Post Tagged with "Great Britain"

Always evolving: some languages of the world and where they come from

This month’s collaborative post was inspired by a conversation between some of our contributors about languages and how much they ‘borrow’ words from one another. Malay has words from English, Turkish has words from French, English has words from Hindi, Spanish has words from Arabic. Not to mention the massive way in which European languages have influenced each other.

So here’s a look at the history and foreign influences of some of the languages spoken by PocketCultures contributors around the world.

It’s a long article, so if you’re interested in a particular country use these links: India, UK, France, Canada, Turkey, Spain, Argentina, Costa Rica, Portugal, Malaysia.

India: Hindi, English, Tamil, Marathi and many more!

Languages in India are as varied and complex as the country itself. The 2001 census estimated that there were 29 languages spoken by more than a million native speakers, 122 by more than 10,000!

We have 22 ‘official’ regional languages spoken across the country, but no ‘national language’. Hindi is often mistakenly referred to as the ‘national language’, but the constitution lists it as our ‘principal official language’. Where does Hindi come from? Well, it’s a language which evolved from a dialect spoken in northern India during the Mughal period, was influenced by Persian, and is closest to Urdu – the language today identified with Islam!

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Kiss, hug or shake hands?

This is the first in a new series of collaborative posts, where we explore different social situations from the point of view of our contributors around the world.

Today’s topic: how to greet people in different countries.

Credit

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What do you really like about your country?

Petya, a Bulgarian living in the USA, just posted about what she loves about Bulgarians:

“What I really like about Bulgarians is our complete disregard for personal space: we are nosy neighbors, tell people how to raise the children, take a lot of group trips, talk to our parents several times a week, show up uninvited, pick fruit off any tree that’s within our reach. When I am in Bulgaria, I feel very connected. I love that.”

We got chatting about it, and decided it would be cool to hear your answers too. We know you’re an international bunch, so tell us:

What do you really like about your country?

And if you’re an expat:

What do you really like about your adoptive country?

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