Filius Lunae

Pater Noster in Latin and the Romance Languages

2012-01-28T15:39:00.000-08:00

This is a project I had been wanting to work on for sometime. It finally saw the light of day. Here is the Pater Noster prayer recorded simultaneously, line by line, in Latin and in 7 Romance Languages: Portuguese, Galician, Spanish, Catalan, French, Italian, and Romanian. It is a creation with a focus comparative linguistics, showcasing pronunciation and morphological similarities and

Memes from Romania

2011-10-20T06:56:00.000-07:00

Those memes known world-wide that spread like a virus on social media like Youtube and Facebook captivate our friends in that Eastern European (and very Latin) country just as much. These viral videos are made in a variety of languages, but not often do we find one in a language like Romanian. Here are two of these memes in their Romanian translations. The first one is a Romanian remake of

Pentru cei care spun că-mi plac doar manelele...

2011-10-13T23:53:00.000-07:00

Nu. Nu-i așa. Amu îmi place și muzica moldovenească. Din Republica Moldova. Foarti ghini, nu credeți ? Și un mic mesaj pi cari l-am postat astăzi:

Romanian-speaking world

2011-10-08T16:57:00.000-07:00

Whenever we hear the word "Romanian", we think of a little country in Eastern Europe. If you've never delved into foreign languages or linguistics, that's probably all that comes into your mind. If you do have a language or linguistics background, then you know that "Romanian" refers to a Romance language spoken in the Balkans — a Romance language with influences from Slavic — cue in the

Accent moldovenesc

2011-10-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm being exposed more and more to the accent from the Moldova region in Romania. A recent example is the performance of Jaga Jaga I wrote about last time—a song originally sang in Hebrew remade in Romanian with a Moldovan accent. I came across two other Jaga Jaga performances by different Romanian singers. The first one is sang with a standard Romanian pronunciation, which is based on the

You know you're digesting too much Romanian...

2011-09-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

when you start putting the definite article after the noun . . . in English. The screenshot above is part of a comment I wrote as a response to a reader on the topic of the Romanian /r/. It was an unconscious and sincere mistake, and I could not help it but to chuckle as I discovered it days later. There is no doubt that being a polyglot impacts the way you express yourself in speech and

Jaga Jaga

2011-09-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

And this is why I'm in love with the Romanian language—because of masterpieces like this: Songs are undoubtedly excellent tools for learning the vernacular. This particular piece has taught me a regional variation of a common Romanian word—a variant of the word "now", according to the DEX, used in the North of Romania: AMÚ adv. (Pop.) Acum. – Lat. ad-modo.

Uvular r in Romanian

2011-09-23T08:15:00.000-07:00

Keeping up with various broadcasts from Romania, I have started to notice more and more accents and registers of the language. One pronunciation aspect that has truly stood out lately is a uvular /r/, of the variety commonly identified with the French language, [ʀ] or [ʁ], heard instead of the usual Romanian /r/, [r] or [ɾ]. The first time I heard it from a reporter on the Antena 3 news, I

Changing regional accents in singing

2011-09-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago, I wrote about a Spanish translation of the US National Anthem, analyzing the translation, but more specifically, my focus was studying how a group of people from different countries come together to work on a media project—the interest being in how their different accents interact to create a single product. In the comments section of that post, a reader brought up the issue of

Muñeca de Cera

2011-08-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

Some time ago, I covered a Spanish rendition of the French song Poupée de Cire. That particular version was more of a comedy skit performed by the Andalusian La Terremoto. Recently, I have across some older Spanish versions of the French piece by various Latin American artists. Like La Terremoto's version, each translation of the song here retains the line poupée de cire, poupée de son in the

Harrius Potter 2

2011-07-29T17:38:00.000-07:00

For the past two months, I have been using a lot more French, and Romanian is taking a rest at the moment. Not that I have ended my relationship with Romanian; not whatsoever. I have simply gone from using Romanian actively almost everyday to using French. It has to do with the people around me. I will still continue with Romanian; I will write about my manele, and the like. While I found

Osama bin Laden mortuus

2011-05-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

Nuntii Latini reports today about the incident by which the terrorist Osama bin Laden was killed: Osama bin Laden, dux ordinis Al-Qaida et terrorista in orbe terrarum maxime quaesitus, Kalendis Maiis occisus est. Barack Obama, praesidens Civitatum Americae Unitarum, oratione televisifice habita nuntiavit eum mortuum esse impetu militari a parva manu Americanorum speciali in Pakistania facto.

Cinco de mayo

2011-05-05T21:07:00.000-07:00

El cinco de Mayo. The fifth of May. Traditionally a holiday in the United States that commemorates the victory in the Battle of Puebla, it brings out festivities inspired by genuine Mexican culture. The Spanish name for the day is kept in English — "cinco de mayo" becomes synonymous with "Mexican-style celebration". Like other holidays in the US, this one too invokes a greeting of the "Happy.."-

Translator's Mishap

2011-05-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

Or what we would ordinarily refer to as "translation fail". The following showed up on my Facebook news feed recently. It will be filed under "Why I shouldn't trust automatic translators". What we take from it is that automatic translations should be taken with a grain a salt — their use is to be restricted for personal use only in order to get a general idea about a text written in a

Finis Harrii Potteri

2011-04-27T07:32:00.000-07:00

IAM LIBRUM PRIMUM ORDINIS HARRII POTTERI HODIE PERFECI. NARRATIO OMNIS MULTUM MIHI PLACUIT. SPERO VOS LATINAM LINGUAM AMANTES OCCASIONEM CAPERE AD EUNDEM LIBRUM LEGENDUM. FABULA OPTIMA FUIT UT TRISTIS SIM QUOD AD FINEM ADVENIT. AUCTOR LIBRII ATQUE INTERPRES, PERITI PRO OPERA SUA LAUDANDI. PER ACTA HARRII ET AMICORUM EIUS, RONALDI HERMIONISQUE, MUNDUM SOMNIORUM MAGNIFICUM COGNOSCIMUS QUI NOS

Hristos a înviat

2011-04-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

That is the message seen today all over the Romanian media. It is a signal for Christians to rejoice, as the message announces Jesus's resurrection — "Christ has arisen!" becomes a chant on Easter Sunday. The verb used is a învia, not from the Latin INVIARE (from which we get Spanish/Portuguese enviar, French envoyer, Italian inviare, "to send"), but a compound consisting of în "in" +

Hai Nevasta mea

2011-04-23T18:47:00.000-07:00

Narcisa has released new material: Hai Nevasta Mea from an upcoming album. We see here one of the many words from Slavic in Romanian — nevastă (wife), derived from Old Slavic nevĕsta. (DEX) I had the opportunity to exchange some emails with Narcisa. She was supportive of my liking for manele, while most other Romanians advise me to never ever listen to this music genre ("if it

Vox Latina

2011-04-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

As I approach the last chapter in the Harrius Potter book, I have acquired a copy of W. Sidney Allen's VOX LATINA: The Pronunciation of Classical Latin. I have worked with similar material on the subject, but have always wanted to get the opportunity to read through Mr. Allen's work. Already just reading the foreword, I like him. His words mirror exactly the way I feel about Latin — always giving

Quidditch explained

2011-04-19T07:10:00.000-07:00

in Latin. I knew when I started Harrius Potter that I wanted to record some passages from the book. When I came to the part about Quidditch in the story, I knew it would be the selection I would record — the thorough explanation of a new concept in Latin seemed appealing. In this section, Silvius is explaining to Harry Potter how the game of Quidditch is played. Silvius tells the inexperienced

Ironía española

2011-04-18T07:41:00.000-07:00

It's said that if you have to explain a joke, then it loses its comedic effect. So I leave it to you to figure out what stands out from the picture below, in which you won't find any sense unless you know Spanish. Taken in Los Angeles, CA Ironically well written otherwise Hint (I wouldn't leave you without one): Orthographic and in Spanish have the same pronunciation, and, so, are

Harrius Potter Continued

2011-04-16T18:14:00.000-07:00
I have continued my reading of the Latin version of Harry Potter. As I explained when I began this language adventure, my plan was to read the Romanian version alongside the Latin one. I followed this practice for the first few chapters of the story: I would read a few pages in one language, then read the same passages in the other language. This was great as it helped me to develop my vocabulary

Stupida - Estúpida

2011-02-17T08:50:00.000-08:00
Stupida, originally recorded in Italian by Alessandra Amorosso (from Lecce, Italy), then remade Salsa-style in Spanish by the Puerto Rican La India (she also recorded a slower, ballad version of the same song). The lyrics were changed around a bit in the Spanish version, but, overall, the message of the song is the same as the original Italian. Below is the the chorus part for both languages.

Duas lagrimas de orvalho

2011-02-11T07:26:00.000-08:00
Two tears of dew fell into my hands when I caressed your face.Poor me, I'm not worthy of aiding you in the misfortune, of deserving you in sorrow's way.The reason for your crying you won't tell me. You don't have to say why, I can guess, in any case.The unhappy lovers should have the courage to change their course. By love, we give our souls, we give our body, we give everything until the journey

Nuestro Himno

2011-02-09T09:19:00.000-08:00
With the recent attention brought to the lyrics of the US National Anthem after Christina Aguilera made a mistake during her performance at the Super Bowl, here is an adaption of the anthem in Spanish from 2006. Going by the title of Nuestro Himno (Our Anthem), it served as a tool in a pro-immigration movement by the Hispanic community in the US. It incorporated the voices of several singers

Conosca > Conozca

2011-02-07T07:00:00.000-08:00
This is an advertisement I came across recently in the streets of Los Angeles which serves as an example of two things: 1) The prevalent use of the Spanish language in this city, in many settings acting as an unofficially official second language, as is the case throughout California, and other states in the Union. 2) A spelling problem that seseante communities are faced with, at times: writing

Dança do Quadrado

2011-02-04T08:24:00.000-08:00
I try to stay on top of internet memes and viral sensations across all the Romance languages, but, of course, it's impossible to review them all. Among the ones I have missed, there is one from Brazil: Dança do Quadrado (Dance of the Square). The premise of the skit is that the three dancers perform the actions the song calls for, all within the boundaries of their own squares — no seu quadrado

I Swear Porn Ggod

2011-02-03T08:07:00.000-08:00
One has to wonder what could have driven the person working on this Spanish CD to incur such curiously creative typo, intrusive and amusing at the same time. Intended title: Juro Por Dios A rough equivalent in English that retains the same effect as the Spanish is the title of this post: I SWEAR PORN GGOD (I swear for God = I swear by God).

"Tatăl Meu" Recited

2011-02-01T08:03:00.000-08:00
I've written extensively about my experiences with the Romanian language, in both English and in Romanian. However, I haven't, as of yet, presented anything spoken, and I know certain people were wondering about the missing oral part of the picture. For this recording, I am reciting the lyrics to a piece sung by Nicoleta Guță. I imagine these lyrics as a poem I enjoy, which is the reason I

Romanglish

2011-01-31T13:12:00.000-08:00
On Facebook. Most of the translations found available on these social sites are a collaborative volunteer effort by native speakers of a given language. On Facebook, for instance, you enable the Translations interface, you select your language, and you're able to right-click on any one line, and suggest or correct a translation. Translation interface after right-clicking a word A

Mulțumesc

2011-01-30T08:35:00.000-08:00
I would like to thank all the Romanians who have sent me messages praising my writing and my passion for their language. I want to thank those who have mentioned me publicly in their own blogs showing their admiration for this linguistically inclined Californian who is reading Harry Potter in Romanian, who watches Romanian reality shows, and who, according to them, writes Romanian flawlessly. My

Top 10 (Romance) Language Crossovers

2011-01-28T08:04:00.000-08:00
The concept of covers in music is something we're all familiar with. It's practiced with music of all languages, by artists of all nationalities, as they seek to pay tribute to the original singer of a given song. Generally, this all takes place within the context of a single language, months or years after the original piece was recorded. What happens sometimes, though, is that the original

Social media done right

2011-01-25T08:39:00.000-08:00
For anyone involved with languages, that is. One of my main resources in learning a language (or, as I'd like to say "becoming familiar with a new Latin dialect", but let's stick to standard terminology) is surrounding myself with that language as much as possible. Not just read the language, not just hear it or speak it, but actually live it. This experience mimics being in the country where

UTIMINI LINGUA VOSTRA

2011-01-24T14:18:00.000-08:00
I have been telling visitors to this blog that they may write in the Romance language of their choice. I have added it to the About section: Can I use other languages besides English in the comments section? Yes, please do. In fact, I encourage it. Feel free to use any of the major and minority Romance languages, and Latin. This is something I have been doing myself in the comments of this site

"We don't have a language. We have a problem"

2011-01-22T18:52:00.000-08:00
The recent changes in the Spanish Senate continue to gather attention everywhere. A very vocal response to the issue comes from writer Manuel Rivas, who had an article in Galician published in the Spanish-language newspaper, El País. The article, titled As Senadoras, o galego e o Espírito Santo ("The Senators, Galician and the Holy Spirit"), deals with the first multilingual Senate meeting, in

La Bruja Lola

2011-01-21T07:27:00.000-08:00
I've talked about several times before about the Southern Spanish accents (1, 2, 3), pointing out the similarities between them and the Latin American accents, and the features that separate them from the Northern Spanish ones. Here is an example of another variety of Andalusian speech. We see here the ever-so lovely and elloquent la Bruja Lola Montero. The main difference heard in la Bruja

Languages of Spain - Naming Convention

2011-01-19T19:14:00.000-08:00
As part of the coverage The Guardian is providing for the new linguistic measure in the Spanish Senate, a graphic artist from the reporting website has created an interactive map showing the areas where the different Spanish languages are spoken. It's very simplistic, but it should give the average reader an idea of the language situation in Spain. Click on the map to interact with it on

"Rights don't have a price"

2011-01-19T07:45:00.000-08:00
That's what various political parties in Spain are saying as they claim the right to speak in the official languages of their autonomous regions during plenary sessions in the Spanish Senate, reports ElMundo.es. Starting yesterday, senators from Catalunya, Valencia, the Basque Country, and Galicia will be able to use their respective regional languages while simultaneous translation is provided

Cavalerii de Smarald

2011-01-17T06:19:00.000-08:00
Another fiction book I would like to get into, perhaps once I am finished with my Harrius Potter experiment. Les Chevaliers d'Émeraude is the original French title of the series, written by the Québécoise author, Anne Robillard — "The Knights of Emerald" is the English title. My interest, however, is not to read it in French, but, rather, to acquire the Romanian translation: Cavalerii de

Miss Fata de la Țară

2011-01-16T07:23:00.000-08:00
A literal translation of this title would be "Miss Girl from the Countryside". If a similar émission were to make it to the US, it would probably be called "Miss Country". To find a girl from the countryside, take her to city, and turn her into a model — that is exactly the focus of this Romanian reality show, one that I have been following for the past few months. I have explained before that

Deus ti salvet, Maria

2011-01-11T23:09:00.000-08:00
I came across a religious song in Sardinian that prompted me to write for the first time about this language, not often brought up, otherwise. Material in a minority language such as Sardinian is scarce, unfortunately, so every bit available is always welcome and helpful. Personally, I haven't delved very much into the minority Romance languages because my goal has always been to be able to

Chow Mein Noodles

2011-01-09T22:20:00.000-08:00
Now, we have Engrish for cases of butchered attempts at our precious English language, but, what name would we use to refer to messed up Spanish? Españor? Spangrish sounds nice, especially if a certain mistranslation goes through English as the "middleman", going from Spanish to Spanglish (via Spanish coming from English), finally arriving at Spangrish, which would be the final masterpiece on the

Mudanzas

2011-01-07T17:28:00.000-08:00
I recently discovered that a song in Spanish by the name of Mudanzas, popularized in the 80's by the Mexican singer Lupita D'Alessio, and covered by more artists in the last decade, was actually first recorded in Portuguese by the Brazilian Vanusa. It was interesting to see that the translation to Spanish is almost identical to the Portuguese original, a linguistic freedom allowed with two

El dialecto tarahumara

2011-01-06T23:30:00.000-08:00
This is a comedy skit from a Mexican show that features Britney Spears speaking one of the indigenous languages from Mexico. Clearly, the interview taking place has been altered, and Britney Spears isn't truly responding to the questions being heard. Nonetheless, it is a well-made comedic performance that deserved mention in my book. Of linguistic importance, we

La mulți ani

2011-01-04T00:58:00.000-08:00
After returning from some traveling over the holidays, Filius Lunae starts off the year with plenty of ideas for upcoming posts. I thank you all for your companionship on all these linguistic issues discussed here, as they teach us not only about the languages themselves, but also about the people who speak them, their cultures and their societies. For now, I wish you all a happy 2011 year.Feliz

Nuntii Latini New Look

2010-12-17T23:24:00.000-08:00
I was reading over the news in Latin on Nuntii Latini, and noticed a new design on the main page, one which I like more than the last one. The pictures and the colors truly give it an ancient-newspaper-a-Roman-would-read type of look. On the subject of Latin, I have been reading more Latin this week. I've continued my Harry Potter adventure in Latin for a few chapters, and have neglected the

Monk Knight

2010-12-09T07:42:00.000-08:00
My favorite fadista of all times, Mariza, sings this great poem by the Portuguese icon Fernando Pessoa. The poem itself is lyrical, and so lends itself for this fusion with fado that Mariza has recorded. The music video goes along with the mood of the mournful melody, and gives off vibes of quietness and relaxation. We are treated to a medieval image, reminiscent of the era which the poem

Dual language reading

2010-12-06T08:24:00.000-08:00
I'm usually not the type to read novels. Most of the material I do read is academic in nature — non-fiction rather than fiction. I do make exceptions, however, though in order for me to take interest in any sort of fiction writing, it has to be in a foreign language. Killing two birds with one stone, if you will — the first objective is to get some practice in the target language; enjoying the

Susan Boyle sings in Spanish

2010-12-02T17:59:00.000-08:00
I came across this sometime ago, and had shared it privately, but it is worth it of a mention on FiliusLunae. Yes, you read correctly: Susan Boyle wants to reach the millions of Spanish speakers worldwide. And, she recorded a song in Spanish to prove she's capable. Susan Boyle performs Rata de dos patas (Click to listen) Susan Boyle — Photo: Source Ok, fine, she doesn't speak Spanish. And

Bush in Spanish

2010-11-29T16:53:00.000-08:00
Here is a video of former US President George W. Bush speaking Spanish during his last year in office. Transcription of the Spanish: Este es el último mes de la hispanidad que paso como presidente. Y por eso, le dije a mi personal que hoy quería hablarles sólo en español. ... "[...] presidente, antes de dar un discurso en español, ¿por qué no llega

Cantigas de Santa Maria

2010-11-28T15:34:00.000-08:00
From the English Wikipedia: The Cantigas de Santa Maria ("Canticles of Holy Mary") are manuscripts written in Galician-Portuguese, with musical notation, during the reign of Alfonso X El Sabio (1221–1284) and are one of the largest collections of monophonic (solo) songs from the Middle Ages. All of the songs at least mention the Virgin Mary, and every 10th is a religious hymn. What brought

El Día del Pavo

2010-11-25T18:54:00.000-08:00
I once came across a language teacher who expressed to me that she despised that Latinos in the U.S. would refer to Thanksgiving Day as El día del pavo (Turkey day). The reality is that this is what the holiday is referred to by Latinos when speaking Spanish. The translation regarded as (prescriptively) standard for "Thanksgiving Day", el día de acción de gracias, is felt as more formal and

I'm more Romanian than thou

2010-11-25T14:48:00.000-08:00
Recently, I came across a new blog that is virtually the cultural equivalent of Filius Lunae's raw linguistics focus for Romanian: I'm more Romanian than Thou. The blog's author, Sam, is an American who moved to Romania, and, from there, shares her his views and experiences as a foreigner adapting to Romanian life. She He claims, as the blog's tagline: You might be born in Romania, carry a

Adventures in the Confusion of Romance

2010-11-21T07:56:00.000-08:00
[Update: The original video was removed from Youtube; a new version was found, and the link has been updated.] In the past, I have taken a close look at how similar languages like Portuguese and Spanish can be, both written and spoken. Following here is a situation, involving another pair of languages, that plays out in the comments of a video on Youtube. The story tells itself; my commentary

Todos me miran

2010-11-18T07:30:00.000-08:00
A song by Gloria Trevi which I translated and subtitled sometime ago: Todos me miran - Everyone's looking at me. This is the same singer that wrote and recorded Psicofonía, analyzed earlier on the site. (Video unavailable in Germany)

Romance within Indo-European

2010-11-14T22:45:00.000-08:00
I liked this extensive tree detailing the origins of each language family within Indo-European, created collaboratively on Wikipedia. Of interest to this site, certainly, is the Italic branch from which was born Latin, and subsequently, the Neo-Latin, or Romance, tongues; this part is highlighted below. From Wikipedia: IndoEuropeanTree.svg Partial tree of Indo-European languages. Branches are

Psicofonía

2010-11-12T18:53:00.000-08:00
Psicofonía. 1. f. En parapsicología, grabación de sonidos atribuidos a espíritus del más allá. 2. f. En parapsicología, estos mismos sonidos. In English, more commonly known as electronic voice phenomena: electronically generated noises that resemble speech, but are not the result of intentional voice recordings or renderings. [...] Some have claimed these sounds are of

Romance God

2010-11-11T07:25:00.000-08:00
God throughout Romance and Latin. The word in all languages, except Romanian, derives from the Latin DEUS, whose vocative form was the same as nominative – DEUS. The Romanian word is a compound formed by the same Latin DEUS, and the vocative of DOMINUS: DOMINE (meaning "Lord"). LatinDOMINEDEUS RomanianDumnezeu PortugueseDeus SpanishDios CatalanDéu FrenchDieu ItalianDio Some phonological

A doua manea

2010-11-07T18:29:00.000-08:00
Here is a second manea that is among my favorites. Like many manele that deal with the subject of family, with titles ranging from "You are my brother" and "My father" to "I miss my children", and even one titled "Neighbor", this particular manea is about a woman's Gypsy husband, suspected of cheating on her. It starts off with the wife yelling at her companion, accusing him of being with another

O manea

2010-11-05T07:55:00.000-07:00
When I let Romanians know that I enjoy manele, the usual reaction from them is that of disgust. They not only tell me that they consider the music genre a horrible one, but also advise me not to listen to it. What about manele makes them so terrible to the ears of many Romanians? Manea (plural: manele) is a music style from Romania, generally associated with the Romani (Gypsy) minority,

Señorita Sainz

2010-11-02T07:13:00.000-07:00
During the month of September in the US, we witnessed a female Mexican reporter by the name of Ines Sainz make the headlines. The actual reporting of the incident that put her on the spotlight will be left to the corresponding media channels. What is of interest here are statements she made to the Spanish media, testimony which was not covered by English publications or broadcasts. In the US,

Romanian Status Quo

2010-10-31T06:59:00.000-07:00
My first reaction when I started learning little things in Romanian was that it was a strange language, and I found it unlikely I would ever gain a true mastery of the language as opposed to simply having passive knowledge of it. I figured I would become fluent in Italian first before ever thinking about diving seriously into Romanian. Over the years, I did gain that passive knowledge of the

¿A quién le importa?

2010-10-28T18:20:00.000-07:00
On the subject of La Terremoto, here is another piece she covered. In this instance, unlike the song in the previous entry, she doesn't change the lyrics; they're kept intact, she simply sings the song in her own peculiar style. We will examine three versions of the song: the original recording by the Spanish singer Alaska1 in the 80's; the cover in 2002 by Thalia from Mexico; and the current

Spanish Poupée de Cire

2010-10-25T22:54:00.000-07:00
One of the reasons I have become a fan of La Terremoto de Alcorcón over the years is because she has introduced me to a couple of classic hits that I would have most likely not have come across otherwise. A recent piece of this kind is her own remake of Poupée de Cire, the winning entry to the Eurovision Song Contest from 1965 (the original performance here). As is usual with La Terremoto, her

Mala

2009-11-20T07:49:00.000-08:00
As an extension to a previous post titled Malo (coincidentally, the title of this post is Mala), I will continue with the discussion of Spanish dialectology. We will look at pronunciation, in particular, paying attention to the regional spread of the change of syllable-final /-s/ becoming [-h]. We're going to compare two accents, one from Southern Spain and one of from the Caribbean. This will

Language Ambiguity

2009-11-09T18:20:00.000-08:00
Some time ago, I came across an old discussion on the Antimoon forums in which forum goers talk about how spoken Greek resembles Spanish. The forum topic starts off with a poster saying: As many (or few) may know, Modern-Greek and Spanish are similar in pronunciation [...]. Someone in the forum links to this music video and asks others to listen to the song so that they can hear for themselves

Malo

2009-11-05T21:54:00.000-08:00
Some time ago, I translated a song titled Malo, performed by the Spanish singer Bebe. The song deals with the topic of domestic violence; and while that's a subject of concern on itself, what is of interest here is its linguistic factor: it showcases the singer's accent. The lyrics being quite strong and explicit, I translated the song into English with some freedom, in an

Ave, Maria

2009-11-02T07:30:00.000-08:00
The second post with Ave in the title, only a few days after the first one, makes its way to Filius Lunae. Below, we have the Ave Maria (or Hail Mary) recited in Latin by me; just like I did with the Pater Noster, it is read with a Classical pronunciation. Refer to the previous post that discusses the details of this restored, Classical pronunciation in these prayers.

Turu Turu

2009-10-31T20:36:00.000-07:00
Turu Turu is a song that was originally composed in Italian by Gianfranco Caliendo. After its success in Italian, it was translated and sung in Catalan, Spanish and finally, in Portuguese. The Catalan and Spanish version are very close to the Italian original, keeping the same title and very similar phrasing thoughout the song. The Portuguese version differs more with regards to the translation

Mamá, Papá

2009-10-29T18:50:00.000-07:00
Mark at Language Log links to a cartoon that deals with the universality of the sounds in the words mother and father, and their origin, that includes an interesting punch line: It's so amazing: "ma", "pa" are some of the first and easiest language-like sounds babbling babies make - and what's the word for "mother in English? "Mama"! And it's also "mama" in Dutch, and in Romanian, and in

Ave, Aurora

2009-10-27T06:19:00.000-07:00
Here's a poem composed in the 1800's by the Brazilian Antônio Lopes Castro. Written with the purpose of showing the affinity Portuguese has with Latin, this poem can be read in either of those two languages. AVE, AURORA ! Salve, aurora ! eia, refulge !Eia, anima valles, montes !Hymnos canta, o Philomela,Hymnos jucundos, insontes ! Quam pura, quam pudibundaEs tu, aurora formosa !Diffunde

Vivo Por Ella, Vivo Por Ela

2009-10-25T22:08:00.000-07:00
Bilingual songs aren't any sort of novelty. However, I am attracted to the combination of certain languages (Romance, of course), in particular, Spanish and Portuguese. While Spanish speakers can understand written Portuguese without much difficulty, they have a hard time doing the same with spoken Portuguese. Portuguese speakers, on the other hand, are able to understand both written and spoken

É é

2009-10-23T22:06:00.000-07:00
From Language Hat: IS IS, WAS IS.For years now I've been noticing the increasing prevalence of the grammatically unmotivated doubling of is, as in "The thing is is that..." [...] I was recently watching a Nova program about the mission to repair the Hubble when I heard astronaut Mike Massimino say "My point was is..." [...]. The observation above lends itself for a discussion

Thank You

2009-10-21T21:18:00.000-07:00
On this post, we will look at the various ways of saying thank you in the Romance languages, in comparison to each other and Latin. Although this expression of gratitude has different origins in some of these languages, they all conserve, to some extent, the original Latin GRATIAS in the phrase meaning thanks to, which we will review at the end. Portuguese Obrigado From the past participle of

Nuntii Latini

2009-10-19T22:52:00.001-07:00
Continuing from my last entry about the different pronunciations of Latin today, I want to talk about Nuntii Latini, a Finnish radio program covering international news in Latin. Widely known and praised around the world, it considered a valuable resource for Latinists and students of the language alike. Of concern here is the pronunciation used by the newscasters. Their website states that

Pater Noster

2009-10-18T20:33:00.000-07:00
The Lord's Prayer in Latin, read by myself, Filius Lunae, with a Classical pronunciation. This being an ecclesiastical text, it is usually read with what's referred to as a Church pronunciation. This pronunciation developed over the centuries, as Latin thrived as the European lingua franca throughout the Middle Ages. It is a direct development of Vulgar Latin, the Latin spoken by the Romans that

Filius Lunae - Relaunch

2009-10-17T21:02:00.000-07:00
Today, this blog is being relaunched with a new name, new look and new domain. The new name: Filius Lunae; the new domain: filiuslunae.com. The description and the theme of the blog remain the same: Thoughts about the Romance Languages. Another thing that stays the same: the author, returning after a very long hiatus. During this time, I can say I have become more seasoned and more acquainted

Audio Problem

2005-07-29T16:07:00.000-07:00
From the Unilang Portuguese Forum, I bring this Portuguese lesson: "How not to speak Portuguese" as it was advertised there. Watch and hear the lesson Apparently, the woman being interviewed, Ruth Lemos, had an audio problem which basically echoed her own voice and confused her a lot. It seems to not have been caused by a stroke or anything of that sort. So if you're learning Portuguese,

Learning Romanian

2005-07-04T19:43:00.000-07:00
Indeed... the language I said it would be years before I learned; I'm now learning it. Something sparked suddenly my interest in the Latin forum I participate in. There were some comparisons being made concerning the evolution of certain sounds in Romanian from Latin. This caused me to search a bit, and I've now officially begun to learn this very beautiful (that's correct) language, like all the

Vulgata

2005-03-23T14:12:00.000-08:00
Just updating everyone on what I'm what doing language-wise: I have begun to read the Bible... in Latin! I'm at the point where I can just read the Vulgate quite smoothly, having to use a dictionary sparingly. For those not familiar with Latin, the Vulgate, as translated by St. Jerome, uses a Latin with constructions not as complex as those found with ancient authors, such as Cicero or Caesar.

Learning Occitan

2005-03-15T15:10:00.000-08:00
In the past few weeks, I have had to write several papers for my classes, so I haven't had much time left to write to Romanika. The free time that I have had has not gone in vain though. I continue my studies of Latin, a language which, like I've said, I approach differently than the Romance languages. Also, besides Latin, I took the decision of getting started with yet another Romance languages:

Romanian not Romance?

2005-02-07T21:39:00.000-08:00
From my reader mail, I received this one in particular which will allow me to discuss something I'm sure other Romanika visitors have wondered about: I guess Romanian is no longer a Romance language? I stumbled upon your blog and almost shit my pants with anger when I saw, "My everyday thoughts on the Romance Languages: Portuguese, Spanish, French, Catalan, Italian." Where is Romanian?? It

Clitics And More Second Person

2005-01-30T11:51:00.000-08:00
From a reader learning Portuguese, I received an email containing a few doubts regarding language usage: Hi! I'm mexican and I found this page helpful for those learning Romance Languages. I've been learning portuguese by my own without the necessity of assisting to classes. I don't know if this is the right place where I can ask doubts. Anyway, in Brazilian Portuguese, when you talk to a friend

Universal Conjugator

2005-01-26T23:23:00.000-08:00
Languagehat has linked to the Logos International Conjugator, a web application that gives a complete conjugation paradigm of a given verb, similar to what Verbix provides. Verbix, however, requires the dictionary form of a verb, while Logos accepts any form, resulting in a list of possible infinitives in different languages from which you may choose the one sought. Another interesting feature is

Lo In, Lo Out

2005-01-15T23:31:00.000-08:00
Lately, I have talked about anglicisms in use in Spanish, particularly in Mexico. Today, as I watched La Oreja, a Mexican entertainment program, I heard two more English words used in Spanish in an interesting way I had never encountered before. Popular tabloid reporters were being asked what would be Lo in and Lo out this year. This is a case of serious Spanglish, except this time not in the US,

From Celine's blog: Frenglish

2005-01-12T23:03:00.000-08:00
Via languagehat, I found Naked Translations, a blog by a French woman named Celine, living in the United Kingdom. She's a translator and writes about the things she has to live through translating from English into her native language, French. Since I deal with nothing else than the Romance languages, a blog dealing with French itself goes right along the lines of Romanika. Celine even has her

Gana La Verde

2005-01-10T19:27:00.000-08:00
A reality show named Gana La Verde began production several months ago by a television station in Los Angeles. It has been nothing but controversial not only in the US, but also in the international media. For fans of reality shows, imagine Fear Factor, the same type of challenges and feeling, except in Spanish and instead of the cash prize at the end, the winner gets a group of immigration

Speak American?

2005-01-09T14:45:00.000-08:00
There was a show on PBS the other day discussing the phases which American English is undergoing today called "Do You Speak American?". It is actually a series of episodes that will be airing in the coming weeks. I was lucky enough to catch on that day the episode that could most interest us: Spanish in the US. As I saw it, the series will be dedicating one episode to several of the major

Teibol...Teibolera

2005-01-08T01:51:00.000-08:00
In the past few months, I have been hearing words relating to table dance all over Mexican television programs, particularly in the novelas (soap operas) and talk shows; of these words, the most prominents being teibol and teibolera, whose etymologies are directly linked to English "table". Teibol is simply a Hispanicization of "table", it being pronounced ['tejβɔl], and it is short for "table

Nicotina

2005-01-07T13:32:00.000-08:00
A movie was realeased in the United States with the name Nicotina: La Vida Unfiltered. It is a very good example of Spanglish being put to use. The movie itself, made in Mexico, is spoken in Spanish. On the movie's poster, there is a tablet from lotería, Mexico's version of bingo. The usual loteria tablets have squares, with pictures and their respective names in Spanish, such as a mermaid with

Second Person In Portuguese

2004-07-29T15:47:00.000-07:00
.case {font-weight: bold; text-align: center;} td { text-align: center;} There is a phenomenon related to the semantic second-person in Portuguese. There is a series of clitics and obliques associated with uncorresponding subject and, at times, verb forms. It is not limited to Brazil or Portugal alone, it occurs in both countries, though realized in different ways. These are assymetrical uses,

Slogans From A Fast Food Place

2004-06-05T22:09:00.000-07:00
I'm lovin' it is the current slogan for the biggest and most known fast food chain on the globe: McDonald's®. If anyone has noticed, on the bags from this restaurant, the slogan is found in numerous languages, including Chinese, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, besides English. This was launched in the latest marketing campaign of the company, simultaneously worldwide at the end

Eddie

2004-05-31T01:44:00.000-07:00
Following here are the several pronunciations of my own name (Eddie) that I have encountered in speakers of the different Romance languages.These examples, though simple, glance into some generalizations behind the individual language's phonology. This shall give an idea of several phonological processes in an environment like this one. Spanish ['eði] We see here the spirantization that takes

De Nosotros

2004-05-13T01:24:00.000-07:00
A few days ago, on a major street I saw an advertisement in Spanish for a national bank. It said: No de nosotros (Not ours) This shows the partial dissappearance I have witnessed in Spanish, particularly in the Americas, of the possessive pronoun nuestro for the locution de nosotros, literally translating to "of us", meaning somewhat "belonging to us". For instance, instead of Esta es nuestra

D Matters

2004-04-28T02:32:00.000-07:00
I include here a guide to the different renditions in Spanish of /d/ which I have encountered, found throughout the language's extensive territory. The first line in each entry is what would be considered standard, at least by the RAE (Spanish Language Academy). In sentence-initial position, and after consonants: -It is pronounced [d]: dia [dia], doy [doj], donde [donde] -Colloquially, in some

Language Affairs in Portugal and Brazil

2004-04-16T20:51:00.000-07:00
Recently, I read some news reports regarding the effect of Portuguese soap operas in Brazil. Brazil has always been a great producer of soap operas, exporting them to various countries around the world. Portugal has now begun to get into the business of soap opera exportation as well. Brazilian soap operas are seen all over, just like the Mexican ones, all of them dubbed into the target country's

Spanglish Acceptance

2004-04-09T01:56:00.000-07:00
Spanglish, as I said in my last entry, is quite alive and will keep growing. More and more is it actually being not only accepted but used as a means of communication with no shame whatsoever of it being a "hybrid" speech. Various communication mediums have begun to implement Spanglish as part of their identities, and, I dare say, of their marketing strategies. Latina Magazine prides itself in

Spanglish In Action

2004-04-03T11:14:00.000-08:00
I watched a television program the other day in one of the Spanish Networks where I witnessed one of the worst (the best?) Spanglish conversations. One woman was interviewed, and as she described a mix-up with a goverment agency, she stated: Los papeles no matcheaban. Then, a professional on the field, of Hispanic background, was asked a few things on the subject, and he said: Las personas

Some additions/changes: IPA, Archives, AmTm, RSS

2004-03-26T01:14:00.000-08:00
IPA I have taken the decision of implementing the use of the IPA - the International Phonetic Alphabet. It will make it much easier for me to transcribe pronunciations and sounds, instead of using other methods that might be confusing. When I do make use of the IPA, I will make fairly simple transcriptions, so that one needn't be a specialist on the matter to be able to read them. I believe the

The Speech of Belém, Brazil

2004-03-23T19:05:00.000-08:00
Sometime ago, I had the opportunity to meet a person from Belém, situated in the state of Pará, in Brazil. I was waiting for someone, so I decided to go into the bookstore on that street. While I waited, I browsed through the language books. At times, I like to check out how each source teaches, in different ways, any of the languages that I speak. I look to find out whether each book,

Postcard from Brazil

2004-03-19T17:11:00.000-08:00
Recently, I received a postcard from two Brazilian friends. They are Isabel, from São Paulo, and Roberta, from Rio De Janeiro. In talking to them, they have exposed more to the speech of their respective cities. That is, the pronunciation, accent, and expressions particuliar to each one of them. Of these, an interesting one is how Isabel at times pokes fun at Roberta's accent. Isabel says that