Babel No More

Home > Other > Babel No More > Page 33
Babel No More Page 33

by Michael Erard


  C.J., 162–66, 168–69, 227–28

  Cochin-Chinese language, 42

  Codex Cospi, 60, 267

  Cohen, Andrew, 128, 259–60

  cold war, 90

  Coleman, Loren, 169

  colloquialisms, 53

  Colloquial Romanian, 119

  Colombia, 19–20, 55, 91

  Colomer, Josep, 206–7

  colonialism, 84, 242

  colors, 49, 280

  Columbia University, 107–8, 200

  Columbus, Christopher, 79

  Confucius, 151

  Conrad, Joseph, 231–32

  Cook, Vivian, 52–54, 197, 280

  Cooper, James Fenimore, 40

  Coptic language, 3, 4, 31, 433

  Cornish language, 42, 118

  Coryat, Tom, 42

  Costello, Elvis, 120

  Cox, Gregg, 176–77, 220–21, 226–27

  Cox, Sabine, 220

  creole languages, 106

  cryptozoology, 169, 248–49

  Curtin, Jeremiah, 78, 78

  Czech language, 35, 43, 104, 207

  Czerniawski, Eugen M., 100, 105

  d-amphetamine, 237, 293

  Danish language, 31, 43, 75, 104

  Dart, Frédéric, 203

  Dead Souls (Gogol), 102

  deafness, 45, 279

  de Bot, Kees, 224, 291

  Defense Language Institute (DLI), 176, 216–17

  Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT), 216, 223

  DeKeyser, Robert, 24–26, 134, 136

  De Koninck, Joseph, 48, 280

  Delaware language, 42

  dialects, 5, 6, 10, 47n, 115

  Florentine, 35

  local, 35, 90

  Parisian, 51

  regional, 51

  Tuscan, 153

  versions of, 45

  dictionaries, 5, 11, 31, 37, 39, 75, 84, 95, 122, 148, 227

  diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), 157

  digital language repeater, 133

  Doniger, Wendy, 198

  Donovan, Edgar, 216–17, 222

  dopamine, 237, 241, 262

  Dravidian languages, 191, 196, 200, 208

  Dreaming in Chinese (Fallows), 86

  Dreaming in Hindi (Rich), 86

  Duran, Miguel, 88–89

  Dutch language, 4, 25, 30, 31, 39, 43, 95, 106, 114–15, 124, 181–82, 207, 248, 250

  dyslexia, 165, 166, 214

  Eapen, Joshy, 204

  East India Company, 47n

  Eats, Shoots & Leaves (Truss), 207

  Edinburgh University, 255

  Egypt, 85n

  Ehrman, Madeline, 163n, 215, 291

  Einstein, Albert, brain of, 160

  Elements of Style, The (White and Strunk), 207

  Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 197

  Ellis Island, 153–54

  Emlen, Deborah, 59

  English and Foreign Language University, Hyderabad, 202

  English language, 4, 5, 8, 17, 18, 30, 43, 49, 96

  aviation industry’s use of, 54–55

  as global lingua franca, 9, 10, 85, 261

  Middle, 108, 118

  native vs. non-native speakers of, 9

  Old, 108

  pidgin version of, 7

  prestige and utility of, 9

  as second language, 9

  spread of, 9

  standardized foreign versions of, 9

  study and teaching of, 9, 20, 25, 182, 261

  Enki (god), 12

  Enlil (god), 12

  enunciation, 46

  Esperanto, 247

  Estonia, 31

  Estonian language, 54, 75n

  Ethiopian language, 31, 43, 75

  Euclid, 35

  Eurobarometer poll of 2005, 91n

  European Commission, 25, 53, 166

  European Union, 9, 71

  bilingualism advocated in, 91

  Everett, William, 74–75

  Exceptional Brain, The: Neuropsychology of Talent and Special Abilities (Obler and Fein, eds.), 162, 212, 287

  eyes, 10, 77

  Fallows, Deborah, 86

  Farsi language, 109–10

  Fazah, Ziad, 100, 105–7, 108–10, 125–27, 176, 210, 226, 257

  Ferriss, Tim, 86, 283

  Finnish language, 81, 109, 152

  Finno-Ugric languages, 218

  flash cards, 131, 267–68, 269

  Flemish language, 35, 43, 75

  Flume, Harvey, 214

  Flynn, Suzanne, 226

  Foreign Service Institute, 223, 291

  School of Language Studies of, 215

  Foschi, Paula, 29

  Fowler, Lorenzo Niles, 77–78, 282

  FOXP2 gene, 234

  French language, 4, 8, 10, 18, 25, 30, 35, 41, 43, 46, 124

  dialects in, 51

  Old, 108

  study of, 9, 19, 20, 33, 48, 148–49

  French Revolution, 51

  Friedman, Naomi, 263, 293

  Frisian language, 42, 118, 255

  functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 157, 232, 233, 287, 289

  Gaelic language, 42, 75, 111, 252, 255, 256, 258

  Manx, 118

  Scottish, 118

  Galaburda, Albert, 165–66, 288

  Galvani, Luigi, 27

  Ganahl, Rainer, 83–85, 86n, 140–41, 252, 265, 282

  Genesis, Book of, 31, 60

  Geneva, 17, 18

  Gentleman Prefer Blondes (Loos), 102

  Georgian language, 43, 54

  Germanic languages, 44, 96, 115, 218

  German language, 4, 5, 10, 25, 30, 35, 44, 60, 96, 124, 148

  Austrian dialect of, 5

  Middle High, 118

  Old High, 108, 118, 218

  Saxon dialect of, 5

  study of, 9, 33

  Swabian dialect of, 5

  Geschwind, Norman, 165–66, 288

  Geschwind-Galaburda hypothesis, 165–68, 170, 173, 212, 216, 222, 229, 288

  gestures, 28, 110, 211, 264, 294

  Gezels, Linda (wife of John Vandewalle), 250–51

  Gethin, Amorey, 226

  Ghent University College, 250

  Giordani, Pietro, 59

  globalization, 8, 11

  glyphs, 60

  God, 4, 11, 12, 37, 60, 122

  Goddess English, 201–2

  Gogol, Nikolay, 102

  Golestani, Narly, 232–33, 292

  Golla, Victor, 80

  Google, language tools of, 18

  Gould, Stephen Jay, 177

  grammar, 18, 37, 38, 42, 45, 56, 69, 97, 158, 207, 259

  loss of control over, 9

  patterns of, 34, 163

  rules of, 24, 33, 103, 134

  shared, 48

  word order in, 97, 99, 122–23, 141, 210, 240n

  grammar books, 11, 75, 95

  Great Britain, 85

  lack of foreign-language training in, 71, 72

  Greek language, 23, 32, 43, 58, 95, 116, 150

  alphabet of, 31

  ancient, 33, 34, 75, 84, 118, 119

  modern, 39, 120, 149

  Greenblatt, Stephen, ix

  Gregory XVI, Pope, 6, 109, 137

  Grierson, George, 197, 290

  Grosjean, François, 209, 221, 291

  Guarani language, 167

  Guinness Book of World Records, The 106, 176, 220, 226, 257

  Guiora, Alexander, 238

  Gujarati language, 4, 43, 47n, 219

  Gunnemark, Dan, 105

  Gunnemark, Erik, 91–93, 92, 99–101, 102n, 105, 107, 137, 140, 215, 226, 227

  “Gypsy” language, 43

  Hale, Ezra, 81

  Hale, Ken, 80–83, 141, 169, 212, 239, 282

  hallucinations, 49–50, 280

  Harvard University, 46, 75, 86, 149–50, 162, 279

  HB (patient), 139

  Hebrew language, 31, 76, 150, 161, 207

  Biblical, 4

  Rabbinic, 4, 43

  study of, 33, 101, 132, 1
490

  Hellenic language family, 44, 218

  Hentig, Werner Otto von, 151–53, 286

  Hermans, Eugeen, 247–48, 251, 253–54, 256

  Herning, Derick, 255–58, 262

  Heuvelmans, Bernard, 248–49

  Hickok, Gregory, 158, 287

  Hindi language, 9, 14, 20, 26, 111, 119n, 120, 127, 129–31, 188–89, 191–94, 197–99, 203, 211, 231

  Hindu, The, 200–201

  Hindustani language, 4, 42, 43, 47, 75

  Hippo Family Club, 86–89, 260

  official seven languages of, 87n

  historical archives, 13, 17, 27–32

  Hmong language, 123

  Hoffmann, Dustin, 229

  Hondurans, 8

  How I Learn Languages (Lomb), 101, 102–3, 293

  Hudson, Dick, 67–73, 91, 94, 159, 168n, 209, 234

  Hungarian language, 4, 5, 35, 39, 43, 104

  Hungary, 101, 104

  Hurro-Urartian language family, 44n

  hyperlexia, 162

  hyperpolyglots, 12–20, 28, 46–47

  characteristics of, 12–13, 14–15, 34, 83, 209–10, 214–30

  as cryptids (out of time, out of place, out of scale), 15, 169

  definition of, 12

  as freaks and geeks, 101n, 106, 212, 228

  gender and, 101n, 228–29, 230

  lack of modern scientific literature on, 73

  language-learning lessons of, 82–83, 102–3, 111, 114, 133–36, 260–65

  legends and myths about, 13, 79n, 81–82, 126, 189, 220–21, 248, 249

  mental impairment and, 69, 94–99

  memoirs of, 13, 59, 86, 170

  modern, 92, 100–105, 218, 247–58

  neural tribe theory of, 15, 213, 214–16, 229, 234, 239, 242–43, 247, 265

  newspaper account of, 78

  skepticism about, 6, 13, 14, 25, 42, 61–62, 67, 101, 105, 108–10

  study of, 13–19, 67–143

  surveys of, 13, 56, 217–26, 217, 219, 274–76

  testing of, 6, 16–17, 109–10

  unusual neurological resources of, 14, 15, 62, 94, 98, 231–35, 240–41, 260

  uses of languages by, 13, 14, 15, 16, 50, 62, 812–16

  Icelandic language, 42, 75

  Old, 119

  idiomatic expressions, 53

  Illyrian language, 43

  India, 8, 14, 42, 107n, 149, 187–89

  caste system in, 197, 201–2

  multiple languages of, 5, 9, 188–89, 191–205, 207–9, 290

  Indian Army, 47n

  Indo-Aryan languages, 196

  Indo-European languages, 34, 196

  Indo-Iranian language family, 44n

  intelligence quotient (IQ), 94, 162–63, 216, 217

  performance vs. verbal, 163

  testing of, 214

  Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR), 223

  intermarriage, 21

  International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), 54–55

  Internet, 8

  fraudulent email scams (419s) on, 10

  language learning on, 107, 168, 265

  translations on, 10, 18

  see also Skype; Twitter; YouTube

  iPods, 133

  Iran, 85n, 183

  Iraq, 124

  Irish language, 42, 80

  Israel, 108, 161, 195, 284

  Italian language, 10, 14, 17–18, 28–30, 31, 35, 43, 50, 59, 130

  Latin basis of, 17

  Italy, 3, 16, 46

  1860 establishment of republic in, 35

  linguistic variations of, 34–35

  northern, 34, 35

  papal states of, 35, 59

  Jackson, Jean, 190

  Jacobson, Marcus, 85n

  Jaillet, Lorraine, 80

  Jampijinpa, George Robertson, 80

  Japan, 45, 109

  Japanese language, 7, 8, 42, 79n, 80, 106, 152, 261–62

  Jesuits, 35

  Jesus Christ, 150

  Johnny Appleseed, 75

  Jones, Sir William, 42

  Joseph of Copertino, Saint, 32

  Jovin, Ellen, 86

  Juutilainen, Arvo, 100, 105

  Kak stat’ poliglotom (“How One Becomes a Polyglot”) (Spivak), 227

  Kala, 188–89, 193, 199

  Kalmuck language, 151

  Kannada language, 188, 191, 193, 196, 198–200, 203

  Kashmiri language, 203

  Kazakh language, 118

  Kazakhstan, 10

  Keeping Faith with the Mother Tongue (Srinivasaraju), 200, 290

  Kenrick, Donald, 100, 105

  Keyser, Samuel Jay, 83

  Khmer language, 133

  Klatzo, Igor, 154

  Knight’s Cyclopedia of Biography, 75

  Korea, 45, 108

  Korean language, 9, 10, 49

  Kramsch, Claire, 21, 22–24, 56–57, 227

  Krashen, Stephen, 101–4, 284

  Krebs, Amande Heyne, 147, 151, 175

  Krebs, Emil, 100, 105, 147–49, 151–55, 157, 170–75, 170, 177–80, 212, 228, 229, 249, 264, 286–87

  personal library of, 147, 154

  preserved brain of, 154, 155, 156, 160, 161, 169, 171–75, 177–80, 232, 288–89

  Kulman, Elizabeth, 74

  Kurdish language, 43

  language CDs and tapes, 87, 88, 114, 119, 130, 133

  language competitions, 53, 109, 136–37, 247–48, 250–57, 253

  language exercises, 31, 111, 137

  language games, 25–26

  language labs, 34

  language learning, 67–72

  of adults, 9, 10, 12, 100

  aptitude for, 70, 100, 103, 122, 126

  biological elements of, 10, 11, 68–69, 77

  of children, 10, 12, 21, 33, 69, 86n, 100, 102n, 122, 142, 238–40

  compulsory, 9, 148

  dedication to, 163

  developmental problems with, 68

  difficulties of, 14, 21, 71–72, 205

  ease of, 11–13

  economic demands and, 8, 9, 10, 25, 71, 89, 204

  educational systems of, 9, 24, 70–72, 86–89, 239, 247, 275–76, 291

  emergentist theory about, 69–70

  genetics and, 68, 160, 164, 166, 179–80, 234–35

  in government, spycraft and diplomacy, 70, 71–72, 149, 176

  impetus and motivation for, 12, 15, 19, 24, 83–84, 90–91, 103

  innatist theory about, 69

  on Internet, 107, 168, 265

  language “acquisition” vs., 87, 102, 180–81

  lessons of hyperpolyglots on, 260–65

  limitation of, 71–72, 226–28

  methodology of, 11, 16, 17, 20, 24, 36–37, 38, 51, 72, 82–83, 86–89, 99–100, 102–4, 107–9, 111–13, 123, 133–35, 239, 259–69, 269, 274–76

  native-like proficiency as goal of, 14, 23, 25

  from people vs. books, 35–36, 40

  practice and training in, 11, 25, 54, 61, 100, 117–18, 137, 141, 251, 259, 274–75

  pseudo-immersion in, 89

  speed of, 9, 11, 14, 16–17, 36, 38, 50, 71, 86

  state subsidy of, 25

  thrill of, 20–21, 142

  languages:

  artificial, 99, 247

  “bits” of, 50–52, 53, 81, 89, 134

  codes and pragmatics of, 22–23, 51, 57, 164, 259

  “code switching” in, 51, 139

  cognitive investment in, 48–50

  conversation in, 40, 43, 47, 55, 92

  cultural capital of, 8, 12, 23, 91

  dreaming in, 48–49

  emotional attachment to, 22, 141–42, 262

  endangered, 9–10

  extinct, 9–10, 247, 251, 293

  fatal failure and confusion in, 55

  “feel” for, 263–64

  fluency in, 20, 24–25, 43, 46, 48, 53, 72, 74, 92, 95, 247, 259

  interpreting of, 21–22, 36, 45, 71, 149, 153–54

  keeping up skills of, 24–25, 105, 251, 257–58
>
  “knowing” of, 22–24, 48, 50–51, 54, 56

  “living” in, 24

  love of, 141–42

  mastery of, 44, 46, 53, 74, 108, 142

  memory decay and, 18, 73, 102n, 137

  mimicking of, 46, 63, 71, 231–32

  minority, 80

  miscommunication in, 12, 55, 157

  national, 51, 84

  native speakers of, 9, 10, 14, 18, 23, 44–46, 51, 56, 63, 243, 261

  new languages connected to ancestral, 10

  non-native speakers of, 7–10, 18, 53–54, 84

  official, 51, 54–55, 218

  proficiency in, 51, 53, 54, 61, 104, 140–41, 182, 259

  reactivation of, 9–10, 216

  reading of, 12, 19, 21, 34, 39, 40–41, 47–48, 56, 116, 226

  receptive skills of, 47–48

  related, 10, 17

  religious myths of, 5, 12

  repetition and clarification in, 55

  retention of, 164–65

  simultaneous multilingual uses of, 7–8, 10, 11

  singing in, 10, 88–89, 136, 231

  sounds and rhythms of, 11, 231–32

  spoken, 9, 12, 19–24, 43, 49, 56, 81, 87

  structure of, 11, 56

  switching easily among, 11, 63, 95, 137–40, 225, 227, 228

  testing of ability in, 6, 16–17, 51, 53, 109, 126, 136–37, 140–41, 152, 182, 233n

  thinking in, 49

  tribal, 21

  unification of, 51

  written, 9, 10, 12, 21, 34, 39, 56

  without written forms, 21

  language savants, 94–99, 283

  language scientists, 13, 16

  Lanveur, Miss, 57

  Lappish language, 42

  Latin language, 4, 6, 8, 23, 30, 32, 43, 79, 104, 118, 138, 252

  Italian language related to, 17

  study of, 33, 34, 107

  translating into, 34, 39, 58

  translation of, 30

  Vulgate, 58

  Latinos, 22

  Latvia, 31, 91n

  Leatherstocking Tales (Cooper), 40

  Lebanon, 108, 126

  Leborgne “Tan Tan,” 156

  Leischner, A., 73–74

  Lenin, Vladimir, brain of, 154–55, 172

  Lenneberg, Eric, 180–81, 289

  Lessing, Ferdinand, 153

  Lettish language, 42

  Lever, Charles, 5

  levitation, 32

  levodopa, 237, 293

  Lewan, Magnus, 110

  lexicon, 22

  Lex Language Project, see Hippo Family Club

  Library of Congress, U.S., 154, 286

  Library of Pisa, 6

  Life of Cardinal Mezzofanti, The (Russell), 41–44, 277, 285, 294

  linguistic creativity, 46

  linguistic families, 34, 42, 44

  linguistic relativity hypothesis, 49

  linguistics, 16, 68, 70

  LINGUIST List, 234, 281

  linguists, 13, 22, 25, 50, 67–68, 80–83

  literacy, 12, 22, 33, 39–40, 70, 150

  literature, 11, 13

  Lithuania, 91n

  Livonian language, 31

  Lomb Kató, 100, 101–4, 101, 138–39, 212, 215, 227, 239, 263, 283–84, 293

 

‹ Prev