#which is that a language is a dialect with an army

[adaginy]

The Big Guide to Humans: Language

Most humans use their lungs, mouths, and larynx (a small organ between them colloquially called the "voice box") to produce audible language. There are also "signed" languages, in which the positions and motions of fingers, hands, and arms are used in place of audible language, primarily for communication with those lacking a sense of hearing or ability to use their mouths or larynx, but also in places where silence is required. There are also languages of whistling, a high-pitched noise made with the lips (the mobile edges of their mouths). Terra has thousands of languages, many of them incredibly complex and precise. Despite this, humans rarely use translation docks with each other, preferring to find a language they have in common. Most humans can use at least two Terran languages. They are likely to speak (or sign or whistle) a native language and are expected to speak or sign one or more Terran-Common languages (see human history for how Terran-Common languages spread). They may also be able to use languages of other regions as needed for trade, diplomacy, or curiosity. Human languages additionally have features called "accents" and "dialects." What makes something an accent, a dialect, or a separate language is ostensibly a spectrum of how different they are... but in practice some accents are not mutually intelligible* with each other while some languages are, and what is a "dialect" as opposed to one or the other may be political rather than practical: We asked human language-experts about this and the answer given by several of them** was "A language is a dialect with an army and a navy" (two types of human military). As a matter of practicality, translation docks allow for translation into and out of most dialects if the dialect (or accent) is, functionally, a separate language. This sometimes caused problems in comparatively early human space-history for those political reasons, but Terran politics has become more cooperative over time. Most human languages, particularly spoken ones, also have a written form. There are far fewer writing styles than languages. For example, many languages, including multiple Terran-Common languages, use what is known as the "Roman alphabet," named for a distantly historical military (see human history, again). In an alphabet, sounds are represented by marks or combinations of marks, and by knowing the sounds one knows what the line of marks would read if spoken. There are also syllabaries, in which the marks represent sets of sounds, and logographic systems, in which complex marks represent ideas. Some languages use combinations thereof. While humans generally cannot write as fast as they speak, many can read far faster than a human can speak, allowing for the rapid absorption of information.

Most humans are innately "good at" language, even if they do not believe they are. (This is especially true with human children.) If your language is adequately perceptible to humans, expect that over time they will learn at least a little bit of it. If your language is audible to them (or signed in a way that can be approximated), expect that they will find a way to produce it and use your own language to speak with you. They feel this is polite and friendly, although they understand that most non-Terrans are unlikely to learn and use their languages in return. * Many human languages share a "root" language, and the languages have spread and separated in ways akin to evolution. Similarly to how closely-related species can sometimes hybridize, a speaker of one language may be able to understand, with some difficulty, a speaker of a closely-related language. **see human hive mind debate

[petermorwood]

How on earth did these goats get there?

*****

In reality the goats are lying on their sides on rocky ground, looking up at a crane-mounted camera. The photograph was taken some years ago, part of a series reconstructing Central European folk customs and traditions which have fallen from favour or are now prohibited.

This old-fashioned rural blood-sport was originally practiced in parts of Anatolia, Turkey, where the game was called keçi fırlatmak, and also in the Carpathian Alps of Romania, possibly imported during the Ottoman conquest. The name there was aruncarea caprei.

*****

The goats would have been coated in a strong adhesive traditionally distilled from pine resin.(represented pictorially here by darker patches of dye on the flanks) and were then thrown upwards towards a cliff or rock-face with makeshift catapults, often a primitive form of counterweight trebuchet assembled from wooden beams and weighted with rocks.

The game ended when the glue dried and lost adhesion, and the goats fell to their deaths. They were then cooked and eaten, their meat being valued like that of Spanish fighting bulls.

The meat of the last goat to fall (başarılı keçi or cea mai durabilă capră) was prized as a special delicacy and selected cuts from the legs of this particular “winner” goat were often smoked and dried into a kind of jerky.

*****

In his “Grandes Histoires Vraies d'un Voyageur le 1er Avril” (pub. Mensonges & Faussetés, Paris, 1871) French folk-historian, anthropologist and retired cavalry general Gilles-Etienne Gérârd wrote about witnessing a festival near Sighișoara, Transylvania, in 1868.

There he claims to have seen catapults improvised from jeunes arbres, très élastiques et souples - “very springy and flexible young trees” - which were drawn back with ropes and then released.

Bets were placed before the throw, and marks given afterwards, according to what way up the goats adhered and for how long. The reconstruction, with both goats upright, facing outward and still in place, shows what would have been a potential high score.

The practice has been officially banned in both countries since the late 1940s, but supposedly still occurred in more isolated areas up to the end of the 20th century. Wooden beams from which the catapults were constructed could easily be disguised as barn-rafters etc., and of course flexible trees were, and are, just trees.

*****

Gérârd’s book incorrectly calls the goat jerky “pastrami”, to which he gives the meaning "meat of preservation".

While pastrami may be a printing error for the Turkish word bastırma or the Romanian pastramă, both meaning “preserved meat”, at least one reviewer claims that Gérârd misunderstood his guide-translator, who would have been working from rural dialect to formal Romanian to scholarly French.

Since this jerky was considered a good-luck food for shepherds, mountaineers, steeplejacks and others whose work involved a risk of falling, Gérârd's assumption seems a reasonable one.

However, several critical comments on that review have dismissed its conclusion, claiming "no translator could be so clumsy", but in its defence, other comments point out confusion between slang usage in the same language.

One cites American and British English, noting that even before differences in spelling (tire / tyre, kerb / curb etc.) "guns" can mean biceps or firearms, "flat" can mean a deflated wheel or a place to live, "ass" can mean buttocks or donkey and adds, with undisguised relish, some of the more embarrassing examples.

This comment concludes that since the errors "usually make sense in context", Gérârd's misapprehension is entitled to the same respect.

*****

The good-luck aspect of the meat apparently extended to work which involved "falling safely", since its last known use was believed to be in ration packs issued to the 1. Hava İndirme Tugayı (1st Airborne Brigade) of the Turkish Army, immediately before the invasion of Cyprus in July 1974.

Nothing more recent has been officially recorded, because the presence of cameras near military bases or possible - and of course illegal - contests is strongly (sometimes forcefully) discouraged, and the sport’s very existence is increasingly dismissed as an urban or more correctly rural legend.

The official line taken by both Anatolian and Carpathian authorities is that it was only ever a joke played on tourists, similar to the Australian “Drop-bear”, the Scottish “Wild Haggis” and the North American “Jackalope”.

They dismiss the evidence of Gérârd’s personal observation as “a wild fable to encourage sales of his book”, “a city-dweller’s misinterpretation of country practices”, or even “the deliberate deception of a gullible foreigner by humorous peasants”.

And as for those paratroop ration packs, Turkish involvement in Cyprus is still such a delicate subject that the standard response remains “no comment”.

[lesbiansandgayssupporttheminers]

So, why do people care so much about Cornish identity? Cornwall’s just a part of England right? Another county with some distinct foods and a funny accent, and they moan about the tourists- when they should be grateful for the money.

Except it’s not.

Whilst the rest of England was forming with a character influenced by Germanic and Norse cultures, Cornwall was holding itself separate as an independent Celtic kingdom, with strong links with Wales, Ireland and Brittany- as well as trading with the wider Mediterranean. For a long time, this kingdom included parts of Devon, but eventually the Celtic people were forced back past the Tamar, and at some point started referring to the land as Kernow, rather than Dumnonia (probably).

Even after the Norman conquest, in part because Cornwall came under the control of the Duke of Brittany, Cornwall retained elements of its unique culture, and certainly its language. There are existing works of literature written in the Cornish language (also called Kernewek) during the medieval period. Due to the active tin mining industry and the Stannary courts, they even had a separate legal system.

All of this continued until the start of the Tudor period, when Henry VII, desperate for money for his wars with Scotland, suspended the operation of the Cornish Stannaries, and imposed greater taxes. This ultimately led to the Cornish Rebellion of 1497. An army of as many as 15000 rebels marched towards Somerset, and ultimately to London, where the rebels met with Henry VII’s armies. Unfortunately, the Cornish lost the ensuing battle, and the rebel leaders were captured, killed and quartered, with their quarters being displayed in Cornwall and Devon. From 1497 to 1508, Cornwall was punished with monetary penalties, impoverishing the people, and land was given to the king’s (English) allies.

However, this wasn’t the death of Cornish culture or dreams of independence from England. Until 1548, Glasney college was still producing literature in Cornish- when it was destroyed in the dissolution of the monasteries, during the English reformation. The following year, 1549, the Cornish rose again- this time to demand a prayer book in their own language, which was still the first (and often only) language of most people in the region. The rebellion was also about the ordinary people vs the landowners, as shown by their slogan “kill all the gentlemen”.

Unfortunately, this rebellion failed too, and this time, it wasn’t just the leaders who were killed, but up to 5,500 Cornishmen- which would have been a significant proportion of the adult male population at the time. These factors combined are widely thought to have contributed to the decline of the Cornish language- although it was still widely in use centuries later.

Despite the failings of these rebellions, the Cornish retained a distinct language and their own culture, folklore and festivals. Mining, farming and fishing meant that the region itself wasn’t economically impoverished, as it was today. Even towards the end of the 1700s, there were still people who spoke Cornish fluently as a first language (including Dolly Pentreath, who definitely wasn’t the last Cornish speaker).

However, over time, the tin mines became less profitable, and Cornwall’s economy started to suffer. Especially in the latter part of the 19th century, many Cornish began to emigrate, especially to places like Australia, New Zealand (or Aotearoa), Canada and South America. Cornish miners were skilled, and were able to send pay back home, and along with the Welsh, influenced culture and sport in many of these places. Many mining terms also have their roots in Cornish language and dialect.

Throughout the 20th Century, Cornwall went through an economic decline- to the point where, when the UK was an EU member, Cornwall was receiving funding intended for only the most deprived regions in Europe. It was one of very few places in the UK to receive this funding- due to the levels of poverty and lack of infrastructure.

Part of the decline was also linked to the decline of historic fish stocks, such as mackerel. In the 70s and 80s, there was a mackerel boom- and large fishing trawlers came from as far away as Scandinavia (as well as Scotland and the north of England) to fish in Cornish waters. The traditional way of fishing in Cornwall used small boats and line fishing. The local fishermen couldn’t compete, and ultimately stocks were decimated by the trawlers. Many more families had to give up their traditional way of life. One could draw parallels here with worldwide indigenous struggles over fishing rights.

Despite this, Cornish communities retained their traditional folklore and festivals, many of which are still celebrated to this day. And throughout the 20th Century, efforts were made to preserve the Cornish language. Although there may not be any first language Cornish speakers left, it is now believed that community knowledge of the language was never truly lost.

Cornwall has since become a popular tourist destination. This brings its own problems- many people want to stay in self-catering accommodation and, more recently, air bnbs. This, alongside second homes, has gutted many Cornish communities. The gap between house prices and average wages is one of the largest in the country. Land has become extremely expensive, which hurts already struggling farmers. Roads can’t cope with the level of traffic. The one (1) major hospital can’t cope with the population in the summer. All of last winter, most Cornish households faced a “hosepipe ban” due to lack of water- yet in the summer, campsites and hotels can fill their swimming pools and hot tubs for the benefit of tourists.

Does this benefit Cornwall? Only about 13% of Cornwall’s GDP comes from tourism. The jobs associated with tourism are often poorly paid and may only offer employment for part of the year. People who stay in Air BnBs may not spend that much money in the community, and the money they pay for accommodation often goes to landlords who live upcountry and aren’t Cornish. Many major hotels and caravan sites are also owned by companies that aren’t Cornish, taking money out of the local economy.

Match this with a housing crisis where it’s increasingly difficult to rent properties long term, and buying a flat or house in Cornwall is out of reach of someone on the average salary and it’s easy to see why people are having to leave communities where their family lived for generations. This damages the local culture, and means centuries-old traditions can come under threat.

All of this feeds into the current situation; it feels like middle class families from London see Cornwall as their playground, and moan about tractors on the road, or the lack of services when they visit. People talk about theme park Cornwall- a place that’s built for entertainment of outsiders, not functionality for those who live here. More widely, a lot of people around the UK have never heard of the Cornish language, or view it as something that’s “extinct” or not worth preserving.

The Cornish are one of Britain’s indigenous cultures, alongside Welsh, Gaelic, Scots, Manx and others. And it’s a culture that’s increasingly under threat economically and culturally. We’ve been clinging on to our homes for a long time, and even now it still feels like we might be forced from them (indeed some of us are). So yes, Cornish people can seem excessively defensive about our identity and our culture- but there’s good reason for it!

[didalexiabreakupwitholgayet]

Hey! big fan of your blog and knowledge :)

I was hesitant to ask this question on twitter cuz ppl there are easily offended and I am of different culture and genuinely curious to know a non-biased opinion without offending anyone.

why catalan is considered a language not a dialect since it is very similar to spanish?

I have a friend who lived in girona since childhood and she told me that, based on her knowledge of the country I was born in, that the difference between catalan and spanish is much less than the difference between some of the so many dialects we have in my country and we never considered any of them a language per say, just different dialects based on where you live. Some of them are even grammatically different and it is practically impossible to understand unless you were exposed to it in movies, tv shows, etc..

I asked this question to a spanish coworker once and his answer seemed a bit biased tbh, there is also badosa’s answer from that interview who claimed catalan not being a language as itself but I have noticed the controversy it created and did not understand why.

TIA and apologize in advance as well if I unintentionally said something rude or inappropriate up there.

haha, thanks anon! but don't ask this question of aitana or her parents! 😂 catalan is its own language and catalunya could be its own country! (as for paula badosa, quina vergonya!)

so i am not a linguist but you have asked a question that people who have been studying languages have debated forever. there's a common phrase that “a language is a dialect with an army and a navy,” which shows how politicized it can be.

but catalan is considered to be an independent language, not a dialect of spanish. it's similar to spanish because catalan is also a romance language, meaning they all share the same roots, just like portuguese and italian too!

let me ask you: spanish is very similar to italian and portuguese, so to you would italian and portuguese be dialects of spanish?! if i go to italy, i can basically get around even though i don't speak italian because there are lots of similarities between italian and spanish. however, i would not consider italian to be a dialect; rather it comes from the same ancestor language.

i view dialects in this way. if you are saying something, and i can understand you speaking the language without any problems, then it's a dialect (like mallorquin is a dialect of catalan). but if not, then it's a separate language. for example, if i go to sevilla and start speaking in catalan, then i don't automatically expect locals to understand what i am saying, even though they speak spanish there.

and beyond spanish, there are some similarities between catalan and france (another romance language!), but i definitely wouldn't consider catalan a dialect of french.

example: how to say the word "please"

catalan: si us plau

french: si vous plait

spanish: por favor

example: verb "to eat"

catalan: menjar

french: manger

spanish: comer

we can say the word gràcies for thank you in catalan, but we often say mercès/merci too.

so yeah, based on the various influences on catalan, i would not consider it a dialect of spanish. rather, it's a cousin of spanish, just like italian and portuguese because we all share the same roots.

hope this helps!

[bookishblogging]

THE ILIAD: FOR DUMMIES ☀️ MASTERPOST

just kidding you're not a dummy, you're some hot stuff right there! i will be going through the entire iliad and giving you a general overview, some interesting plot points, additional context, and some other analysis tools to better help you understand the epic!

This post will serve as a table of contents (at the end) to my Iliad posts and a general overview that I will be constantly updating! I am using the Richmond Lattimore translation of the Iliad, alongside my companion book by Malcom M. Wilcock

Before we get into analyzing the actual Iliad, we need to get into some essential questions and context about the book

WHAT IS THE ILIAD:

The Iliad was written by Homer (this is actually debated but we can get into that later) around 750 and 550 B.C.E.

At its core, the story is about heros and humans. It's an Iron Age poem about an event, the Trojan War, that was supposed to have taken place in the Bronze age. The Iliad is considered to be a poem comprised of multiple books, 24 to be exact

This story is only a few days of the tenth and final year of the Greek siege against the city of Troy- this means it relies on the audience already knowing most of the basic details about the Trojan war and the gods themselves (don't sorry, I will provide this for you as we go along)

WHO IS HOMER:

The age old question: who the fuck is Homer?

Literally nothing is known about this dude except that he wrote (or was credited with writing) the Odyssey and the Iliad

People have referenced his writings for EONS. Archilochus, Alcman, Tyrtaeus, Callinus, and even Sappho have referenced the poems of Homer in their own works. These also were popular in fine art in the late 7th century B.C.E.

There is a general consensus that Homer was from Ionia- a territory in western Anatolia or modern day Turkey that was populated by Greeks who spoke the Ionian dialect, aka the birthplace of Greek philosophy. Want more info on Ionia? Click Here!

His descendants were called the Homerids/Homeridae

There is scholarly debate on if he even wrote both the Iliad and the Odyssey, or if he only wrote one, etc etc etc. This is due to some very specific differences in the structure of the words used (like the use of short vowels, and the seemingly unimportant semivowel of the digamma being missing from the epics...yeah it's a lot)

The poems were reproduced ORALLY. This means that the poems were passed down by word of mouth, which if I were to sit and listen to this entire book via a guy singing at me...idk man I think I would leave

All of this to say, we really don't know who Homer is. There's a lot more information about what he could have looked like, if he really did write the Iliad, and a million other things, but I've already talked your ear off and we haven't even gotten into the book yet. If you want more information about Homer, check out my sources at the end of the post!

WAS THE CITY OF TROY REAL:

Yeah. There were nine layers exposed at the site of where Troy was expected to be, and nearly fifty sublayers at the mound of Hisarlik

Troy was a vassal state: meaning it had an obligation to a superior state, which happened to be the Hittite Empire

Troy had a lot more allies than original fighters in the city, meaning they had many language barriers- making the army harder to control than the unified Greek enemy.

THE STYLE OF THE ILIAD:

Cause - Effect - Solution

The poem is concluded with a mirror image of its beginning: an old man ventures to the camp of his enemy in order to ransom his child

The poem foreshadows the death of Achilles in MULTIPLE passages! He knows he is destined to die young if he fights at Troy, and the demise of his lover (don't fight me on this) Patroclus gives us an even more extended foreshadowing of the grief that is to come

When Achilles dies, Thetis (his mom) takes his body from the pyre and takes him to a place called the White Island. It's not clear whether he is immortalized BUT the reference to Achilles funeral in the Odyssey states that Achilles is cremated and his bones are placed in a golden urn along those of Patroclus, and the urn is entombed under a prominent mound (tsoa fans...you're welcome)

This isn't really necessary knowledge but moreso something I think is cool: the backstory from the Iliad of an abducted bride also appears in the Sanskirt epic Ramayana (circa 4th century B.C.E.)

okay now here is the ACTUAL important stuff

Humanity is the center of the universe in the Iliad. Humans motivations and concerns generate action in the poem, while the gods are often reduced to the role of enablers or spectators

The style of the poem collaborates with the vision that the speciousness of this epic means that every thought and gesture, spear cast and threat, intimate conversation and lament CAN be recorded. It gives a consciousness behind the demands of the iliad that these interactions MUST be recorded, this attention to detail is another way of showing centrality and the worth of the human experience (Greek OR Trojan)

The Iliad is ultimately a poem about death, the chief elements that distinguish the mortals from gods are: Death shadows every action, and death is neither abhorred nor celebrated. Instead it crystalizes by means of this one theme, death in battle, the essence of what it means to be human (Life is a struggle each person will always lose, the question is how one acts with that knowledge)

Modern readers and analysis blogs will state that one's inner spirit is somehow the "real" self, however the Iliad assumes the opposite: The psykhai (soul, spirits) of dying heroes fly off to Hades while their autous ("selves") are left behind in the form of dead bodies

Glory is INCREDIBLY important in the iliad, why? If mortals could live forever (like gods) then glory would be useless. It's a commodity to be exchanged, and because of this it has an economic and symbolic reality

Companionship is incredibly important

Pity is also very important, it's the concluding note of the poem. Even the gods feel pity

THE GODS AND THE ILIAD:

The Iliad gains depth by the divine dimension shedding glory on the humans at Troy. The gods are so intensely concerned with warriors and their fates which elevates the mortals to a special plane

Mortals are only separated from gods because they grow old and die

The symbiotic bond of gods and mortals is always see-sawing between adoration and antagonism

Humans who get too close to the gods risk being struck down, case in point, Achilles. He's young, well-made, he's a warrior but also a singer/musician (the only hero to be seen doing such a thing), he looks and acts like Apollo. THEREFORE...it's no coincidence that Apollo is ultimately the god who slays Achilles, just as he did Patroclus

Poetry supplemented or even guided ancient Greek religious interpretation much more than the activity of priests due to the lack of any official religious text. This gave ancient Hellenism a very fluid nature

This was a long post, and it's only the first of many! I will continuously update this with more sources about the Iliad and answer any FAQs that come up! I love classic literature, and as a STEM student I need to entertain my passion somehow lol. There is a table of contents at the top of the post, as well as right here. This will be updated for each book of the Iliad I write about, as well as any supplemental posts I make about certain topics and themes as I go along. I am putting a LOT of work into this series of posts, so let me know your thoughts or anything you'd like me to change/add/etc! Happy reading!

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

(This is empty because this is the only post...more posts coming soon)

Sources/Citations/Additional Material

Homer- Britannica

Homerids- Britannica

Who Is Homer- The British Museum (fuck the British Museum)

Ionia Information- World Encyclopedia

The Hittites- Britannica

Ramayana Overview- British Library

Overview of Greek Mythology- Theoi

The Iliad- Overview via Britannica

Thetis- World Encyclopedia

[ilmaveivi]

The Etymology of Finnish NHL Players a.k.a What Do Their Names Mean?

METROPOLITAN DIVISION 2023-2024

CAROLINA HURRICANES

SEBASTIAN AHO

SEBASTIAN /ˈse.bɑs.ti.ɑn/

Derived from the Latin name Sebastianus, meaning ”from Sebaste”.

AHO /ˈɑ.ho/

A topographic Finnish surname, meaning ”uncultivated glade”.

JESPERI KOTKANIEMI

JESPERI /ˈjes.pe.ri/

Possibly derived from the Persian word ganzabara, meaning ”bringer of treasure”. Another possible origin is the gemstone jasper derived from a Semitic word meaning ”speckled stone”.

KOTKANIEMI /ˈkot.kɑ.nie̯.mi/

A topographic Finnish surname meaning ”eagle cape”.

TEUVO TERÄVÄINEN

TEUVO /ˈteu̯.ʋo/

Derived from the Greek name Theodoros, meaning ”gift of God”.

TERÄVÄINEN /ˈte.ræ.ʋæi̯.nen/

Derived from the Finnish word terävä, meaning ”sharp”.

ANTTI RAANTA

ANTTI /ˈɑnt.ti/

Derived from the Greek name Andreas, meaning ”masculine”.

RAANTA /ˈrɑːn.tɑ/

Possibly derived from the Finnish word ranta, meaning ”shore”.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

PATRIK LAINE

PATRIK /ˈpɑt.rik/

Derived from the Latin name Patricius, meaning ”nobleman”.

LAINE /ˈlɑi̯.ne/

A Finnish word meaning ”wave”.

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

ERIK HAULA

ERIK /ˈeː.rik/

Derived from the Old Norse name Eiríkr, meaning “ever ruler”.

HAULA /ˈhɑu̯.lɑ/

Likely derived from the old Finnish word haulakala, meaning ”herring”.

SANTERI HATAKKA

SANTERI /ˈsɑn.te.ri/

Derived from the Greek name Alexandros, meaning ”defending men”.

HATAKKA /ˈhɑ.tɑk.kɑ/

A Karelian surname derived from a dialectical word roughly meaning ”swift movement”. An Ingrian word meaning ”quick, small cloud”.

NEW YORK RANGERS

KAAPO KAKKO

KAAPO /ˈkɑː.po/

Derived from the Hebrew name Gavri’el, meaning "God is my strong man”.

KAKKO /ˈkɑk.ko/

A Karelian surname possibly derived from a given name meaning ”bird”. A dialectal name for bread baked from barley and wheat in Western Finland.

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

RASMUS RISTOLAINEN

RASMUS /ˈrɑs.mus/

Derived from the Greek word erasmios, meaning ”beloved”.

RISTOLAINEN /ˈris.to.lɑi̯.nen/

Based on a Finnish given name derived from the Late Greek name Christophoros, meaning ”bearing Christ”.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

JOONA KOPPANEN

JOONA  /ˈjoː.nɑ/

Derived from the Hebrew name Yonah, meaning “dove”.

KOPPANEN /ˈkop.pɑ.nen/

Possibly based on a Karelian given name derived from the Greek name Prokopios, meaning ”progress”. Another possible origin is the Finnish word koppa, meaning ”basket”.

VALTTERI PUUSTINEN

VALTTERI /ˈʋɑlt.te.ri/

Derived from the Germanic name Waltheri, meaning ”power of the army”.

PUUSTINEN /ˈpuːs.ti.nen/

Possibly derived from a Proto-Slavic word meaning ”desolate”.

NOTES:

During the 12th century, the tradition of Finnish given names was lost due to the Christianization of Finland under the Swedish rule. By the 16th century only Christian names were accepted, which is why Finnish forms of Christian names are still widely popular in Finland despite the society being fairly secular. The tradition of native Finnish given names wasn’t revived until the 19th century. 

Most Finnish surnames end in suffixes -nen or -la/-lä. The collective suffix -nen, which is more common in Eastern Finnish surnames, indicates belonging to a certain family or clan. The suffix -la/-lä, which is more common in Western Finnish surnames, creates oikonyms from the names of places, farms or small villages.

Karelia and Karelian can be used to refer to a geographical place, language, dialect or people. It is important to note that Karelian is its own language separate from Finnish. However, the Finnish language also has a Karelian dialect that is spoken in Finnish Karelia. Finnish surnames originating from Karelia have likely been influenced by both Karelian and Finnish.

The IPA forms follow Finnish phonology even with foreign (Swedish, Russian etc.) names in approximation to how an average Finn pronounces them.

The source for most of the given names is Behind The Name. The topographic surnames are direct translations. The explanations for the rest of the surnames are either from Finnish Wiktionary or based on speculation by Finnish genealogy enthusiasts, hence the overuse of the word "possibly".

Feedback is welcome. If you have additions or notice any mistakes, please let me know!

[minggukieology]

one last remark about this cute moment:

if you have noticed some k-armys going crazy over this it's because as Jimin was closing the live and signing off, he read one last comment which was in heavy Busan satoori (dialect) and also replied in satoori back:

ARMY: love it really so much~ (euksuro joahadei~)

JM: me too~ (nedoye~)

the english translation doesn't really reflect the type of language that was used, which is a bummer... so i just wanted to add more context and why it sounds more interesting in korean (also more domestic and casual)

[ballisticiansfolly]

I've noticed this about you – Trying to pick up and understand things referenced in The English, pt. 1/2

So, I just watched Amazon's new miniseries The English at the beginning of this year, and while enjoying the it immensely I couldn't help but to notice that, besides historical facts and details, there were undercurrents in it that I just wasn't getting. I decided to do some research and came across pretty interesting things. Lots of thought has went into the making of this series. I've divided my findings in two parts. This first part is about general stuff.

Eli's a member of the Skiri/Skidi-Federation, one of the four bands (or groups) of the Pawnee people. Also known as the Wolf Pawnee or Loups, the Skiri used to live along the Loup and Platte river areas in Nebraska. The Skiri use a different dialect of Pawnee than the three southern bands (South band and Skiri differ mainly in pronunciation and vocabulary), but Pawnee speakers don't have trouble understanding each other. Eli's Pawnee name Ckirirahpiks is pronounced [tskirira:hpiks]. Ckirir means 'wolf' and rahpiks 'scarred.'

Recruitment of Indian scouts was first authorized in 1866 by an act of Congress. Between 1864 and 1877, 170 Pawnee men served in the "Pawnee Battalion" under Frank North (1840–1885) who had learned the Pawnee language after moving to Nebraska at the age of 16. (Interestingly, in 1882 North joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West as a manager of the American Indians.) Indian Scouts were officially deactivated in 1947 when their last member retired.

I found pictures of Pawnee scouts from 1870s in this blog post. These three pictures, taken by William Henry Jackson, were particularly interesting because you can clearly see that details of their appearance have been used as an inspiration when creating Eli's looks.

When rewatching the show I noticed that Eli was wearing an Indian peace medal. According to Trooper Charlie White, Eli was known for his heroic exploits while in the army, but - given Eli's brush off - I wonder if Eli's medal had been something he had inherited. Had his father been a chief? Still, among William Jackson's pictures there were Pawnee scouts with peace medals hanging around their necks. A Pawnee scout called Co-Rux-Te-Chod-Ish was the first Native American to receive the Medal of Honor.

Raise your hand if you really thought that Richard Watts had managed to get his hands on freshwater oysters. Perhaps this was yet another case of him "spitting in the soup."

I was super confused when Simon the squeezebox player reappeared in the last episode since I had completely forgotten about him, but I loved the colours in this scene.

"I've noticed this about you. You keep saying these negative things and you end up always doing the opposite." "Hmm, well... Maybe I should start listening to myself."

So apparently even women who have never given birth can breastfeed babies. To induce lactation you need to stimulate breasts 10–15 minutes several times a day and milk will start after a month or so. Also, of course a 'breast' would be an English word Eli couldn't have picked up naturally.

Although hunting was also an integral part of the subsistence pattern, horticulture - particularly corn - occupied a preeminent position in Pawnee life. It not only provided their sustenance but also figured prominently in their religious life.

At the beginning of the 19th century the Pawnee lived earth lodges which were large, dome-shaped structures of wood covered with packed sod and earth and had a long, narrow, covered entryway. The sizes of lodges varied in diameter from 8 to 15 metres and generally contained several families. Historical sources give varying numbers of Skiri villages, ranging from 13 to 18. Each village had its own separate identity through religious functions, but by the mid-19th century the importance of village identity began to fade as the Skiri population rapidly diminished. (Murie, J. R. and Parks, D. R. (1981) Ceremonies of the Pawnee.)

As the 19th century progressed, the Pawnee bands were forced together onto a reservation on the north side of the Platte and were treated as a single tribal entity by the United States government. Missionaries and the government worked steadily at "making white men"of the Pawnee. By 1873 because of disease, crop failure, warfare, and government rations policy, the Pawnee population had decreased to approximately 2,400. In 1875 the Pawnee were persuaded to give up their reservation in Nebraska and move to new one in the Indian Territory. By the 1876 the entire tribe had removed there, where efforts to acculturate them continued. By 1890 most of the Skiri Pawnee lived on individual farms, dressed like contemporary whites, and spoke English. (Murie, & Parks, 1981)

Bundles were an integral part of Pawnee religion and served as shrines. Among the Skiri, there were two general types of bundles. Sacred bundles, cuharîpîru, were village and band bundles and naturally more important. The oldest sacred bundle was the Evening Star bundle. The other type was referred as karûsu, a bag/sack, and was any lesser bundle – that of a warrior, a doctor, or any other individual.

I was curious about the skull in Eli's bag and using skullsite.com and Royal BC Museum's bird bone identification guide I was able to identify it. Given that Pawnee villages used to be located along rivers, it not surprising that that the skull Eli treasured would belong to an osprey aka fish hawk.

Ospreys differ from most hawks by having short prefrontals.

Round and almost circular nasal (nostril).

Has perforation in sheet of bone between eyes.

Particularly curved bill.

Frontal’s width stays even. 

I always like it when a show makes me curious and inspires me to learn something new, in this case to determine cardinal directions using the sun. I used the instructions in this post to make the collage of Eli determining the compass points.

[dailyanarchistposts]

Imperialism, Capitalism, and the State

To understand the current situation, we must first demystify the political system in Iran.

Iran must be understood as a capitalist society and its state, both before and after the revolution, as a capitalist state. No amount of demagogic proclamations can change the fact that the Iranian state, while possessing many features peculiar to itself, is nonetheless a particular form of bourgeois class rule, a fact visible not only in its internal social relations, but also in the role it plays in the world system.

Through the course of the nineteenth century, Iran went through a process of integration and peripheralization into the rising capitalist world system. The Qajar dynasty (1794 to 1925) that ascended the Peacock Throne at the end of the previous century was quickly caught in the “Great Game” between the Tsarist Russian Empire and the British Empire as they both became more assertive in Asia. Military defeats resulted in the imposition of unequal treaties that not only led to a loss of territory but also included terms that established political and economic dominance. Iran was opened up to European commodities, while domestic production increasingly became geared towards the world market.[2]

Qajar Iran was a system that can be described as tribal-feudalism.[3] The state was not a centralized modern state. The Shah (king) ruled through various local nobles, landlords, tribal-chiefs, and senior clergy who formed the landed aristocracy and played the role of the respective powers in their locality. The latter ruled over a large mass of peasant villagers and nomadic tribes-people. There was no national army, only armies tied to local lords and chiefs. People were divided up according to ethnic groupings, tribal or religious sects, and spoke a variety of languages and dialects.

In the urban centers, which often served as provincial capitals, the center of economic life was — and to a large extent still is today — the bazaar, the traditional commercial center in the urban Middle East, with the merchants and artisans who inhabit it being collectively known as bazaari.[4] The bazaar was not just the center for shops and trade, it also often contained public baths, tea houses, as well as the central mosque. It is common for bazaari and clergy to have familial relations. Wealthy bazaaris fund the mosques and seminaries, religious processions, donate to charitable foundations, and form the main financial support for many religious affairs. Landholdings of the senior clergy and wealthy merchants increased over the course of the 19th century, with the clergy gaining land through religious endowments and donations by rich aristocrats and merchants. This relationship between the bazaari, as the traditional bourgeoisie, and the clergy is important for understanding the politics of modern Iran, and the 1979 revolution in particular, for it was this clerical-bazaari alliance that lay at the heart of the revolution, serving as the base of the Islamic Republic.

This process of integration into the world market, particularly in the form of European domination, contributed to the development of bourgeois national consciousness among merchants, clergy, and artisans. Struggles against foreign concessions and other forms of foreign domination became more commonplace as the merchant bourgeoisie of the bazaar became more assertive, solidifying a bourgeois form of national consciousness. This combination of a material-financial force in the merchants and the ideological force of the clergy transformed the traditional bourgeoisie into a genuine political force.

The integration and peripheralization characteristic of the nineteenth century brought with it close economic ties between Iranian and Russian merchants, but also contributed to the embryonic development of a modern working class. The reality of this process hit home in Iran when the global depression of the 1870s provoked a drop in agricultural prices. Worsening conditions in the countryside forced peasants to leave their villages in search of work. Naturally, they were drawn to the growing industrial centers of the Russian Caucasus, particularly the new oil industry, the center of which being the city of Baku.

Baku’s oil fields were a crucible for working-class radicalism. In the late nineteenth century, the city attracted hundreds of thousands of Iranian migrant workers to the growing industry where they encountered the organizing of the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party (RSDWP), itself formed in 1898. Not only Iranians, but people from all over the region traveled to work in the industry, with the result that the city boasted a significant multi-ethnic and multi-religious working class. Employers stoked hostilities often, and Iranian workers and activists in the region became involved in many of the strikes organized by the party. It was a strike wave in Baku that sparked the events that would lead to the Russian Revolution of 1905. Amidst this wave, workers gained crucial experience in party activities and strikes, and it was during the same year the Social Democratic Party of Iran (SDPI) was founded.[5]

The 1905 Revolution would directly influence bourgeois national revolutions in Asian nations such as China and Turkey, but given its proximity and its historical ties, it was felt most immediately in Iran. For Russian and Iranian Social Democrats, the revolution in Iran was directly tied to the revolution against the Tsar. Following the Tsarist reaction just north of the border, many revolutionaries turned their attention south to Iran. The revolutionary wave landing in Iran at the end of the year marked a crucial turning point, ushering in the twentieth century with the Constitutional Revolution and Civil War (1906–1911).[6] This revolution had a number of parallels with the one in Russia, and can even be seen as an extension of the latter, as it proved to be a similarly bourgeois national-democratic revolution with a strong social democratic element. Although it would not succeed in fundamentally altering the state or economic relations, it was nonetheless of great cultural-political significance, and every political tendency that will go on to shape the landscape of 20th century Iran draw their roots there. It also prolonged the bazaari-clergy alliance that had developed in the protests against foreign concessions, but did so while introducing a revolutionary element into the nascent working class and social democratic movement. Along with the struggle for a national assembly, or Majlis, we also witness the appearance and growth of the anjumans, or provincial councils that — as with the soviets — became sources of popular power that pushed the revolution further. In 1909, the first modern industry-wide trade union was established in Tehran among print shops and newspaper workers. 1910 saw the first industry-wide strike, which included all the major newspapers in Tehran. Their demands included, among other things, the eight-hour day and the installation of a minimum wage.

Faced with the threat of revolution from below and an ascendant Germany that was becoming increasingly more assertive in the Middle East, the Russian and British empires put their differences aside and came to an agreement in Asia which was formalized as The Anglo-Russian Treaty of 1907. The agreement made the division of Iran into Russian and British spheres of influence official, and served as a decisive step in the construction of alliances that would eventually erupt into world war.[7] The December 1911 Russian-British invasion and occupation of Iran put an end to the revolutionary wave that had been ongoing since 1905. The Tsarist armies in particular oversaw a reign of terror against Iranian and Russian revolutionaries. While the parliament survived, it did so merely as a basis for aristocratic rule. The constitutional revolution posed, for the first time in Iran, the still crucial question: how should radical socialists relate to broader, popular democratic revolution? And it did so while demonstrating another persistent truth: in the face of social revolution bourgeois democrats will turn to imperialism and reaction.

Two years after the Anglo-Russian intervention that ended the Constitutional Revolution, the imperialist rivalry broke out into world war in 1914. Although the Iranian government officially declared neutrality, it proved powerless to prevent Iran from becoming part of the Middle Eastern theater of war between the Anglo-Russian alliance (‘Entente Powers’) and the Ottoman-German alliance (‘Central Powers’). The war had devastating effects on Iran, as it did on any place that was treated as a battleground for imperialist slaughter. Roughly two million people died from the violence of war, famine, and disease. The situation underscored Iran’s colonial situation, as the country was helpless in the face of foreign powers that effectively did as they pleased within its borders.

At this point, Iran proved to be an independent nation only in name, with the central government serving as a mere shadow for other powers. As was the case before the constitutional period, the central government had no real power outside of the nation’s capital, and even there, such power was constantly disrupted by foreign intervention. Local tribal chiefs and aristocrats seized the opportunity to assert themselves and by the end of the war, clearly constituted the actual powers in their respective regions, going so far as to strike deals and sign treaties with imperialist powers directly without any involvement of, or mediation from, the central government.

The 1917 Russian Revolution fundamentally altered the situation, and breathed new life into the revolutionary forces. The Bolsheviks removed Russian forces from Iran while abolishing all Russian treaties and concessions over the country. The fall of the Romanov Tsar also marked the removal of the Qajars’ principal patron. Following the removal of Russian and Ottoman forces at the end of the war, the British became the dominant imperialist power in the Middle East. The British had initially thought to turn Iran into a protectorate, but the possibility proved untenable. Anti-British sentiment was increasing, and they had quite simply spread themselves too thin. Most importantly, the October Revolution had ushered in a new threat of social revolution. Bolsheviks-aligned Iranian socialists formed the Adalat (Justice) Party, which in 1920 became the Communist Party of Iran. More than perhaps anything else, it was the October Revolution that threatened both the British and the local ruling aristocracy. By 1920, this threat had spread to the northern province of Gilan with the establishment of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Iran. The Red Army now had an official presence on Iranian soil, and succeeded in pushing out both British and Iranian forces from the area.[8]

This presence forced a change in the imperialist strategy of the British. Whereas the latter had thus far supported various local nobles and tribal chiefs in an effort to maintain their influence, this tactic (in addition to direct occupation) was beginning to prove unstable in the face of the Bolshevik threat. Alongside many among the Iranian ruling class, the British searched for a strongman who could seize power, restore order, and protect their interests from the threat of social revolution. It was in this context that an officer from the Cossack Brigades named Reza Khan distinguished himself as the best candidate for the job.9 He was encouraged to organize a coup, the result of which would be an insurance of security and the withdrawal of British forces from the region.

[littlefeather-wolf]

Fool Thunder and family. Hunkpapa Lakota. 1880 ❤

The Hunkpapa (Lakota: Húŋkpapȟa) are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe. The name Húŋkpapȟa is a Lakota word, meaning "Head of the Circle" (at one time, the tribe's name was represented in European-American records as Honkpapa). By tradition, the Húŋkpapȟa set up their lodges at the entryway to the circle of the Great Council when the Sioux met in convocation. They speak Lakȟóta, one of the three dialects of the Sioux language.

Seven hundred and fifty mounted Yankton, Yanktonai and Lakota joined six companies of the Sixth Infantry and 80 fur trappers in an attack on an Arikara Indian village at Grand River (now South Dakota) in August 1823, named the Arikara War. Members of the Lakota, a part of them "Ankpapat", were the first Native Americans to fight in the American Indian Wars alongside US forces west of the Missouri.

They may have formed as a tribe within the Lakota relatively recently, as the first mention of the Hunkpapa in European-American historical records was from a treaty of 1825.

By signing the 1825 treaty, the Hunkpapa and the United States committed themselves to keep up the "friendship which has heretofore existed". With their x-mark, the chiefs also recognized the supremacy of the United States. It is not certain whether they really understood the text in the document. The US representatives gave a medal to Little White Bear, who they understood was the principal Hunkpapa chief; they did not realize how decentralized Native American authority was.

With the Indian Vaccination Act of 1832, the United States assumed responsibility for the inoculation of the Indians against smallpox. Some visiting Hunkpapa may have benefitted from Dr. M. Martin's vaccination of about 900 southern Lakota (no divisions named) at the head of Medicine Creek that autumn. When smallpox struck in 1837, it hit the Hunkpapa as the northernmost Lakota division. The loss, however, may have been fewer than one hundred people.Overall, the Hunkpapa seem to have suffered less from new diseases than many other tribes did.

The boundaries for the Lakota Indian territory were defined in the general peace treaty negotiated near Fort Laramie in the summer of 1851. Leaders of eight different tribes, often at odds with each other and each claiming large territories, signed the treaty. The United States was a ninth party to it. The Crow Indian territory included a tract of land north of the Yellowstone, while the Little Bighorn River ran through the heartland of the Crow country (now Montana). The treaty defines the land of the Arikara, the Hidatsa and the Mandan as a mutual area north of Heart River, partly encircled by the Missouri (now North Dakota).

Soon enough the Hunkpapa and other Sioux attacked the Arikara and the two other so-called village tribes, just as they had done in the past. By 1854, these three smallpox-devastated tribes called for protection from the U.S. Army, and they would repeatedly do so almost to the end of inter-tribal warfare. Eventually the Hunkpapa and other Lakota took control of the three tribes' area north of Heart River, forcing the village people to live in Like a Fishhook Village outside their treaty land. The Lakota were largely in control of the occupied area to 1876–1877.

The United States Army General Warren estimated the population of the Hunkpapa Lakota at about 2920 in 1855. He described their territory as ranging "from the Big Cheyenne up to the Yellowstone, and west to the Black Hills. He states that they formerly intermarried extensively with the Cheyenne." He noted that they raided settlers along the Platte River In addition to dealing with warfare, they suffered considerable losses due to contact with Europeans and contracting of Eurasian infectious diseases to which they had no immunity.

The Hunkpapa gave some of their remote relatives among the Santee Sioux armed support during a large-scale battle near Killdeer Mountain in 1864 with U.S. troops led by General A. Sully.

The Great Sioux Reservation was established with a new treaty in 1868. The Lakota agreed to the construction of "any railroad" outside their reservation. The United States recognized that "the country north of the North Platte River and east of the summits of the Big Horn Mountains" was unsold or unceded Indian territory. These hunting grounds in the south and in the west of the new Lakota domain were used mainly by the Sicangu (Brule-Sioux) and the Oglala, living nearby.

The "free bands" of Hunkpapa favored campsites outside the unsold areas. They took a leading part in the westward enlargement of the range used by the Lakota in the late 1860s and the early 1870s at the expense of other tribes. In search for buffalo, Lakota regularly occupied the eastern part of the Crow Indian Reservation as far west as the Bighorn River, sometimes even raiding the Crow Agency, as they did in 1873. The Lakota pressed the Crow Indians to the point that they reacted like other small tribes: they called for the U.S. Army to intervene and take actions against the intruders.

In the late summer of 1873, the Hunkpapa boldly attacked the Seventh Cavalry in United States territory north of the Yellowstone. Custer's troops escorted a railroad surveying party here, due to similar attacks the year before. Battles such as Honsinger Bluff and Pease Bottom took place on land purchased by the United States from the Crow tribe on May 7, 1868.These continual attacks, and complaints from American Natives, prompted the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to assess the full situation on the northern plains. He said that the unfriendly Lakota roaming the land of other people should "be forced by the military to come in to the Great Sioux Reservation". That was in 1873, notably one year before the discovery of gold in the Black Hills, but the US government did not take action on this concept until three years later.

The Hunkpapa were among the victors in the Battle of Little Bighorn in the Crow Indian Reservation in July 1876.

Since the 1880s, most Hunkpapa have lived in the Standing Rock Indian Reservation (in North and South Dakota). It comprises land along the Grand River which had been used by the Arikara Indians in 1823; the Hunkpapa "won the west" half a century before the whites.

During the 1870s, when the Native Americans of the Great Plains were fighting the United States, the Hunkpapa were led by Sitting Bull in the fighting, together with the Oglala Lakota. They were among the last of the tribes to go to the reservations. By 1891, the majority of Hunkpapa Lakota, about 571 people, resided in the Standing Rock Indian Reservation of North and South Dakota ...

Since then they have not been counted separately from the rest of the Lakota ...

[suugrbunz]

Part Two — Main Focus will be Robert ‘Rosie’ Rosenthal, David Solomon, and inevitably the camp Rosie saw when tagging along with the Red Army.

Welcome to part two, you can find part one here. That part is entirely about the Band of Brothers series and Jewish identity. If you enjoy this essay, you'll enjoy the previous one! Find that one here: X

Let's talk about Rosenthal!! Let me start with; love him and this fandom better not overlook his Jewishness in their fics because this man is from… Brooklyn but more specifically Flatbush. Now, I know people who may not know exactly what Flatbush is and why I put any emphasis on that place. Many Yeshivas are in Flatbush and honestly it is very close to Crown Heights. Crown Heights is kind of like the orthodoxy capital of America. So, all that to say; I don't know the form of Judaism he observed but we can deduce he was Jewish and observing the religion. This is also backed by the fact he married a Jewish woman. So, when I say this man was raised Jewish, I mean it. So, don't dwindle him down to tokenism such as saying things about him loving Chanukah. It might be true but people outside of our religion use Chanukah like it's our holiest holiday. It's actually minor. It is important to represent someone who is of any minority correctly and Rosie (mwah) is no different.

Now in the documentary posted after the MoTa series ended we hear firsthand that the Jews of America KNEW what was happening in Europe. Rosie Rosenthal states this. Plain as plain can be. Which was his main motivation for joining the army air force. Rosenthal comes across a concentration camp which is based in truth. If you find this to be tokenism then sorry but you're wrong. In an age where I see people telling Jews that we are drinking children's blood, murderers, and denial of the holocaust. I think incorporating the reality of the sho’ah is essential. When I was doxxed for being Jewish. Fear showing my Star of David necklace— yeah, it is important!

Don't belittle representation of a minority especially if you are not part of the minority. It isn't your place to police if it was tokenism or not.

Let's address the concentration camp scene and its reality. Firstly, the pungently rotten smell of dead bodies permeates throughout the air whilst the Red Army is near it in the scene. We see Rosie is obviously disturbed by the smell and against his better judgement he goes to its source after asking to stretch his legs. In the following scene we see him discover the dead bodies in the camp uniform. Let's discuss this fact first and foremost. As the Red Army and Patton's Army were approaching the camps they did one of three things; Put them on marches to the interior of Germany (we see this happen in the show with POWs), kill everyone in the camp, or abandon the camp. Information on this particular camp leaves me to woefully say; Everyone in this camp was murdered or sent on death marches to a different camp so they couldn't be liberated. The town the concentration camp resided in was liberated by the 2nd Byelorussian front. More information on this camp can be found here: x

In one of the barrack rooms, which happens to be the one Rosie goes into, there were children. There is a drawing of a menorah, a magen David (which he touches), and Yiddish. Yiddish would've been taught more so than Hebrew in the 1800s-1940s European Jewry. Yiddish itself is a dialect of Judeo-Germanic. What does this mean? It means a Diaspora created a dialect using their native tongue and the regional language. Later on, it developed into its own language with its own dialects depending on where they were. Anyway, I shall digress and return to the true topic at hand. During this we see the words translated as; The judge of life will judge for life. It has religious tones to it but I am not here to explain what it may have meant. I'm not a rabbi.

Later on, when he is about to board a plane to go back to England— he encounters a survivor in the town. Their conversation displays something many survivors struggled with— did G-d remember them? How could tatty have forgotten us? Many Jews lost their religious beliefs after this, some stayed steadfast. I'm not sure how I would've reacted but there is no right or wrong way to react. What you see in this interaction is a genuine representation. Additionally, mass immigration and displaced persons camps were common from this point forward for Jewish people. They had to figure out where they were going to be safe.

On the other hand we have David Solomon... We see David Solomon questioned for being Jewish in the POW camp based on name. He is obviously Jewish. In the show, we see in a scene that after being questioned we hear the Major say; “We are all Americans.”. That didn't matter to the Nazis. I am sorry but the last name Solomon and first name David are nearly stereotypically Jewish. In the show and in this essay we need to address; He was treated differently because the Nazi officers knew he was Jewish. In an interview from 1980, also addresses the fact he too knew that there was a degree of persecution of Jews in mainland Europe. Solomon didn't wear his dog tags because it had H for Hebrew on it and the Jews in the military knew— they'd be treated differently. Even without the dog tags around his neck, he was still treated differently. Solomon was separated from the other members of the 100th and was told he was a spy. The reason for suspicion was due to him placing propaganda leaflets on his pyjamas shirts. I need to add he thought he was going home soon which is why he had the leaflets; He'd gotten them from some Royal Air Force plane that emergency landed the night before the downing of his plane and subsequent capture. Then, the day of the mission, he was in pyjamas because he assumed he was going home. Don't ask me. I don't know. All I know is this is genuinely what he said in the interview. Anyway, after this, he was roughly interrogated due to the suspicion of him being a spy (his words but I suspect this means possible torture.). Additionally, he lost around seventy pounds (est~ 190 lbs to 128) by the time he was liberated. David says Jewish American POWs were treated differently but he isn't sure whether or not Jewish POWs were killed. He also stated that amongst the higher ranking officers there was subtle antisemitism but there were some Jewish officers which balanced it out. Among the antisemitic officers, some had little to no care about what was happening to the Jews; Even if they knew. Many were just medal hungry— they wanted their medals, they wanted to look good. It was a lack of humanitarianism within the higher ranks. Finally, David Solomon says he doesn't consider himself a holocaust camp survivor to any degree (not sure who would).

After the war, those who told the stories were the refugees and newspapers. David Solomon met some of these refugees since some of his own (presumably) extended family members hosted refugees during the war. After learning all of the information, he went as far as to question (he admits this was wrong of him to question but) he goes on to say, “Why the atomic bomb wasn't dropped on Germany”.

You can listen to the interview here: x

You can find extra background information that I didn't include but read here: x

The Allies knew what was happening to the Jewish population of Europe. They. Knew. They could've stopped it but let me explain why they didn't. Through the American political lense— they put a quota on specifically Jewish immigration solely because they wanted to keep a majority Christian nation. They turned away Jewish refugees throughout the war. An example of this being Billy Joel’s (bye i keep using him as my example) parents who had to immigrate to Cuba during the duration of the war. After the war, they went to New York. However, a family that also tried going to America were the Franks. Yes, those Franks. Anne Frank, Margot, and Edith would have survived if America didn't refuse them.

[petermorwood]

A bit more pronunciation fun...

Vase (thing to put flowers in) can be vaaz or vays, both are correct, the difference is usually based on class or region.

Scone (small crumbly bun / US biscuit) is skonn or skown, both are correct for the same reasons.

In both instances a particular version can be used just because it fits better: the classic example here is Discworld’s The Scone of Stone, pronounced as you might expect, even though in its real-world equivalent The Stone of Scone, that Scottish place-name is pronounced more like skoon.

*****

Rain, Reign and Rein are all pronounced more or less the same yet all have different, non-interchangeable meanings - but you’ll still see the second two used wrongly more times than you’d like.

And then there are words like Pique Peek and Peak, Breach and Breech, Peel and Peal, Compliment and Complement - again all pronounced more or less the same, all with completely different non-interchangeable meanings varying with context and indeed whether they’re used as noun or verb.

English is a succession of successful pitfalls placed in plain sight - this site could be seen from a plane - to trip or trap any weary wanderer who is less than wary.

While wandering, this one went wondering out of his way to weigh a secret load of lodestone that someone had secreted under a tree near a well. He meant to seize it but now sees, through eyes that secrete tears, the tears in his clothes caused by a bear which couldn’t bear his presence.

It probably believed he was after the hoard of food that had once been a horde of creatures, cheap stuff like birds that once went cheep and deer that might have been dear to buy if they’d got by the bear.

The maid at his lodging might have made repairs though first he had to flee. So he leapt like a flea many feet across a brook, quite a feat, but the bear brooked no denial. Its muscles coiled like a spring, then it made a spring the way bears do in Spring.

He breathed in short pants while its claws, sharp as any clause in a rent agreement, rent his short pants, but they barely bared his hide as he tried to hide. He could have tried the bear in court, but so near its homestead it might have caught him instead.

The breaches in his breeches came apart. A part of the bear’s failure to meet the meat was not getting a grip; maybe it suffered from grippe after taking a fall in the fall. We end our tale with no sting in its tail, since the wanderer didn’t fall in the well.

So all’s well.

I had to stretch a bit in places (grippe? come on!) but not as much as I’d expected, and it goes a long way to demonstrate why English is such a difficult language to learn, never mind master. And that’s before class, regional and dialect variations get added to the mix.

Are we having fun yet?

:->

*****

Finally...

Colonel (military rank) is spelt that way but pronounced kurnel / kernel because it started as the French rank for an officer commanding the sort of infantry column (la colonne) familiar from the Sharpe series. That rank was "Colonnel” and both “L”s were voiced.

The French pronunciation changed over time and became (approximately) “co’onel” while the spelling became “Colonel”. Italian still has and sounds every “L” as “Colonello”, Spanish went the other way as “Coronelo”, while in Irish it’s Coirnéal, pronounced and now usually spelt “cornal”.

Why the English version looks and sounds as it does, I have no idea; possibly a long familiarity with words that don’t sound the way they look, along with a disinclination to pronounce anything foreign (especially French) the way the foreigners do.

*****

Lieutenant (military rank) is lootenant in the US armed forces, luhtenant in the British navy and leftenant in the British army and air force.

That British “lef-” version is the outlier. Apart from Malay (Leftenan, a possible Britfluence) no other language (that I bothered checking) which starts this word with “L” has an “F” sound anywhere.

French (Lieutenant), German (Leutnant), Dutch (Luitenant), Danish (Løjtnant), Swedish (Löjtnant ), Norwegian (Løytnant), Estonian (Leitenant), Finnish (Luutnantti), Polish (Lejtnant), Ukrainian (Лейтена́нт, pron leytenant,) Russian (Лейтена́нт pron. leitenant)…

*****

ETA: @katbelleinthedark has pointed out (in no uncertain terms, gosh) that "Lejtnant” isn’t the Polish word for Lieutenant (thanks for nothing, Wikipedia link from “Lieutenant”.) The proper word is “Porucznik”, which fairly obviously doesn’t have either “L” or “F” sounds anywhere. So, deleted. Any other corrections will also be, er, corrected. No need to shout, just ask.

*****

And that’s enough of that. Stannat-EASE. Dis-MISS.

@dduane​ - “Why is a plane coming out of his head?”

Me - “It’s a Spitfire.”

DD - “And?”

Me - ....

DD - “That’s the only answer I’m going to get, isn’t it?”

Me - :->

[awkwardpenguinproductions]

Feel free to ignore if this is too spoilery but when DotY Zuko becomes Firelord would he make sign language a required part of the Fire Nation school curriculum?

Absolutely, but probably not immediately or through his own initiative.

The first few years after the Comet are spent housecleaning the Fire Nation Imperial Government and rebuilding international relations. I imagine the Gaang flying hither and yon trying to keep the war from restarting because everyone hates the Fire Nation (and like, with good reason, but not really conducive to world peace, y'know?), and Zuko himself is too busy trying to demilitarize his country and dodging assassination attempts to focus on such benign matters as educational policy.

Once things settle down, Zuko can now focus on the internal matters that have so far been neglected, and by now I imagine he has a somewhat less bloodthirsty government to work with. With the War Council mostly neutered and its funding cut substantially, departments such as Education can come into focus, and Zuko is careful to hire ministers willing to take initiative for the betterment of the people and the country. One of these ministers is a native of the Outer Island of Wei Jian, whose younger brother had sent her a letter the summer the war ended about a mysterious new student in his class who claimed that Fire Lord Sozin had actually ambushed the Air Nomads instead of fighting a standing army in honorable combat, and played the tsungi horn like a man possessed, and even threw a dance party in a cave outside of town and then disappeared without a trace! This minister, a lowly clerk at the time, had taken it upon herself to find out the truth about the Great Comet attacks, and in so doing made it her life's mission to rehabilitate the Fire Nation's educational content and policy. Being appointed to the Fire Lord's Education Council makes this minister's career, and after a crash course in YHL to ensure that she can understand her Lord, makes sweeping reforms in how Fire Nation children are taught, both in methods and content.

A few years pass, and after these reforms are settled into common practice, this minister, now fully fluent in YHL and delighting in being able to chat with the off-duty Yuyan Archers who continue to litter the Palace, gets the bright idea to propose the addition of Yuyan Hand Language to the available language courses taught at the higher educational levels (others of which include High Earth Court, Imperial Fire Tongue, and both Northern and Southern Water Dialects). This catches Zuko by surprise, and after some thought says that if our intrepid minister can get a curriculum approved by the Yuyan Tribe Elders, then he'll approve it. She does just that, shocking just about everyone, and within a few years of her proposal Yuyan Hand Language is added to the list of language courses at the secondary levels.

Within ten to fifteen years of the first class, Yuyan Hand Language is second only to Fire Common in languages spoken in the Fire Nation.

[floradinterlunium]

Preference is the Fruit of Love

 So as Jikookers we all know one thing to be true! Jikook gravitate towards one another, often showing a very clear preference for each others company over others. This preference is made more obvious when members are around because it is in these moments that we see them form this almost exclusive impenetrable bubble around themselves creating an “Us” and “Them” environment.  While unintentional, it nevertheless happens. 

One of the best examples of this the 2019 Boys with Luv Comeback Special filmed in NYC. Before I get into my opinions of this moment, I want you to watch the moment I am speaking about. It starts at 5:03 and ends at 7:01 (P.S. I chose this video because it clips out the parts I am talking about).

Now this moment starts off with Jikook being separated. Jk is seated with Jin and RM, while Jm is seated with Tae and Hobi. They don’t look unhappy separated they are laughing and goofing around, mostly JK poking fun of JM’s origin story. 

However, when teams are decided JK becomes incredibly happy. He’s super giddy to change teams. One can say it’s because he also is happy about being on a team with the entire Maknae line but the proof of why he’s really happy is what he does when switches sides. He walks over smiling at JM and then proceeds to tap JM’s shoulders with his paper.

JK is happy to be on a team with JM. Which is funny seeing that JM is notorious for losing games, while JK is the Golden Maknae who enjoys winning. That aside...JK is happy to be on the same team as JM. And JM is clearly happy to be on the same team as JK seeing as his whole body language shifts and his attention turns away from Tae and the rest of the group to 100% JK. Not 50% or 80%...100%.

Jikook spend the entire game in their own little bubble, sadly leaving Tae out the entire time. They don’t consult him about answers, they spend the game whispering to each other and acting as though the team is just them! I mean look at  the distance they’ve created between themselves and Tae, and look at Tae’s expression. He looks bored and not happy because he’s being left out. Even the editors noted it with the “Guys, please play with V.” I genuinely don’t think Tae likes being paired with Jikook for games because this happens. You put them together they enter their own world. I am almost certain Jimin said as much on a live once. He said something along the lines of “I would call JK but when we are together we become laser focused and forget to communicate with Army.” And we see that very statement come to life all the times when they are together. 

Above is another example of them forgetting others exist. You might think they are alone but spot the broad shoulders peaking from behind Jimin and you’ll find RM. The entire time he’s paired with them it’s like he doesn’t exist. 

Or...what about the time they invited Hobi to join them to practice Busan Dialect with them and then forgot they invited him. Or the time they were live as a group and Tae had to separate them.

This is a habit they have that is not exclusive to one member. i do think it bothers Tae and Rm the most but still they do it to all members. The Boys with Love Comeback Special shows it the best to me though...because from the get go JK showed how happy he was to be sitting with JM and JM alone, and JM showed his happiness by closing any and all distance between them. Also sadly, Tae’s displeasure makes it very obvious. 

I’ve honestly never seen two people so naturally create a sort of force field around them the way Jikook do. If you let them get in their zone it’s hard to break them out of it, and from what I gather members rarely try to. They just let them do their thing. In all the behind the scenes moments, rehearsal moments what do we see? We see Jikook goofing off while members don’t bother/willfully ignore them. They don’t ask many questions, they do occasionally give them a death glare (tried to find a clearer shot but trust me Hobi is glaring hard at them) but mostly they leave them be because it becomes more awkward when you break them up.

[kemetic-dreams]

The Karo is a group of Nilotic tribes that straddles the Nile in the Republic of South Sudan and is predominately found in Central Equatoria State, and as far South as Uganda and South-West as Democratic Republic of the Congo. Karo comprises Yangwara, Bari, Pojulu, Kuku (or BaKuku in Uganda), Mundari and Kakwa. They have been erroneously called Bari-speakers by C. G. Seligman, a British ethnologist, whose first contact with Karo was likely with the Bari during British colonial rule in Sudan. Seligman categorised the six ethnic groups as "Bari Speakers" for research purposes as he did so for "Dinka Speakers, Nuer Speakers, Lou Speakers, Moru Speakers and the Azande Speakers". These other groups however, have not adopted the categorization coined by G. Seligman for ethnic identification. It is only the "Bari Speakers" who are erroneously defined as speakers of Bari language.

The term "Bari-speakers" is not considered representative of the six ethic groups that occupy present Central Equatoria Region of Sudan. "Bari Speakers" linguistically connotes speaking of the Bari dialect without being part of the Bari ethnic group. This categorization has tended to alienate people in the Yangwara, Pojulu, Kuku, Kakwa and Mundari communities. It was not until July 1986 that a young junior officer of the rank of lieutenant in the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army, by name of Lemi Logwonga Lomuro, discovered for himself that the categorization of people as speakers of a language was not only limited to the "Bari Speakers" in the Central Equatoria Region of Sudan. Lt Logwonga realised that his comrades in the SPLM/SPLA from other groups, including the Moru, Nuer, Dinka and the Lou speak different dialects, yet they are not described as "Speakers" of one of those dialects. The Dinka for example, speak more than seven dialects and are only known as "Dinka or Jieng", not Dinka speakers. The Nuer too, speak more than seven dialects. This discovery triggered Lt Logwonga to consult with some of his fellow members of various communities from Central Equatoria in the SPLM/SPLA to promote a common identity for the six groups comprising the Bari, Pojulu, Kuku, Yangwara, Kakwa and Mundari. Initial consultations took place in Bongo SPLA Military Training Centre where pioneers endorsed the concept of 'KARO COMMUNITY' to unite the people of Central Equatoria, and encouraged Lt Logwonga to continue to pursue such a noble idea. Among those who took interest in the endeavour were 1st Lt. Martin Kenyi Ladu Bara, 1st Lt. Gwido Mori, Lt. Moses Lubari, Lt. Michael Yokwe Soro, Lt. Moses Arapa Lo-Gune, and Lt. Augustino Luwate. The pioneers advocated for all-inclusive "Karo Community" of people. This idea was to gain ground when in December 2000, General Logwonga introduced the Karo project to Dr. Luka Monoja Tombekana, to solicit for his support in London. Dr Monoja wholeheartedly blessed the initiative and pledged to contribute to its advancement. Since then 'Karo' as a unifying identity for the six ethnic groups (stated above) continues to evolve.

"Karo" means "relative" and it appeals to the relatedness of the Karo people. Indeed, there is a broad base movement within Karo to redefine the whole tribal affiliation and groups as Woti Karo or Karo people. Woti Karo share a common culture in addition to language, which has been called Kutuk na Karo ('mother tongue').

[officiallordvetinari]

Here are 10 (more) featured Wikipedia articles. Links and summaries are below the cut.

Black American Sign Language (BASL) or Black Sign Variation (BSV) is a dialect of American Sign Language (ASL) used most commonly by deaf African Americans in the United States. The divergence from ASL was influenced largely by the segregation of schools in the American South.

Cai Lun (Chinese: 蔡伦; courtesy name: Jingzhong (敬仲); c. 50–62 – 121 CE), formerly romanized as Ts'ai Lun, was a Chinese eunuch court official of the Eastern Han dynasty. He is traditionally regarded as the inventor of paper and the modern papermaking process.

The Cock Lane ghost was a purported haunting that attracted mass public attention in 1762. The location was a lodging in Cock Lane, a short road adjacent to London's Smithfield market and a few minutes' walk from St Paul's Cathedral.

The indigenous people of the Everglades region arrived in the Florida peninsula of what is now the United States approximately 14,000 to 15,000 years ago, probably following large game. The Paleo-Indians found an arid landscape that supported plants and animals adapted to prairie and xeric scrub conditions. Large animals became extinct in Florida around 11,000 years ago. Climate changes 6,500 years ago brought a wetter landscape.

James William Humphreys (7 January 1930 – September 2003) was an English businessman and criminal who owned a chain of adult book shops and strip clubs in London in the 1960s and 1970s. He was able to run his business through the payment of large bribes to serving police officers, particularly those from the Obscene Publications Branch (OPB) of the Metropolitan Police.

The London Necropolis Company (LNC), formally the London Necropolis & National Mausoleum Company until 1927, was a cemetery operator established by Act of Parliament in 1852 in reaction to the crisis caused by the closure of London's graveyards in 1851. The LNC intended to establish a single cemetery large enough to accommodate all of London's future burials in perpetuity.

The Order of Brothelyngham was a group of men who, in the mid-14th century, formed themselves into a fake religious order in the city of Exeter, Devon. They may well have been satirising the church, which was commonly perceived as corrupt.

Phan Đình Phùng (Vietnamese: [faːn ɗîŋ̟ fûŋm]; 1847 – January 21, 1896) was a Vietnamese revolutionary who led rebel armies against French colonial forces in Vietnam. He was the most prominent of the Confucian court scholars involved in anti-French military campaigns in the 19th century and was cited after his death by 20th-century nationalists as a national hero.

The Tottenham Outrage of 23 January 1909 was an armed robbery in Tottenham, North London, that resulted in a two-hour chase between the police and armed criminals over a distance of six miles (10 km), with an estimated 400 rounds of ammunition fired by the thieves. The robbery, of workers' wages from the Schnurmann rubber factory, was carried out by Paul Helfeld and Jacob Lepidus, Jewish Latvian immigrants.

Volubilis (Latin pronunciation: [wɔˈɫuːbɪlɪs]; Arabic: وليلي, romanized: walīlī; Berber languages: ⵡⵍⵉⵍⵉ, romanized: wlili) is a partly-excavated Berber-Roman city in Morocco situated near the city of Meknes that may have been the capital of the Kingdom of Mauretania, at least from the time of King Juba II.