Unlocking the Universe of Languages
Explore Galician (Galego), the official language of northwest Spain, often overlooked but rich in history and culture. This unique Romance language forms a fascinating linguistic bridge between Spanish and Portuguese,…
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…
Did you know common Portuguese words like 'alface' (lettuce) and 'açúcar' (sugar) come directly from Arabic? This fascinating linguistic heritage is a direct result of the Moorish presence in Portugal,…
Why do we call the "Land of the Rising Sun" Japan instead of its native Nippon? This linguistic puzzle opens up a fascinating world of endonyms (what locals call their…
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…
In the 13th century, Kublai Khan commissioned a single, official script to unite the vast, multilingual Mongol Empire. The result was Phags-pa, a unique, vertically-written alphabet designed to write everything…