has read this far- thank you so much for your patience and willingness to hear my thoughts. It is completely fair if there are many points you disagree with me on, so double thank you for reading this far in spite of those disagreements. I would love to hear back about any corrections or misunderstandings I have. (And of course I'd love to hear if anyone thinks I’ve made fair points...?) I hope it came across clearly that I love certain things about this show and it's due to my love of those things that I struggle sometimes when they come together in ways that I don't love. Which again, is just my personal taste- I do acknowledge I got pretty self-indulgent reworking the episode. (Which maybe I'm allowed to do, I wrote those notes as an exercise for myself without the intention to actually share them.) So far be it from me to say that my alternative suggestions are objectively 'better', more like, my intention was to provide examples on what I would have personally enjoyed instead. (P.S. This is probably a minor thing but it lowkey bugs me that the Wraiths look like Dark Elves but act like Orcs. They're always going (snarl) and (hiss) and (grrr) while looking FLY af. Like, writers, you're really telling me there are Wraith tailors that live in cobwebby caves that go (arrr) and (hhhss) while they sew fancy outfits for their boys? Like the villain concept doesn't feel coherent and I can't shake it.)

[nihongoseito]

Hello!

Say, I've been trying to find sources to teach me how to read/understand the fundamentals of 草書 that are not in Japanese. So far I found "The Elements of Sôsho" by Cpt. F. S. G. Piggott but that's pretty much it. Do you happen to know any good books/websites/blogs/videos/anything about that? I can read French, English and Spanish.

I love your blog, by the way! I kinda gave up learning Japanese after a bad experience but I'm slowly getting back to it and your posts played a big part in accepting I'll take this one step at a time.

hi, thanks for your ask!! i'm really happy to hear you enjoy my blog :) i understand completely about giving up on something you're studying after it goes awry....in college i studied a lot of another (not japanese) language, and thanks to *gestures broadly* stuff, i lost what feels like all of it and it often feels like trying to return to it would be really insurmountably difficult. i think for me part of it is like, it's hard to feel like you've moved backwards from where you were in the past. so i'm so proud of you for trying to pick up your japanese study again!! 一緒に、ゆっくりと頑張ろうよ！

as for 草書 (そうしょ = calligraphy/cursive), i honestly know nothing about the topic! a quick online search gives lots of results if you ask in japanese but sadly almost nothing if you ask in english. i found a couple blog links about 草書, but the entries are very short:

something nice about this ^ blog post is it talks about how the hiragana were derived from 草書, it's so cool to see the connections between kana and kanji!

((also, if you're interested in hiragana at all, you should def look into the history of 女手 (おんなで = women's script), as in fact the hiragana were innovated and used by women who were disallowed from learning kanji! which is a really cool large-scale example of how women are typically at the forefront of cultural and linguistic change. here's another blog post about women's usage of hiragana, although it seems you might have to create an account to read it.))

heading back to kanji, here's another blog post that talks about calligraphy in both chinese and japanese:

also, looking at the sources for the wikipedia page for east asian calligraphic styles, there also seems to be a book from the 70s called the art of japanese calligraphy by yujiro nakata, which seems to be available at this site or you could try and get it from a library, especially if your library has contact with any nearby university libraries. it's a little old, of course, but researching it might lead you to more modern sources too!

anyways, thanks again for your message!! if anyone else knows of any other resources about 草書, please feel free to reblog or put them in the comments :)

[skyward-floored]

I wonder how some of the other side-characters are doing in IAU, mainly the Resistance in Twilight Princess (mainly Shad), because I can fully see them being a group here. Shad gives the vibes of a community college professor, who probably some sort of ancient language, history, or linguistics and gets carried away in his lessons explaining conspiracy theories about how the government is run by sky chickens and it's a miracle he was hired instead of being written of as insane. Maybe Rusl is a family friend and babysitter, or maybe even sword instructor along with that one dude from Majora's Mask somewhere as well. I can see them being a pro-super protest group or something, and maybe Telma's bar is a covert meeting place for other supers and those who support them. Ashei is cool, I love her design, but I have no idea what her deal is other than showing up at Lanayru, maybe she gathers intel as a job or something, no idea. I haven't played Twilight Princess in a while, so I also have no idea what Auru does other than I think know about the Gerudo Desert? Maybe he's a tour guide for the place. Once again, no clue on that guy. And I know he's not part of the Resistance, but the doctor who doesn't do jack shit in TP feels like that one image I saw a while back where they charged the guy for 'emotional support' since they were asked 'how are you?'

Yeah I have a few resistance ideas— I was kind of thinking they’d be some sort of group like you said, and probably college related XD I’ll admit I haven’t put like, tons of thought into any of it, but those are all good ideas you have!

Rusl though I did have a more specific idea for— I figure Twilight met him now and then when his family would visit the Ordon area, and maybe he stays with him once or twice if Lon Lon is too full of people? Maybe. Either way, Rusl and Uli know Malon and Talon fairly well (though not about powers or anything), and therefore Malon’s kids too. That summer where tp-esque stuff happens, I think Twilight gets to know them better. Maybe even later he stays with them as like a job thing? College thing? Idk. Either way they’re around, and Twilight does know them.

[pierregazly]

Congratulations on 1.5k followers , you deserve all of them and more ! If it's still possible , can I ask for a ⚓please? I'm an October Libra with Taurus moon and Sagittarius rising , currently studying archaeology , history and history of art ( more specifically classic times and baroque) . Appearance wise , I'm quite short with red hair, a lot of tattoos and a sparkly heart nose ring. I absolutely love sports ( watching and playing ) with my favs being football/soccer , baseball and volleyball , reading , journaling , anything that has to do with cooking and baking (it calms me down and I see it as one of my love languages) and long car rides. Also I'm a nerd for anything that has to do with linguistics (I'm fluent in 6 languages , a couple of dialects and 2 dead languages) , math and the occult (im the designated tarot , coffee and card reader in my friend group). I think my friends would mostly describe me as extroverted and talkative , funny , chaotic and definitely loyal to a fault.

I hope that's enough info , thank you in advance <3

hiiii!! thank you so very much, i hope you love this 💗

omg okay, it didn't take me long at all to decide this but i think i'm going to ship you with lewis hamilton! although capricorn's are known for being very serious (which you can definitely see in lewis as he's getting older), i think from the sounds of it, you could really bring out the fun/youth side of him? he would admire what you're studying - i could see him being a bit of an art or history buff? like would take you to every art museum he could think of, would find historical sites in any country the two of you visit to try and make you happy? he would watch AND play any sport with you as well, he's obviously an active person, but i can def see him relaxing at home with you on a weekend when he's not racing and enjoying whatever game you guys throw on the television! he would sooo encourage you to learn all the vegan recipes for him (purely for selfish reasons). and would be so interested in all the languages you know?? he's the type to ask you to speak to him in a different language and just sit there patiently waiting (which also thats so cool????). he's definitely an extrovert, and i could see you guys really balancing each other well!!

thank you so much for celebrating with me!!!

[tuulikki]

https://www.tumblr.com/tuulikki/733369731375104000/my-fellow-americans-you-can-just-put-us-flags-its

I've been wondering about your Finnish url ever since learning that you're an English speaking American, and now that you don't have any roots in Finland, I'm super curious. Where does it come from?

Sorry about that time I just started to talk to you in Finnish :D

Haha, no worries! The short answer is: I’m a nerd.

The long answer…

When I was a kid, I was super into any mythology I could get my hands on. And I was a young Tolkien nerd who found out The Kalevala and its poetical style were hugely influential on Tolkien’s worldbuilding. So of course I had to read it. And, as a weird folk music kid, I also fell sideways into any music featuring kantele, which was a gateway drug into other Finnish folk and folk-y music (Värttinä, Pekko Käppi, Hedningarna’s “Karelia Visa” album, etc.).

I’d only lived in the USA and Asia at that age, and most of the “mythology” books I’d ever been exposed to were Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and some machismo-heavy Norse stuff. All very common and very easy to find in the kiddie section of my school library. Finnish mythology and folklore was the first time I had to work a little to learn. I started just with The Kalevala (and copious footnotes), then the internet, later a Finn on LiveJournal who would straight-up translate lyrics/verse, and then puttering around to the local Nordic museum.

I have a lot of nostalgia for that as my first foray into what was, for me, something that stands at the transition point between my being a Mythology Kid™️ and being a more adult-shaped-creature who had to consider mythology, not as an inert curiosity and kiddie hobby, but as one aspect of traditions that exist in relation to real things like nationalism, identity, Romanticism, ethnography, and all that.

So, with that history, when I set out to make a tumblr username, I picked a name I knew from The Kalevala, because literally every other name from stories or myth I knew or could think of was already taken.

A further little joy was that I also loved the Moomintroll books as a kid in the 90s. And some kids in my neighbourhood in Hong Kong had access to the TV show (I don’t remember how) so I got properly scared of the animated Groke. So now, knowing about Tuulikki Pietilä and Tove Jansson, I have a further pleasant coincidence from my already very coincidence- and happenstance-heavy username.

And I do have to agree with Tolkien, in the end: Finnish is a fucking cool language. People are always like “ohh French is so romantic!” and sure maybe but is French cool. I’m not a linguist, but I know the number of grammatical cases a European language has is directly proportional to how hard it fucks.

I… hope that’s an answer that makes sense 😅

[randomstudyblr]

🔮 for the ask game? :) btw, i think it's really cool that you're doing both a phd in structural biology and a bachelor's in english! what led you to these two different fields, if i may ask?

Hi! Thanks for the ask :)

🔮 What’s your dream job?

I joke that I have plans A-F or G for my future, in case something doesn't work out. Plan A is to do research in a public institution :)))) I am trying my best to enjoy the ride of the PhD without getting too mentally involved so I don't get burnt out on my first year (so far so good). I would love to be able to get that position in Spain, because my family is here and I enjoy living here more than abroad, but I would consider moving somewhere in Europe too. Plan G is to become a cheese maker :D

Second question under the cut because it might get rambly?

In Spain, you have to commit to one major before entering uni, and it's quite hard to switch without having to start from the beginning. The concept of minors doesn't exist either. So I, along with many other Spanish students, struggled a lot before finally picking one degree to study. I knew I was probably going to get into biochem, but my priority list looked something like this: biochem, chem, modern languages, history, biotech, english studies, maths... you get the drill. So when I finished my biochem bachelor's and felt quite burnt out, I decided to take a year off from studying that topic*. And I thought, why not start another degree? In Spain there's a distance uni where the studying is mostly done independently and you can take exams in many European countries, so I decided to start English Studies there. It was a very good choice imo because later that year covid hit and I would've had nothing to do with the other half of my year while locked in at home.

I told myself that the moment it got too much I would just decrease my workload and continue at a slower pace, but throughout my master's I managed to keep up with the classes and pass all exams. I have only really really struggled this last semester, because I found the BA thesis quite hard. But it's handed in now :')

Why English? I actually would've liked somehting with a bigger focus on languages and literature rather than only english and having half the degree focus on linguistics, but there wasn't much choice in this uni. So I went with English :) I really like reading and I must say I have enjoyed reading most of the books we had to read for class! And I really like knowing more about literary theory and what to think about when I'm reading.

*Actually I did a 6 month internship in Berlin. But it wasn't studying so it doesn't count.

[simbelmyne20niniel]

I'm in the first phase of becoming a fan of The Clash so I'm sometimes screaming when I see Joe 😆

You're a translator, that's ironic because my first choice of a degree was a translator, but I dropped out quickly. It wasn't really my thing. History major sounds difficult, at least for me - I suck at history big time, barely passed an exam from it in the last semester.

So good to hear you had a good time at the library! Hahaha, ISBN information is very important in every day life, right? I get ya, so maybe doing the master degree ain't a bad option after all? Polish Philology was cool, although boring sometimes, but eh. Yes, your Santa is from Poland!

I love that moodboard! Do you have a post with it? I would love to reblog it once I take off my Santa hat.

Hahahaha, that meme pic next to Joe, that's totally us if it comes to him!

Huh, Kate's music and Syd's music being similar. Both have very distinctive music style, I see where you're coming from with this and I can see the connection. Wait, David Gilmour discovered Kate? Wow, that's a new!

Hmmm... Out of the ones that weren't mentioned I would have to say: Wings, The Beach Boys, Def Leppard, The Doors, I think I've mentioned The Jam, but I'm not sure now, BUT most importantly, my top favorite band is The Who - you are gonna see how bad it is when you see my blog, hahahaha 😆

About the concert I would say I would die for The Who's Isle of Wight from 1970. This is certainly a big wall of sound of a concert, but DEAR GOD is Keith Moon a delight to see and hear! Wearing entirely white clothes - his favorite color, being a literal beast on the drums, being stupid, just having so much fun during the concert - the way he smiles at certain moments, dear Lord, have mercy on my poor soul- I let my inner Moonie Girl out, whoops 😆

What about you? Any concert you'd like to see from the past?

And tell me more about David Bowie and Kate Bush. What do you like about them?

Hi!!! sorry for the waiting!

Yes!! I really love everything about linguistics, how languages have evolved, how we use them, the accents, the relationship between cultures and language, the brain hahahha, so yeah I love it. So a Master's is the better option.

ISBN rules!!!! It's amazing how you guys manage all the information. From what I've seen in pictures, Poland looks and seems like a beautiful place. From your country I follow Karolina Zebrowska she's funny and her videos are entertaining hahahaaha.

Yeah, Syd and Kate have this super unique vibe. So the story is... someone close to Kate and her family that was also close to David, he gave him (to David) the tapes with Kate's music. He liked them and helped her to make some demos and the rest is history. Not only David helped her with the first album, but other progressive rock artists were also involved in the production. To me, that was a huge boost to Kate's early career; high quality support.

For me, I love that you can see how she was maturing in her music. I don't know if it was intentional, but I like that the colors in her first album are yellow and red, which we can relate to youth, passion, the braveness and energy someone so young needed to start her music journey. Then, with the "Hounds of Love" album, we see the purple and lilac colors that we can relate to the earned wisdom through the years, and she looks graceful and distinguished.

What I also love about Kate is all her photoshoots, girl was having fun in all of them.

We have in common: The Beach Boys, Def Leppard, The Doors

The Jam and Wings are also good bands :)

Have you seen The Beach Boys documentary on Disney+? What are your favorite songs from them?

Look, we both have the same excellent taste with The Who, Keith Moon... that man was messy and more!!! This band is the original: "Is somebody gonna match my freak?" They really matched each other's energy. Keith and Bonzo are the best drummers of the past century. He had a very contagious laugh too!!!! This is one of my favorite audios from him:

What else do you like from The Who?

From David.... well, he was a real chameleon!! Labyrinth was one (still is) of my favorite movies growing up. This man had a mission on this planet, and it was to make us boogie. He was not afraid of breaking what society expected from him. He was so humble too. I remember one of his interviews in which the journalist praised him for his "philosophy" in his music, and he was like "it is not even that good" hahahha. I love how he encouraged others to get out of the comfort zone. He is so right about that, "If you feel safe in the area you're working in, you're not working in the right area." His lyrics and the musical genres he mixed in his albums show that he was not afraid to experiment with his music.

I also remember that he once said something about never working for other people, you know, like being a people's pleaser. That's true, because at the end of the day, when you try to please other people and their expectations, you're losing part of your persona, you're not earning something significant, you're not knowing or understanding yourself better.

Now, from the concerts...... right now I would choose:

Any Led Zeppelin concert

Elton John at the Dodgers' Stadium 1975

[void-botanist]

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

🎯 -What do they do best?

for some of your faves that don't get enough spotlight from the fourth android!! :Dc

!! I'm here rubbing my hands together going "yes...yes!" about people being excited about my goofy little guys. Here's some more Elbas Islanders:

✨ - How did you come up with the OC’s name? A few of the Elbas Islanders are recycled OCs that kept their names (like Milo). The rest were named with this vague desire for sort of vintage-sounding names, because of the whole "Herric is just a 19th century charismatic rich man" vibe that got refined and toned down (subverted?) as I worked on the history more, and because if Elbas existed in the real world it would have been founded in 1898. This included Rae and Madge. Their names are short for Ravenna and Margaret. I thought "Ravenna"/"Rae" was pretty and went with her status as a minor celebrity (first person sprouted on Elbas and a minor radio personality) and "Madge" just matches her whole chaotic energy. Also, I feel like I have to also mention Amadjes because I said "Amadeus is a good name" but it's not pronounced "amodjus" like my brain wants it to be. So I just made a new name that was pronounced that way.

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC? I like how Rae just sort of becomes something new every time I consider her. She's always been a musician, with the perfect soft voice for welcoming you to a jazz radio show, but with today's advent of an actual Elbas sitcom AU she also become a bit grizzled sailor (no she did not lose her leg in a sea monster accident but I think she does say that). Madge, on the other hand, has this immaculate younger sister energy for no reason and it's delightful. She's unstoppable. She prefers to wear a pink virgin killer sweater on the reg. You get it. As for Amadjes, I forget this, but he's an actual linguist, working on his own research into the modern divisions between Confluence sign language and Elbas Island sign language, which is pretty cool.

🎯 - What do they do best? Rae: drums. She had to make some modifications after losing her leg but they were her first musical love and she will never give them up. Madge: bedside manner. She is actually a trained doctor and she pretty much just makes house calls. Amadjes: baking. They are known as the best baker on the island, especially when it comes to cakes, despite the sheer volume of cookies that Milo makes.

[allthebestcowgirls]

oh my godddd i know this is normal for like everyone but i have no idea where i'm going with my life or literally any career options. i wanna change my major but literally god... i just wish i knew what i wanted to do or had literally any ambition :/

[researchwithaciir]

langblr (re)introduction

¡Hola! Since I started a new language journey, I decided to change my image and do a reintroduction!

Relevant info about me:

Aciir is the name I go by on the internet

(Mexican) Spanish is my native language

I’m in my last semester of my degree (pedagogy)

Main: @ardenenearde

“esperando las tortillas” [waiting for the tortillas] is my queue tag. You know… because you’re in the queue… for the tortillas…

Languages:

I got certified in English level B2 at the end of highschool, but I guess now I’m C1.

I'm currently learning German because I'd like to live and work in Germany or some other country that speaks that language in the future. I'm still on level A0.

I think I’m level A2 transitioning to B1 in Brazilian Portuguese.

LSM (Mexican Sign Language) is something I really want to study but I always find excuses.

I’m interested in minority languages and I also think conlangs are very cool :))

Interests and hobbies:

LINGUISTICS!!! This is something I’ve always loved but never realized until I was in college. And don’t get me wrong, I love my degree and don’t plan to change it, but when I finish, studying linguistics or smth related is definitely a possibility! (ipaaciir comes from IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) and my internet name)

History and anthropology. This is a passion I developed during my first year of college and it’s a class I would love to teach.

I also enjoy embroidery and sewing.

Podcasts. I haven't listened to many episodes this past year but I hope I can this year. Some of my favorites are Lingthusiasm, Field Notes, Linguistics Everyday, Life on Side B, Hablemos Arte, and The Cult of Pedagogy.

Arts and design. I actually wanted to study graphic design before I realized I like education way more.

Job:

I currently work as an online private English teacher. It has helped me a lot to improve my skills and get better at teaching languages.

I want to study a diploma course in the teaching of Spanish as a second language. This is because I want to work as a Spanish teacher here in my country or abroad.

Slowly preparing for an actual job. My goal is to get one in my field by the end of the year.

Some blogs I follow:

@theloveoflanguage

@langsandlit

@etymology-findings

@stepstofluency

@ravenlesslangblr

@aro-langblr

@thatswhywelovegermany

@languageslibrary

@fremder-freund

@lalala-languages

If you know more german (active) blogs I'd love to hear of them (I'm begging)

[middle-earth-mythopoeia]

In the absolute nicest way possible: how many languages do you speak? I know English, of course, and I have passable Spanish, and I’m simultaneously working on my Italian and French but I don’t even know enough to get by in either of those. And you’ve mentioned quite a few languages that you speak, or at least, that you’ve studied, and as someone who knows the struggles of trying to be multilingual, the amount you know is amazing and very, VERY impressive!

I also happen to love linguistics and language theory in general and I’d love to hear anything you might have to ramble about and discuss when it comes to linguistics in any languages, because it really is such a fascinating area of study.

Speaking of Tolkien linguistics specifically: I’m not someone who has actually really STUDIED a language. I grew up around Spanish speakers and did it for all four years of high school, but I never studied any of it from a scholarly perspective. It was always just learning about how to speak it, how to write it. What sort of linguistic quirks does Tolkien have when it comes to creating his languages? Do you see specific or obvious influences from real life in any of his languages? What are some of your favorite things about his languages, and the EVOLUTION of his languages?

Basically, please talk Tolkien linguistics at me!!

Hi, thank you so much for this ask! :)

Oh no, I don't really speak that many languages fluently! To start with, Latin I certainly don't speak, even though I took it the longest, but it's not a spoken language of course. (Plus when I was studying it in the later years and we were reading the Aeneid and stuff, you have like a page of vocabulary notes next to each page of Latin text to help you with the translations.)

I became reasonably conversational in Japanese after taking it for three years, but I'm definitely not fluent, and my skills are a bit rusty now. And I only took one year each of Russian and German, so that's not much. But I love learning languages and I would really like to polish up my Japanese, and revisit the other languages I've studied, plus study other ones :) I took at least one language each year of college, sometimes two at once, and I really miss it.

Yes yes yesssssssss let's talk about Tolkien languages. So, the obvious inspirations are clearly Finnish > Quenya and Welsh > Sindarin. But it's not a case of simple borrowing. Tolkien was too creative for that. Most people would struggle to create even one invented language. Tolkien, as you know, created multiple languages AND histories of how they all related to each other! I LOVE HIM! THIS MAN WAS INSANE! Exhibit A:

WHO DOES THIS? Also, he had beautiful handwriting.

Anyway. I don't even know where to START I have so many thoughts about Tolkien's languages. This will be very haphazard.

Okay, here's one that I think about a lot. Aegnor's name in Quenya was Aikanáro, which means "fell fire". The aika part means "fell, dire, terrible." Which is descended from an Eldarin root word gaya, "awe, dread". That same root word is the origin of part of the Sindarin word Belegaer. Beleg means great, and aer means sea. But aer is derived from that same word gaya, "awe, dread".

I just find this really cool because this is how etymology works in the real world! It's not a simple case of an ancient word for the sea turning into a modern word for the sea. It's a case of a word that means one thing being applied to another thing until it comes to mean something completely different than before. And I love that! And I especially love that you can trace root words from Eldarin into both Sindarin and Quenya!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE CREATED AN ACTUAL, FUNCTIONAL LANGUAGE TREE. I'M SCREAMING

Like, if you know enough words in Quenya, it's not hard to translate them into Sindarin, and vice versa, because they're actually, functionally related. IT'S GENIUS. IT'S AMAZING.

Not ONLY can you trace Eldarin root words into both Sindarin and Quenya, I also think it's so cool that Tolkien came up with multiple etymologies for things sometimes (party because he kept changing his mind!). For instance, he came up with both an Elvish etymology and a Valarin etymology for Taniquetil. In Quenya, it means "high snow peak". But another theory (yes... Tolkien came up with a theory for a word he created) is that it is simply the Elvish pronunciation of the Valarin word Dâhan-igwiš-telgûn. He came up with multiple (and conflicting) etymologies for the name Felagund too, among other things.

It will NEVER cease to amaze me that Tolkien not only made up etymologies for his invented words, he also sometimes went back and forth on which etymology was "right"! I remember reading a note in one of the volumes of the History of Middle-earth that said something along the lines of, "One of these etymologies for Balrog is correct, but I don't know which one." YOU MADE UP THE LANGUAGES, TOLKIEN! But I honestly love that he thought of himself more as a recorder of what was already there than the person making the decisions.

For example, there's that video of Tolkien writing in tengwar where he says, "My writing is very inferior to the Elves..." !!!!!!!!!! TOLKIEN, SIR. YOU INVENTED THIS ALPHABET. I love it so much. You have to watch it if you haven't seen it already! It's wonderful:

The way he talks about languages here is so quintessentially Tolkien... the delight connected with discovering a new language like a "new wine or some new sweetmeat or something". It reminds me of what he had to say about "cellar door"—and I'm sure this is not new to you, but for those who don't know, it was a phrase that he considered to have a beautiful sound independent from its meaning. He said in one of his lectures,

"Most English-speaking people...will admit that cellar door is 'beautiful', especially if dissociated from its sense (and from its spelling). More beautiful than, say, sky, and far more beautiful than beautiful. Well then, in Welsh for me cellar doors are extraordinarily frequent, and moving to the higher dimension, the words in which there is pleasure in the contemplation of the association of form and sense are abundant."

Hence, the influence of Welsh on Sindarin. In creating his Elvish languages, Tolkien wanted to create beautiful languages, but not in the sense that they would be frivolous or flowery, he wanted them to be beautiful in the sense that they would be very pleasing to the ear, like "cellar door". Well, I'm extremely biased, but I think he succeeded. He DEFINITELY succeeded.

Oh, and back to the inspiration for Tolkien's languages for a second, there's been more discussion of the phonetic/grammatical influence on his languages but less discussion on what influenced his alphabets. I want to know how he came up with tengwar! And sarati! I would think that Japanese and Chinese would have had some influence, not on the sound or grammar of the languages themselves, but on the script. Tolkien sometimes wrote the sarati (the alphabet that preceded tengwar) vertically, like Chinese and Japanese, and his visual art drew some inspiration from Chinese and Japanese paintings, so I wonder if there is a connection there. Some people have also noticed similarities between Chinese characters and Tolkien's symbol that represents his initials:

One thing that I find really amazing about Tolkien's languages is that they were so fully formed and so interconnected that there are some cases where there are probably connections that he just didn't spell out, leaving Tolkien scholars and linguists to come up with their own theories. For example the potential relation between Valarin and the language of Mordor! Basically, the Ring of Doom in Valinor was called the Máhanaxar, the first part of which is derived from Máhan, "chief Vala", a loan word from Valarin māchanāz. Máhanaxar is the Quenya pronunciation of the Valarin word Māchananaškad. Here's what's so cool... David Salo, a Tolkien linguist who worked on the LOTR movies, theorized that the second part of this word may mean "ring"—it is the name for the Ring of Doom, after all—meaning that the Valarin word naškad could be the root of nazg, as in Ash nazg durbatuluk and Nazgûl. It would make so much sense for the language of Mordor, which was created by Sauron, to have similarities to Valarin.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's very late so this post has no rhyme or reason, but when asked to talk about Tolkien's languages I will HAPPILY do so! :) Thank you for the ask!!!!!