Unlocking the Universe of Languages
Unlike languages that evolve naturally, Modern Standard Hindi was deliberately "retro-engineered" in the 19th century to establish a distinct identity from Urdu. This post explores how scholars utilized "Tatsamas"—unmodified Sanskrit…
The name "Hindi" is a Persian exonym meaning "of the Indus", yet the modern formal language is defined by a rigorous purging of Persian and Arabic vocabulary in favor of…
For over a century, Greece was locked in a fierce linguistic civil war between Katharevousa, an artificial "high" language of the elite, and Demotic, the natural tongue of the people.…
This post explores the often-overlooked link between linguistic purism and exclusionary politics. We move beyond simple vocabulary debates to investigate how the drive to "purify" a language of foreign influences…
Once considered a single language called Serbo-Croatian, the languages of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro are now actively drifting apart. This linguistic divergence isn't a natural evolution but a conscious,…
In his famous essay 'Politics and the English Language', George Orwell laid out six rules for powerful, clear prose. This post explores his timeless advice on avoiding clichés, cutting needless…
Many Spanish learners are told they must learn "Castilian" Spanish, the supposedly "pure" or "original" form of the language. This post delves into the history of Spanish to debunk this…
While English readily borrows words, Icelandic takes a different path, deliberately creating new terms from its Old Norse roots. This practice, known as linguistic purism, gives us poetic words like…
Ever wonder why we have "correct" spelling and grammar? These rules aren't timeless truths but were forged by powerful forces like the printing press, national academies, and ambitious reformers. We…