The Loom of Language: An Approach to the Mastery of Many Languages

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For example, 连/ 連 (both pronounced lián) are simplified and traditional versions of the character meaning connect. Different sound, Same sign, Same meaning vulna) means wool or wave, depending on whether the accent is on the first or second syllable, which is not marked in the written word Certainly it would be interesting to look into homonymy and synonymy in Proto Indo European, Proto Chinese, even Nostratic, and so on, but the challenges in confidently and precisely linking sign, pronunciation and meaning in these constructed languages is overwhelmingly difficult.

The book contains essays about the Latin and Greek origins of European words. He discusses Romance and Germanic languages. He describes trends in the syntax and semantics of the language families. I’m looking forward to someday using the section about working within the Romance and Teutonic languages. e.g. if you know the German or Dutch word, you can deduce the meaning of Swedish or Danish words. Here's an example from the Lord's Prayer that many English speakers could probably read already. Sidenote: In linguistic circles people love to dig into exceptions and point out when rules break down, which can make learners abandon something incredibly useful for fear of making mistakes. But you should not be discouraged by ivory-tower elitism. You are going to make mistakes and fall into traps no matter what, so don’t get discouraged by exceptions.

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I give it five stars for a very specific reason: the incredible time-saving insights. Here's an example. Of itself, no such change can bring the age-long calamity of war to an end; and it is a dangerous error to conceive that it can do so. We cannot hope to reach a remedy for the language obstacles to international co-operation on a democratic footing, while predatory finance capital, intrigues or armament manufacturers, and the vested interest of a rentier class in the misery of colonial peoples continue to stifle the impulse to a world-wide enterprise for the common wealth of mankind. No language reform can abolish war, while social agencies far more powerful than mere linguistic misunderstandings furnish fresh occasion for it. What intelligent language planning can do is to forge a new instrument for human collaboration on a planetary scale, when social institutions propitious to international strife no longer thwart the constructive task of planning health, leisure and plenty for all.” The Loom of Language shares much information and spirit with The Seven Sieves. The latter is also very good, but Loom is more comprehensive and easier to find. There is even a scanned copy available on Archive.org. Officially known as Cebuano, many speakers (especially outside Cebu) refer to this language as Bisayan. It is from the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family. My source is a native of Mindanao whose mother tongue is Bisayan, and is educated to university level in English and Tagalog. Datu (Sultan)/ datu (rich) is a (likely metonymic) homonymic capitonym. Different sound, Same sign, Different meaning

The compound pronounced yìyì can represent 意义 (‘sense; meaning; significance’), 异议 (‘objection; dissent’), or 意译 (‘meaning-based translation’). In the short time available, and after much discussion, they were unable to identify a synonym where two different words mean the same thing. However, wikipedia (consulted afterwards) gives both gǃú and dohmsoan for water.Saru (સારું, pronounced saa — ru (rhymes with Sue)) can be read as Saru or Haru and both mean ‘good’ (it is common to read the sound ‘sa’ as ‘ha’ without changing the meaning). Different sound, different sign, same meaning: Tautological compounding is found in English (and as we shall see in Chinese), in words such as courtyard and compounds such as subject matter, where the components (in these cases from different etymological sources) are synonymous with the compound. Different sound, Different sign, Different meaning All 8 combinations of identities and differences in sound, sign and meaning represented on a 2x2x2 cubic structure If pronunciation always closely follows spelling, this category is empty for Bisayan. Different sound, Same sign, Same meaning