8 posts tagged “language”
Ĉu vi konas la vorton “kabei”? Ĝi signifas “estinte aktivulo forlasi la Esperanto-movadon”.
Kabe estis la pseŭdonimo de pola okulkuracisto d-ro Kazimierz BIEN, frua esperantisto kaj unu el la plaj grandaj stilistoj dum la frua periodo de nia lingvo.
Kabe, kiu estis la vicprezidanto de la Akademio de Esperanto, verkis vortaron kaj tradukis romanon, La Faraono, de Bolesław Prus.
En 1911, Kabe kabeis – li senkomente forlasis la movadon. Li donis siajn kialojn nur en 1931, kiam li iris dum intervjuo, ke li ne plu kredis, ke Esperanto estis la solvo de la lingvo internacia.
Do, vi nun scias kial ni utilas la vorton “kabei”.
Regular readers of my blog will know that I sometimes post in another language.
It is called Esperanto, and it is a planned language, designed with the intention to facilitate communication between people with different home languages - an international language, as it were.
The fundaments of the language were published in 1887 by Esperanto's creator, a Polish eye specialist, Dr LL Zamenhof, who used the pseudonym "Dr Esperanto". The word means "one who hopes".
Today, Esperanto has an estimated two million speakers. It also boasts a vast body of literature and music, spanning most genres.
Esperanto is purposely easy to learn. In fact, it is estimated to be 10 times easier than French or German, meaning that in one mont, the student of Esperanto should have a command of the language equivalent to that of someone who has been studying German for 10 months!
If you're interested in finding out more, pop into the Esperanto group on Vox. Posting is welcome in both English and Esperanto. Otherwise, just send me a private message!
Since people enjoyed my earlier post on South African English, I thought I’d follow it up with some more South African words and expressions. I'd welcome further suggestions from fellow South Africans.
kief – nice, great
graze - eat
hap - bite
I’ll give you a bell – I’ll phone you
koppie – a small hill
eina! – ouch!
I’ll klap you – I’ll smack you
gatvol – fed up
vrot – rotten
sarmie – sandwich
oke/ou – guy/chap
gooi - throw
nooit - no/never
How to use some of the words we have learned so far:
"Howzit bru! What are you grazing?"
"A sarmie."
"That's a kief-looking sarmie, hey. Give us a hap."
"Nooit! Touch it and I'll klap you!"
If you have never been to South Africa, speaking to an English-speaking South African can be an exceptionally confusing experience. Here’s a brief introduction.
You might hear us say something like: “Howzit bru! Sorry I’m late, but I couldn’t find my tekkies, and then I got caught by the robots. I didn’t miss anything, hey?”
If you live in the United States or in Europe, that’ll be a bit nonsensical.
Although South African English derives mainly from UK English, especially in terms of spelling conventions and vocabulary, it has also been influenced heavily by Afrikaans, a South African language derived from Dutch.
The translation of the paragraph quoted above is: “Hi bro! I’m sorry I’m late, but I couldn’t find my sneakers, and then I was delayed at the traffic lights. I didn’t miss anything, did I?”
In standard South African English, we use words like lift, freeway, nappy, hooter, bonnet and boot (US: elevator, highway, diaper, horn, hood and trunk). But since most of our TV shows are imported from America, our youth, who tend not to read much (except on the internet), are starting to talk American English rather than standard English.
Some South African
English words:
Kombi – a small van
Bakkie – pick-up truck
Pavement – sidewalk
Lekker – nice
Braai – barbecue
Skinner - gossip
Babbelas – a bad
hangover
Bossies – crazy
Just now – soon
Dof – stupid
Flip – inoffensive expletive
Padkos – food for
eating on a long road trip
Shame – can express
either sympathy or finding something cute
Bru – bro
Slap chips – soggy French
fries
(You need Mozilla Firefox to read the Esperanto letters. Internet Explorer does not recognise them.)
(Vi bezonas Mozilla Firefox-on por legi la Esperantajn literojn. Internet Explorer ne agnoskas ilin.)
Apparently, today is Esperanto Day, which is meaningful
to me because I often use Esperanto on my blog.
Esperanto is a planned
language intended for world communication. You can read more about the language
here.
-----oOo----- Verŝajne, hodiaŭ estas Esperanto-Tago, kiu estas signifoplena por mi, ĉar mi ofte uzas Esperanton en mia blogo. Esperanto estas planlingvo,
intencata por mondkomuniko. Vi povas legi plu pri la lingvo ĉi tie.
Just to point out to a certain colleague of mine:
you still didn't score too high on the emo scale, but a few more razor blades and you might be emo enough to start shaving your legs
to be emo or not to be emoTake More Quizzes
And so my boss keeps me around:
Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).
Are You Gooder at Grammar?Make a Quiz
What are 5 things you'd like to accomplish in the next 5 years?
The key phrase being like to, I assume.
That being the case:
1. Visit at least 10 countries I have never been to.
2. (Finally) complete my MTh degree.
3. Write a book.
4. Learn a new skill.
5. Become fluent in another language.
Kiam mi ellitiĝis hodiaŭ matene, mi memoris ke mi havis revon, en kiu mi parolis kun amiko kiu loĝas en Germanio. Kiam li loĝis ĉi tie, ni ofte parolis Esperanton, ĉar li estis profesoro de lingvistika, kaj li bone parolas nian lingvon.
Nu, en mia revo, ni disputis pri la vorto “adiaŭ”. Li kredis (nur en la revo!), ke oni devas diri “adiaŭon”, ĉar oni diras “saluton” kaj “bonvenon”. Mi malkonsentis.
Strange. Ni ambaŭ scias kial oni diras “bonvenon” ktp, kaj kial oni diras “adiaŭ”. Mi ne scias kial mi revis tiel sensencaĵon!
