Caveat: 스무th

Today at work I saw a student (I’m not sure who) had added a comment to one of my whiteboard alligators.
They gave the “annoyed alligator” something to say, with a speech bubble. What he was saying was, “스무th” [seumu-th] which is a transliteration of “smooth”, I suppose. I think there’s some kind of meme going around Korean tweenagerdom using this English word. But what I found surprising was that the transcription into the Korean alphabet (hangul) shows a certain phonological sophistication, in that the “th” sound is un-transcribed, which in turn indicates an awareness that the “th” sound doesn’t exist Korean. Normally, the “th” sound is alternately transcribed as either “ㅅ/ㅆ” [s/ss] or as “ㄷ/ㄸ” [d/tt]. And most Koreans seem singularly unaware that in fact it is not either of these sounds but rather something else. So this unusual non-transcription event makes me feel happy that at least one junior whiteboard vandal at Karma has got the concept. Here’s a picture.
picture
[daily log: walking, 8.5km; carrying heavy box to post office, 0.5km]

Caveat: nosostres…

This video (in the embedded tweet, below) is interesting to me, not because I necessarily would want to make any kind of linguistic prescription vis-a-vis the Spanish language, but rather because it represents a spontaneous, "folk-linguistic" solution to the the perceived need for truly gender-neutral language in Spanish, which makes the non-gender-neutral aspects of English look pretty minor by comparison. 

I think the substitution of "-e" for "-o/a" is perfect, and much more natural than the annoying, text-based substitutions I've seen before, like -@ or -x, which are unpronounceable and unnatural.

As a linguist, I retain my skepticism about the need for these kinds of solutions, but I nevertheless understand why people want them. I would only point out, by way of semantic counter-example, that the Korean language has a complete lack of gender markers (nouns, pronouns, etc.): it is literally impossible to know the gender of someone out of context, on linguistic cues alone. Yet this fact has hardly managed to create or support a gender-neutral culture. The belief that such is true (or necessary) is just a sort of naive and unscientific Sapirwhorfism.

[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: Foki Afa Galande

What I'm listening to right now.

Heilung, "Krigsgaldr." This looks like part of some weird Scandinavian neo-Paganist thing. But it is interesting. I find these "back-to-roots" European nativist movements culturally intriguing, but feel it's regrettable the way they get coopted by various racist and authoritarianist ideologues. I have no idea what specific ideologies are associated with this Danish group, but if they turn out to be offensive, I offer my apologies in advance. I mostly just find it linguistically and culturally interesting, and would remark on the interesting coincidences with ancient cultures all over the world – these performers are not that different from e.g. efforts to recover or reconstruct Native American pre-contact cultures. I think the non-English parts, below, are no variety of modern Scandinavian, but rather intended to be some kind of "proto-Nordic" as recovered from some ancient runic inscriptions – that's what is linguistically interesting to me.

Lyrics.

Min Warb Naseu
Wilr Made Thaim
I Bormotha Hauni

Hu War
Hu War Opkam Har a Hit Lot

Got Nafiskr Orf
Auim Suimade
Foki Afa Galande

What am I supposed to do
If I want to talk about peace and understanding
But you only understand the language of the sword
What if I want to make you understand that the path you chose leads to downfall
But you only understand the language of the sword
What if I want to tell you to leave me and my beloved ones in peace
But you only understand the language of the sword

I let the blade do the talking…
So my tongue shall become iron
And my words the mighty roar of war
Revealing my divine anger´s arrow shall strike

All action for the good of all
I see my reflection in your eyes
But my new age has just begun

The sword is soft
In the fire of the furnace
It hungers to be hit
And wants to have a hundred sisters
In the coldest state of their existence
They may dance the maddest
In the morass of the red rain

Beloved brother enemy
I sing my sword song for you
The lullaby of obliteration
So I can wake up with a smile
And bliss in my heart
And bliss in my heart
And bliss in my heart

Coexistence, Conflict, combat
Devastation, regeneration, transformation
That is the best I can do for you

I see a grey gloom on the horizon
That promises a powerful sun to rise
To melt away all moons
It will make the old fires of purification
Look like dying embers
Look like dying embers
Look like dying embers

Min Warb Naseu
Wilr Made Thaim
I Bormotha Hauni

Hu War
Hu War Opkam Har a Hit Lot

Got Nafiskr Orf
Auim Suimade
Foki Afa Galande

Hu War
Hu War Opkam Har a Hit Lot

Ylir Men Aero Their
Era Mela Os

I found some vague gestures at translation, and will only offer that the part I used as this blog post's title, "Foki Afa Galande", seems to correspond to a meaning "land of shining meadows".

The official video of the same song released by the group is interesting, too.

Heilung, "Krigsgaldr."

[daily log: walking, 7km; children herded, ~∞]

Caveat: 吉降下

"Teacher, what's your name in Korean?"

…One possible answer, but not the most easily explained or accepted (though it does, by chance, conform to the two-syllable requirement), would be to look to the Biblical passage where the name "Jared" makes an appearance:

(15)마할랄렐은 육십 오세에 야렛을 낳았고(16)야렛을 낳은 후 팔백 삼십년을 지내며 자녀를 낳았으며(17)그가 팔백 구십 오세를 향수하고 죽었더라(18)야렛은 일백 육십 이세에 에녹을 낳았고(19)에녹을 낳은 후 팔백년을 지내며 자녀를 낳았으며(20)그가 구백 육십 이세를 향수하고 죽었더라 — 창세기5장15-20

The standard Korean transcription of the Hebrew trilateral YRD is 야렛 [ya.ret], while in English Bibles it's "Jared". The Hebrew trilateral has been proposed to be related to the meaning "descended" (i.e. God descends upon him [?]). 

In fact, though, the use of "Biblical names" is not typical in Korea, even among the many hardcore Pentecostals. The Catholics, at least, generally baptize their kids with saints' names, but even these baptismal names are not the ones used legally or day-to-day. Instead, most everyone follows the traditional naming practices (which are essentially Chinese in origin). The use of non-hanja names (i.e. non-Chinese ones) is on the rise, but in most instances these non-Chinese names are still not Biblical in origin, but rather vaguely nationalistic "Pure Korean" names (e.g. common nouns, like the popular 이슬 [i.seul] for girls, meaning "dew").

Slightly less problematically, I generally translate my family name as simply 길 [gil]. This is an actual used family name in Korea [hanja: 吉]. I use it as translating the English common noun "way". This is not etymologically accurate in English, since my surname is in fact Welsh, not English. Nor is it etymologically accurate in Korean, since the family name "Gil" is not related to the Korean common noun "gil" = "way", but rather the term 길하다 [gil.ha.da = to be auspicious, to be fortunate]. Perhaps the double etymological inaccuracy cancels out, and it ends up being appropriate?

Hence, my "Korean name" might be: 길야렛 [gil.ya.ret]. Doesn't actually sound Korean, though.

Perhaps returning to the Hebrew trilateral, YRD [ירד], we could look for a hanja equivalent, and make that my name? There is 강하 [gang.ha, hanja 降下, meaning "fall down, descend"]. That sounds much more like a typical Korean name, 길강하 [Gil Gangha], and furthermore offers a parsable hanja form: 吉降下.

[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: touched by His Boolean Appendage

The Speculative Grammarian site has this very clever and utterly wrathful satire of the crypto-creationists' "Intelligent Design theory", here. Given the site it's on, bear in mind that it's a rewrite of the ID theory transferred from biology to linguistics, and called "Wrathful Dispersion" theory, alluding to the Tower of Babel tale in Genesis.

I particularly liked:

One cynical observer has likened WD ["Wrathful Dispersion" theory] to Scientology, which “is a religion for purposes of tax assessment, a science for purposes of propaganda, and a work of fiction for purposes of copyright.”

And:

In particular, a satirical Web-based grassroots pseudo-cult has grown up around the theory that all modern languages were in fact “shat out of the arse of the Flying Stratificational Grammar Monster,” with adherents claiming to have achieved enlightenment upon being “touched by His Boolean Appendage” or “washed in the blood of Sydney Lamb.”

[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: Poem #600

my nam yu no
alligaytur
i want tu ete
a mungki, shur,
or stoodents, yum,
in ther nise haus
but meenwile tho
i lik the maus

– This poem is in a completely new form, recently emergent from internet memedom, called "bredlik." In fact it's a pretty structured form, with requirements of rhyme, meter, theme and even a kind of anti-spelling convention. You can read about it here - linguists have been observing its development. As that summary notes, the misspellings are not meant to seem illiterate or childish, rather, they in fact somewhat emulate the fluid orthographies of Middle English. I would add that the deliberate misspelling also successfully conveys the orality of the poem in the context of the overwhelmingly textual medium of internet-based forums and chats. So I decided to make my own, about my classroom ubiquitous alligator character.

Caveat: Non lo sbagli più

So these guys made a pop song in Italian complaining about people's failure to use the subjunctive properly. On the one hand, this is grammar peevery, and thus a linguist (such as I pretend to be on occasion) can't really be expected to approve. Grammar peevery is in fact diametrically opposed to rational, descriptive linguistics. Nevertheless, peevery can be entertaining, and it's funny to see Italians singing about grammar.

Cosa sto ascoltando al momento.

Lorenzo Baglioni, "Il Congiuntivo."

Testo.

[Intro]
Che io sia
Che io fossi
Che io sia stato
Ouooh

[Strofa 1]
Oggigiorno chi corteggia incontra sempre più difficoltà
Coi verbi al congiuntivo
Quindi è tempo di riaprire il manuale di grammatica, che è
Che è molto educativo
Gerundio, imperativo
Infinito, indicativo
Molti tempi e molte coniugazioni, ma

[Ritornello]
Il congiuntivo ha un ruolo distintivo
E si usa per eventi che non sono reali
È relativo a ciò che è soggettivo
A differenza di altri modi verbali
E adesso che lo sai anche tu
Non lo sbagli più

[Strofa 2]
Nel caso che il periodo sia della tipologia dell’irrealtà (si sa)
Ci vuole il congiuntivo
Tipo “Se tu avessi usato il congiuntivo trapassato
Con lei non sarebbe andata poi male”
Condizionale…
Segui la consecutio temporum

[Ritornello]
Il congiuntivo ha un ruolo distintivo
E si usa per eventi che non sono reali
È relativo a ciò che è soggettivo
A differenza di altri modi verbali
E adesso che lo sai anche tu
Non lo sbagli più

[Bridge]
E adesso ripassiamo un po' di verbi al congiuntivo:
Che io sia (presente)
Che io fossi (imperfetto)
Che io sia stato (passato)
Che fossi stato (trapassato)
Che io abbia (presente)
Che io avessi (imperfetto)
Che abbia avuto (passato)
Che avessi avuto (trapassato)
Che io sarei…

[Ritornello]
Il congiuntivo come ti dicevo
Si usa in questo tipo di costrutto sintattico
Dubitativo, quasi riflessivo
Descritto dal seguente esempio didattico
E adesso che lo sai anche tu
Non lo sbagli più

[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: 카롱마

My student Jiwon emailed her homework to me with the following subject line: 카롱마 [karongma].
This is evidently a play on the name of the hagwon (afterschool academy) where I work: 카르마 [kareuma], which is itself a Korean representation of the English word Karma, in turn borrowed from Sanskrit, I suppose. I have always assumed this name serves as a kind of oblique reference to the underlying Buddhist ideological stance of the business’s owner, just as another hagwon down the street goes by 시온 [sion = Zion] to indicate its being run by Christians.
As far as Jiwon’s alteration of the name, I’m not quite sure what all the semantic valances are, but off the top of my head I think there’s at least two things going on.
The first is the substitution of the syllable “rong”, which is a possible reference to the English word “wrong”, which has wider semantics in Konglish than in English (i.e. it can mean a mistake, or general badness – I suppose American slang takes the word in a similar directions, cf. an American teenager snarking “that’s so wrong”).
The second is that syllable final “-ng” on the substituted syllable. In Korean script, this sound is represented by the circles (“ㅇ”) at the bottoms of the glyphs: 롱 [rong], 잉 [ing], 강 [gang], etc. – which is the letter called “ieung”. This sound suffix is used on open syllables (those ending in a vowel) in informal talk, especially by women and girls, to sound “cute”, e.g. “안녕하세용” [annyeonghaseyong = “hello”, said cutely] versus standard “안녕하세요” [annyeonghaseyo = “hello”].
So you have the negative valance of “wrong” but the positive one of “cute”, mixed together.
[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: en es ko

Well, it took me more than six months to get around to it, but over this past weekend I finally resurrected my Linux desktop. I had managed to break it while trying to expand the size of the linux OS partition on my hard drive, and had been too lazy to go in and rescue all the old files and resurrect it. Instead, all this time have been unhappily limping along with the Windows 7 “Korea” edition that was native to my home desktop PC. I guess from a day-to-day “surf the internet” functionality, it was fine, but lately I’ve been wanting to get back to doing something more productive with some programming (er…  really just hacking around with things) in support of my moribund geofiction hobby. As such, having a functional Ubuntu Linux desktop is pretty much indispensable.
In fact, once I’d backed up all my files to an external drive, which was merely tedious, the re-install was mostly painless. As before, the most painful thing for me with Linux is language and keyboard support issues. I cannot function, now, without having Korean and Spanish language keyboard options – I still do some writing in Spanish, of course, and although my Korean remains lousy in qualitative terms, it’s nevertheless a ubiquitous aspect of my daily existence, and being able to type it comfortably is essential.
Each time I try to get the Korean keyboard and language options to work on a Linux install, it goes differently. It feels like a kind of hit-or-miss affair, where I keep trying various gadgets and settings in all possible combinations until I get one that works. This inevitable confusion was not helped by the fact that unlike last time, where I used Ubuntu’s native “Unity” desktop, I opted this time to try the so-called Cinnamon desktop (part of the “Mint” distro, a fork of Ubuntu). This was because I’d heard that Unity was not much longer for this world, and that Canonical (the creators of Ubuntu) intended to go out of the desktop-making biz.
Linux (at least these Ubuntu distros) make a distinction between “language setting” (which is fundamentally useless for controlling how the system reads the keyboard, as far as I can tell) and “input method” – which is what you need. But these two subsystems don’t seem to talk to each other very well.
The peculiar result I achieved after a few hours of dinking around, this time, is possibly unique in the entire world. I have my Ubuntu 16.04 with Cinnamon desktop, where the “system language” is English, the “regionalization” is Korean, the “keyboard” is Spanish, and the “input method” is Korean. This is pretty weird, because my physical keyboard is, of course, Korean. So for my regular day-to-day typing, the keys (except the letters proper) don’t match, since all the diacritics and symbols and such are arranged quite differently on a Spanish keyboard. But I’ve always been adept at touch typing, and I know the Spanish layout mostly by heart. Then when I want to type Korean, I hit the “hangul” key (which the “Spanish keyboard” can’t “see” since Spanish keyboards don’t have “hangul” keys) and that triggers the Korean part of the IBus input widget, and I can type Korean. It sounds bizarre, but it’s the most comfortable arrangement of keyboard settings I’ve ever managed, since there’s never any need to use a “super” shortcut of some kind to toggle between languages – they’re all running more-or-less on top of each other in a big jumble instead of being segregated out.
I hate to say it, but I didn’t take notes as to how I got here – so I can’t even tell you. I just kept trying different combinations of settings until one worked. I messed with the “Language Support”, the “IBus Preferences”, the “Keyboard” (under “System Settings), and the System Tray.
Anyway, I took a screenshot of my system tray, where you can see the whole resultant mess in a single summary snapshot.
picture
I now have a full-fledged Mediawiki instance up-and-running on the desktop (you can visualize a sort of “empty” wikipedia – all the software, but no information added into it). I’ve even configured the OGF-customized “slippy map” embeds for it (I managed that once on this here blog, too). I’m currently trying to get a PostgreSQL database instance working – MySQL is running but PostgreSQL has better GIS support, which is something I’m interested in having.
So there, you see a sometime hobby of mine, in action once again after a sort of winter hibernation, I guess.
picture[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: So it is written on the thin paper

picture

There is an immense epic poetic tradition in Tibet and Central Asia about a mythical King Gesar. There are thousands of variants in dozens of diverse languages and cultures, and the King seems to not really have been a specific historical person, although the name, at least, has been linked to the adoption among some Turkic peoples of the steppes of the title "Keser" or "Gesar" from the Byzantines, who continued using the title "Caesar" until their downfall, and who had many contacts with Mongols, Turks, and other Central Asian peoples through their long history. This has parallel in the Slavs' adoption of the same title from the same source, which became the modern word 'czar.' 

I found an interesting translation-in-progress on this website, of the Gesar epic, by a scholar of Buryat shamanism. Buryat is an ethnic group from northern Mongolia and the Baikal region of Siberia. As far as I can figure out, the scholar, Sarangerel Odigon, is working directly from some oral source – that is, the English translation is just a running translation of the oral tradition. That seems pretty cool, in itself. 

In case you haven't noticed, I've been quite 'into' Central Asian cultures, lately, especially their literary production. So here is a tiny sample of this fascinating epic poem, one of the few which still has an active performative tradition in multiple cultures. For reference, I found a Russian translation of some version of it, here. I'm sure there are interesting original-language versions out there on the web, somewhere, but my google-fu is not strong enough to find it.

From the beginning of the section entitled "Abai Geser: The First Branch":

In the earliest of early times,
In the most ancient of periods,
In the first of first times,
In the time of the beginning;
When the highest bright heaven
Was swirling with fog,
When the earth below
Was covered with dirt and dust;
When the grass had not yet begun to grow,
When the broad long rivers had not begun to flow,
When the great Milk Sea was but a small puddle,
When the world mountain Humber Ula was a hillock,
When the sandalwood tree at the forest's edge
Had not yet put out branches,
When the greyish deer was but a fawn;
When the giant yellow snake was but a little worm,
When the giant fish were only little minnows;
When the earth did not have any continents,
When the center of the universe was not yet finished;
When the great giant bird was small as a crow,
When the first horse was the size of a foal;
When the khan's many roads were not built,
When the people's many roads were not laid out;
This was a good age,
This was a beautiful time
It has been said!..

When the many gods of the heaven did not compete with each other,
When the many tenger of the skies did not quarrel with each other;
When the many tenger of the west were not arrogant,
When black and white were not different from each other;
When the many tenger of the east did not argue,
When appearance and color were not differentiated;
When Esege Malaan Tenger was not an old man,
When Ekhe Yuuren Ibii was not an old woman;
When Han Hormasta Tengeri did not brag of his strength,
When black and white were not estranged;
When Atai Ulaan Tengeri did not boast of his greatness,
When hatred and jealousy did not sow discord;
When those of Oyodol Sagaan Tengeri had not yet gathered,
When those of Oyor Sagaan Tengeri had not yet flowed over;
It was a time of beautiful things!
So it is written on the thin paper!

[daily log: walking, 6.5km]

Caveat: Aillucinations (Pseudosystematic significance)

When an AI (artificial intelligence) hallucinates, what shall we call it? I suggest aillucinations.

These AIs are not really that smart, though. Useful, yes, and intriguing, in a science-fictiony sort of way. But they have a long ways to go.

Case-in-point: google translate, which I use quite often, does some strange things, when you give it long strings of garbage. Its neural nets try to make sense of things, and the result is hallucinatory. This has been written about extensively at the Language Log blog – here is the most recent discussion (which includes links to earlier discussions).

I was curious about instances specific to the Korean-English domain (because I'd like to show some of my students, who overly trust online translators). So I set about finding some of my own examples. 


With google translate, I can get some pretty weird stuff in the English -> Korean direction, with the following string:

ieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
eieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
ieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
eieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
ieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
eieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
ieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
eieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
ieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
eieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
ieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
eieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
ieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
eieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
ieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
eieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
ieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
eieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
ieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
eieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei
ieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieieiei

These give:

상상력
신상품
상상력
도미니카 공화국
상상해 보아라.
신상품
상상해 보지 못하다.
도미니카 공화국 인민 공화국
상상해 보지 못하다.
신상품
상상력
도미니카 공화국 인민 공화국 의회
상상해 보지 못하다.
신상품
상상력
신상품
상상력이 풍부한 사람
신상품
상상해 보아라.
신상품
상상력이 풍부한 사람

Which, translated, in turn, back to English, gives:

imagination
new product
imagination
Dominican Republic
Imagine it.
new product
I can not imagine it.
Dominican Republic
I can not imagine it.
new product
imagination
Dominican Republic People's Congress
I can not imagine it.
new product
imagination
new product
Imaginative person
new product
Imagine it.
new product
Imaginative person

Can you imagine that? The google translate "imagined" it.

Going the reverse direction, Korean -> English, I got a nice result with:

유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유유

Which gives:

It is the oil that is used in the oil industry and the oil is the oil. The oil is the oil, the oil, the oil, the oil, the oil, the oil, the oil and the oil. In addition to the above, the term "oil" is used to refer to the oil as the oil and the oil as well as the oil and the lubricant. In addition to the above, the term "oil" is used to refer to the oil as the oil and the oil as well as the oil and the lubricant. It is a good idea to have a good night's sleep. It is the oil that is used in the oil industry and the oil is the oil. The oil is the oil, the oil, the oil, the oil, the oil, the oil, the oil and the oil. It is the oil that is used in the oil industry and the oil is the oil. The oil is the oil, the oil, the oil, the oil, the oil, the oil, the oil and the oil. You can not go wrong.


As a matter of curiosity, I decided to experiment with papago, a clone of google translate being created by the Korean web portal Naver. So, English -> Korean, I got a result with:

u oee ieoe iou u oeu oee ieoe iou u oeu oee ieoe iou u oeu oee ieoe iou u oeu oee ieoe iou u oeu oee ieoe iou u oeu oee ieoe iou u oeu oee ieoe iou u oeu oee ieoe iou u oeu oee ieoe iou u oeu oee ieoe iou u oeu oee ieoe iou u oe

Which gives:

넌 너의 아내를 보고 있어

Which returned to English is:

You are watching your wife.

I like that. Such a succinct translation! I found papago was easier to "trick" into hallucinating – it will begin getting creative with much shorter strings of nonsense. But it's clear the underlying technology is similar and has the same weaknesses.

Finally, I put in the following in the Korean -> English direction:

의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유의유

And I got:

CAUTION of a Pseudosystem of Pseudosystematic significance of significance of significance of significance of significance of freedom of consciousness of libertarian of liberate of liberality of freedom of libertarise of freedom of freedom of proceedings of freedom of proceedings of proceedings of freedom of will of proceedings

Which is awesome. Pseudosystematic significance, indeed!

Do note that finding strings that produce these kinds of aillucinations is a bit of a hit-or-miss proposition – there are many strings which "don't work" – i.e., they return simple nonsense in return for nonsense. But it can be rather addictively entertaining to keep trying various combinations and seeing what pops out.


Happy aillucinating! I, for one, seem to have found a new, useless hobby.

[daily log: walking, 7km]

 

Caveat: Эти облака – фиолетовая вата

что я слушаю сейчас.

Элджей & Feduk, “Розовое вино.”
текст песни.

Вступление:
– Я похож на птицу!
– На принца?
– На принца или на орла. Эй!
Я беру вторую бутылку розового вина.

Припев: Feduk
Здесь так красиво, я перестаю дышать.
Звуки на минимум, чтобы не мешать.
Эти облака – фиолетовая вата.
Магия цветов со льдом в наших стаканах.

Здесь так красиво, я перестаю дышать.
Звуки на минимум, чтобы не мешать.
Эти облака – фиолетовая вата.
Магия цветов со льдом в наших стаканах.

Первый Куплет: Элджей
Девочка – пятница, не хочет быть сегодня одна.
Какая разница где я, не отвечаю на номера.
Можешь даже не набирать, можешь даже не набирать.
Тут угарать, я хочу угарать.

Мы уже в океане дискотек, алкоголя и мариваны.
No stress. Хаваем как M&M’s dance-dance.
Кис-кис, вдыхай меня через кес, через кес.
Моя волшебная палочка в твоих руках. Крекс-пекс!

Здесь так красиво, я перестаю дышать.
Звуки на минимум, чтобы не мешать.
Эти облака – фиолетовая вата.
Фиолетовая вата и вокруг так пиздато!

Твои кенты лошки, а я без башки,
Но не будем мы играть в кошки-мышки.
Твои ладошки уже далеко зашли.
Я хочу тебя, а еще хочу сижку.

Припев: Feduk
Здесь так красиво, я перестаю дышать.
Звуки на минимум, чтобы не мешать.
Эти облака – фиолетовая вата.
Магия цветов со льдом в наших стаканах.

Здесь так красиво, я перестаю дышать.
Звуки на минимум, чтобы не мешать.
Эти облака – фиолетовая вата.
Магия цветов со льдом в наших стаканах.

Второй Куплет: Feduk
Я бы жил в этом лете в том самом моменте,
Когда мы летели на байке.
Эти пальмы и ветер, пальмы и ветер,
Фото пальмы в алом закате.

Мы на гребне волны скользим и катим,
Все что так долго копили – тратим.
И все что так долго копили –
Вам придется сегодня потратить. Еа!

Припев: Feduk
Здесь так красиво, я перестаю дышать.
Звуки на минимум, чтобы не мешать.
Эти облака – фиолетовая вата.
Магия цветов со льдом в наших стаканах.

Здесь так красиво, я перестаю дышать.
Звуки на минимум, чтобы не мешать.
Эти облака – фиолетовая вата.
Магия цветов со льдом в наших стаканах.

[daily log: walking, 1km]

Caveat: ol rait

What I'm listening to right now.

Adriano Celentano, "Prisencolinensinainciusol." This song is nonsense. Literally. It's an Italian comedian's effort, in 1972, to sing in English without using English – he said he wanted to make a song about the failure to communicate. Which makes sense – more than the song does, right? Anyway, the melody and beat are quite earwormy, actually.

Lyrics

Prisencolinensinainciusol
In de col men seivuan
prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait

Uis de seim cius nau op de seim
Ol uait men in de colobos dai
Trrr – ciak is e maind beghin de col
Bebi stei ye push yo oh

Uis de seim cius nau op de seim
Ol uoit men in de colobos dai
Not s de seim laikiu de promisdin
Iu nau in trabol lovgiai ciu gen

In do camo not cius no bai for lov so
Op op giast cam lau ue cam lov ai
Oping tu stei laik cius go mo men
Iu bicos tue men cold dobrei goris
Oh sandei

Ai ai smai sesler
Eni els so co uil piso ai
In de col men seivuan
Prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait

Ai ai smai senflecs
Eni go for doing peso ai
Prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait

Uel ai sint no ai giv de sint
Laik de cius nobodi oh gud taim lev feis go
Uis de seim et seim cius go no ben
Let de cius end kai for not de gai giast stei

Ai ai smai senflecs
Eni go for doing peso ai
In de col mein seivuan
Prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait

Lu nei si not sicidor
Ah es la bebi la dai big iour

Ai aismai senflecs
Eni go for doing peso ai
In de col mein seivuan
Prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait

Lu nei si not sicodor
Ah es la bebi la dai big iour

[dialy log: walking, 7.5km]

Caveat: 韓山

Last week my friend Peter blogged on his blog about the origin of the name of the community where I live – Ilsan. He included a fairly flattering digression about our meeting a few weeks back. I learned some things about the name of this place that I didn’t know.
What I said back to him about it is as follows. They are really just speculations. For context, read what he wrote first.

I’m surprised you omit (or did Choi Jae-Yong omit?) mention of a very notable fact, which is that the hanja 韓 [han] is the same element in [hanguk = i.e. the modern name for Korea as used in South Korea], and [hangang = the Han River] (although the latter there seems to be some additional confounding factors of yet another hanja, 漢 [han], and there is another Han River (Han Jiang) in China, here, which seems to use both characters – check out 漢江 and 韓江 in Naver’s hanja dictionary).
So, I have no idea how accepted this next thought is among Korean linguists / philologists… but personally I find compelling the idea that this particular (very important) Korean word came into Korean directly from a Mongol or Turkic proto language (Altaic), and is cognate with the well-known word Khan, which means “great leader” or “chieftain”.  Hence rather than saying that hansan means “big mountain” it would be more etymologically accurate to call it “chief mountain.” Likewise, hanguk is simply “land of chieftains” or somesuch. Check out the “names of Korea” discussion at wikipedia – 韓 [han] seems to mean more than just “big”, to the extent it became the representation for this non-Chinese-origin Korean word (although as mentioned above, the Chinese seem to use it more broadly, too, than just big, and may be tracking back to the same Altaic source).
Peter responded with some additional observations. Anyway, I think it’s all very interesting. Finding etymological information of Korean place names is nearly impossible for non-Korean speakers, so I suppose that’s a good reason to post this here.
[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: Бу айыллыбыт / Арылы халлаан алын өттүгэр

Бу айыллыбыт
Арылы халлаан алын өттүгэр
Куордаах эттээх,
Куодаһыннаах уҥуохтаах,
Оһол-охсуһуу доҕордоох,
Иирээн-илбис энээрдээх,
Ириҥэ мэйиилээх,
Иһэгэй куттаах,
Икки атахтаах үөскээн тэнийдин диэн,
Анысханнаах арҕаа халлааннаах,
Иэйиэхситтээх илин халлааннаах,
Соллоҥноох соҕуруу халлааннаах,
Холоруктаах хоту халлааннаах,
Үллэр муора үрүттээх,
Түллэр муора түгэхтээх,
Аллар муора арыннаах,
Эргичийэр муора иэрчэхтээх,
Дэбилийэр муора сиксиктээх,
Ахтар айыы араҥаччылаах,
Күн айыы күрүөһүлээх,
Араҥас илгэ быйаҥнаах,
Үрүҥ илгэ үктэллээх,
Элбэх сулус эркиннээх,
Үгүс сулус үрбэлээх,
Дьэллэҥэ сулус бэлиэлээх,
Туолбут ый доҕуһуоллаах,
Аламай күн аргыстаах,
Дорҕоон этиҥ арчылаах,
Тоһуттар чаҕылҕан кымньыылаах,
Ахсым ардах ыһыахтаах,
Сугул куйаас тыыннаах,
Уолан угуттуур уулаах,
Охтон үүнэр мастаах,
Уһун уйгу кэһиилээх,
Сытар хайа сындыыстаах,
Буор хайа модьоҕолоох,
Итии сайын эркиннээх,
Эргичийэр эрэһэ кииннээх,
Төгүрүйэр түөрт тулумнаах,
Үктүөлээтэр өҕүллүбэт
Үрдүк мындаалаах,
Кэбиэлээтэр кэйбэлдьийбэт
Кэтит киэлилээх,
Баттыалаатар маталдьыйбат
Баараҕай таһаалаах,
Аҕыс иилээх-саҕалаах
Алта киспэлээх,
Атааннаах-мөҥүөннээх,
Айгырастаах-силиктээх,
Алыгыр-налыгыр
Аан-ийэ дойду диэн
Муостаах-нуоҕайдаах бэртэһэ
Туоһахтатын курдук,

The above is a fragment of a poem in the Sakha (Yakut) language, and is part of the Yakuts national traditional epic poetic oeuvre, Olonkho.
Obviously, I don’t know the Sakha (Yakut) language. On a really good day I command a few hundred words of rusty college Russian, at best.
But I like unusual languages. And I like poetry. And, if you accept the controversial Altaic hypothesis, perhaps Sakha is a very distant relative of Ancient Korean. Anyway, they’re sort of in the same cultural neighborhood, albeit a bit farther north, in east-central Siberia: today it is -41 C in Yakutsk, while here in sunny 고양시 we have a balmy -8 C.
I came across a translation of the poem on the blog of the philosopher and polymathic philologist Justin Erik Halldór Smith. Smith is currently a professor at the University of Paris 7 but he is a native of Northern California – like myself and, furthermore, he is of my generation, more or less – and thus he is someone whose occasional reflections on his youth in the green-hilled, hippie-infested comarcas of The City [San Francisco] have always had exceptional resonances for me. Anyway, his translation is strikingly good poetry, in itself, and, I presume, faithful to the original, given his scholarly abilities.

Under that primordial
shining and lucid sky,
where the two-legged, having
a mortal body and hollow bones,
knowing war and battle,
acquainted with strife and discord,
having a vulnerable brain
and a trembling soul,
must be fruitful —
with the cool windy western sky,
with the good generous eastern sky,
with the insatiable thirsty southern sky,
with the impetuous whirling northern sky,
with the shivering breadth of the sea,
with the heaving depth of the sea,
with the swelling abyss of the sea,
with the twirling axis of the sea,
with the unbounded reach of the sea,
with the revered aiy [nature spirits] who lie beyond,
with the radiant aiy [nature spirits] who guard,
with abundant yellow nectar,
with generous white nectar,
encircling us in the manifold of stars,
in the herds of countless stars,
in the traces of rare stars,
with the full moon accompanying it,
with the bright sun leading it,
with purifying roars of thunder,
with the smite of bolts of lightning,
with moistening cloud-bursts of rain,
with sultry hot breath,
with the drying out and again the replenishing of waters,
with the falling down and again the growing up of woods,
with inexhaustible generous gifts,
with origins from gently sloping mountains,
with gardens from earthen mountains,
with a hot and giving summer,
with the turning axis of the center,
with four converging sides,
with such high firmament,
what you tread on, will not give way,

what you rattle, will not lurch,
with such an unfathomable breadth,
what you press, will not bend,
eight-chambered, eight-sided,
with six circles,
with disquiet and worry,
in luxurious attire and ornament,
serenely peaceful,
always-existing Mother Earth,
shining like a silver buckle
on a horned hat with a feather.

[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: vox veneranda sacris

De Luscinia

Quae te dextra mihi rapuit, luscinia, ruscis,
illa meae fuerat invida laetitiae.
Tu mea dulcisonis implesti pectora musis,
atque animum moestum carmine mellifluo.
Qua propter veniant volucrum simul undique coetus
carmine te mecum plangere Pierio.
Spreta colore tamen fueras non spreta canendo.
Lata sub angusto gutture vox sonuit,
dulce melos iterans vario modulamine Musae,
atque creatorem semper in ore canens.
Noctibus in furvis nusquam cessavit ab odis,
vox veneranda sacris, o decus atque decor.
Quid mirum, cherubim, seraphim si voce tonantem
perpetua laudent, dum tua sic potuit?

– Alcuin (Anglo-Saxon poet, theologian and Carolingian administrator, 735-804)

[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: Bde Maka Ska, Bdeota

I used to live about a block from Lake Calhoun, in Minneapolis. I associate my time living there with my huge (or anti-huge?) weight-loss project, in 2006-2007. I lost almost 60 pounds that year – and mostly, I kept it off, losing another bit after coming to Korea, and then a lot when I had cancer, and then gaining some of that last bit back. I've been pretty stable at 80 kilos since the bounceback from the cancer.

Part of that process was my daily jogging. I would go out and run around the lake. I made a fixed habit of it. So you could say that I lost my pounds to the lake. And anyway, I have strong associative memories of the lake, my time living there, those daily runs, and the feeling of taking control back of my life.

I recently learned that there has been a movement to rename the lake. I think that's maybe a good idea – it's named for that famous, pre-Civil War justifier of slavery. This has now started the approval process.

The new name is Bde Maka Ska ("White Earth Lake"). I think this is a wonderful new name. Having studied the Dakota language (if only a little bit), I was pleased to recognize two of the three words in this name. It's especially nice in the city of Bdeota (which is, afterall, Minneapolis' Dakota name, and means simply "Place of Lakes"). 

Most countries in the world frequently rename things, and I think it's generally interesting, if sometimes overly trendy to whatever is currently going on politically in a place. But this change I can support unequivocally.

Here is a picture I took in 2009, during a brief visit to the old neighborhood, retracing my jogging route around the lake.

picture

[daily log: walking, 6.5km]

Caveat: Waar Wacht Je Op?

Last night in my PM1-M cohort CC class (cloze listening of pop songs), I felt like I was living in some kind of Lord of the Flies rendition of hagwon life.

You see, this one boy, Eric, was opening a packet of snack ramen. The kids eat the dried ramen noodles dry, sort like potato chips, with the flavor packets opened and sprinkled over the broken up noodles. What they do is they open the packet enough to get out the flavor packet, which they extract and add into the noodle package. Then they hold the noodle package closed and mash up the noodles inside, so they're all tiny fragments and the flavor granules are distributed. It's like do-it-yourself Doritos, maybe.

So Eric had done this work. And then he tore open his now mashed up and flavored pack of dried noodles eagerly, with a plan to eat his snack. Normally I'm pretty tolerant of kids eating snacks in my class, despite an official rule against it, because I know the whole business of attending night class for elementary age students means sometimes they are hungry and haven't eaten since an after-school snack or something.

The other boys (the cohort is currently all boys, just by luck of the draw) were eyeing his snack jealously and hungrily. Unfortunately, Eric opened his packet too aggressively. The noodle fragments, stained orange by the spicy flavor granules, flew all over the room, landing on desks, chairs, floor, and even in Eric's hair. The boy sat with a stunned and despondant look on his face.

But the worst was when the other boys, seeing their chance, swooped in and began grabbing up all the scattered noodle fragments. They didn't seem to care that the bits were on the floor, chairs and desks. They ate them. In less than a minute, most of the bits were gone. Even the ones in Eric's hair. While Eric still just sat, looking stunned.

I said, "Really? Really? You guys are eating off the floor? It's like a pack of dogs!"

In fact, I wasn't that scandalized – I could barely contain my laughing. But given my in loco parentis role (more loco than parentis, perhaps), I felt obligated to be upset by the performance.

Anyway, we got it cleaned up. It took up about half the class time, though. I guess the boys were not annoyed by this.


Quite unrelatedly, what I'm listening to right now.

Sticks & Big2, "Waar Wacht Je Op?!" Don't ask me why. I just listen to weird things, sometimes. Why not a little bit of Dutch hiphop?

Lyrics.

[Intro: Sticks]
Waar wacht je op?
Waar wacht je op?
Waar wacht je op?
Sticky Steez!

[Intro: Big2]
Hé Sticks, go get 'em!

[Verse 1: Sticks]
Je krijgt deez nuts, Dries van Noten
Breek het open, pistachenoten
Een piece of mind en een piece van mij
Voor de fun en fuck de police d'r bij
Nou als ik niet beweeg, breng ik niets te weeg
En wat zijn mijn woorden waard als ik ze niet meer weeg?
Ik deel mijn lief en leed, en het gaat fucking flex
Maar men ziet liever leed en beef-dvd's
Ik ga next-level, van rap battles naar HMH
Ga aan de kant Jett Rebel en Chef's Special
En Kensington en Go Back To The Zoo
En hoe lauwer de beat, hoe gekker je doet
Ambitie maakt dat ik move met m'n shit
Ambitie maakt dat jij grooved op die shit
'T is hard werken om je vrijheid te behouden
Maar de up-side: het kan allemaal van jou zijn
Nou waar wacht je op?

[Chorus: Sticks & Big2]
Get loose met je poes, als ik dit niet doe zijn we helemaal floes
(Waar wacht je op?)
En iedereen doet mee, met de Sticky Steez en de Biggie 2
(Waar wacht je op?)
Geen plan, gewoon gaan, de leeuw laat je echt niet in zijn hempie staan (Waar wacht je op?)
En de beat goes on (Lachen toch?) En de beat goes, on
(Waar wacht je op?)
Het maakt niet uit wie wat zegt, het is aan jou…
Het maakt niet uit wie wat zegt
Het maakt niet uit wie wat zegt
Het maakt niet uit wie wat zegt, het is aan jou…
Het maakt niet uit wie wat zegt
Het maakt niet uit wie wat zegt

[Verse 2: Sticks]
Nou als het moet, bos ik op bam bam ritmes
Chaka Demus & en de Pliers in een 5-0-1 levi's
Met een witte Air Max, met een pipi' achter mijn oor
Geeft niks, het is the latest greatest
Nadenken is de vijand van vrijheid
Check deze Twan, volgens mij zijn we highlights
Daar moest je bij zijn, anderen willen dat me zijn maar zijn te klein als Royce da 5'9
Voor de clubs ben ik te nuchter, lever de track af, breek de tent af
Zoek rust midden in de drukte
Heel het leven is een trip beter stap je in (Waar wacht je op?)
Record wat, breng het uit de dag erop
Deel de hele taart uit, zet er slagroom op
Er is genoeg voor ieder, er is genoeg voor ieder
Waar wacht je op?

[Chorus: Sticks & Big2]
Get loose met je poes, als ik dit niet doe zijn we helemaal floes
(Waar wacht je op?)
En iedereen doet mee, met de Sticky Steez en de Biggie 2
(Waar wacht je op?)
Geen plan, gewoon gaan, de leeuw laat je echt niet in zijn hempie staan (Waar wacht je op?)
En de beat goes on (Lachen toch?) En de beat goes, on
(Waar wacht je op?)
Het maakt niet uit wie wat zegt, het is aan jou…
Het maakt niet uit wie wat zegt
Het maakt niet uit wie wat zegt
Het maakt niet uit wie wat zegt
Het maakt niet uit wie wat zegt
Het maakt niet uit wie wat zegt, het is aan jou…

[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: Something wonderful happens when you attach a banana to a drone

There is apparently a rule of capitalization that I never learned. The rule is that after a colon (":"), the initial letter of the item should be capitalized if and only if that item could stand as itself as an independent clause.

  • Here is an example: This is a sentence.
  • Here is another example: just an isolated item.

The rule is clear enough, but I swear I never was taught this in any class, from middle school English all the way through college composition, and certainly not in any linguistics class, which, contrary to popular understanding, has nothing to do with such prescriptivist poppycock.

Anyway, although I believe these types of rules to be merely "prescriptivist poppycock," I nevertheless work hard to understand them and even enforce them with my students, because I am teaching them to write English mostly with the intent to get good scores on exams written by people who worship unerringly at the altar of prescriptivism. "Know your audience."

I enjoyed this humorous example of the rule, below (credit to linguistics blogger Geoffrey Pullum, writing at Chronicle of Higher Education's Linguafranca blog).

  • There’s one species we can keep in the lab without the animal rights activists getting upset: fruit flies.
  • Something wonderful happens when you attach a banana to a drone: Fruit flies.

[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: Yeets and Kates

When I was young – in high school, I guess – there was this kind of schtick I had with my mother sometimes.

It started like this. She was a reader and teacher of English Literature. So there were books by poets around the house: poets like William Butler Yeats and John Keats.

It always rather annoyed me, the incipient rationalist, that English spelling is so inconsistent with respect to pronunciation (as it does my students now, no doubt). Of course I knew the correct pronunciations of their names. But I would point to the book by Yeats, and mispronounce his name. "Yeets," I'd say.

"Yates!" my mother would insist, annoyed.

I'd point to a book by Keats. "Kates," I'd suggest, snarkily.

"Keets," she'd mutter, no doubt understanding my point, but refusing to yield.

So this went on for years. Whenever she had a book by either of those authors in her proximity, we'd play out this little drama, or even if either of those poets would come up in conversation. Given her specialization, and my own long interest in poetry, this was probably more common than anyone could expect.

Well, a few days ago, at my mother's house, we were standing and gazing at her shelf of books of poetry. So of course, there he was. How could I resist?

"Yeets," I said, a call-back to our ancient exchanges.

"If you say so," my mother sighed.

I looked at her in surprise. I paused for a moment, not sure I'd heard correctly. I pumped my fist and leaped around the room, excited. "Victory! Victory, at last," I proclaimed.

My mother looked on, dismayed and maybe alarmed. "What?"

I had to remind her of the old exchanges. I said that in all the years of those interactions, never had she yielded ground on the sacred, canonical pronunciations of those poets' names. Once reminded, she rather got the point, I guess.

She said gently, "I guess I don't see the point in arguing any more."

[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: fiesta criolla

Sometimes my friend Bob, an academic professor of music and conductor in Wisconsin, sends me snippets of Spanish song lyrics to translate, because he actually needs them for his work. He knows I don't mind this, and even enjoy it.

Perhaps I should add to my blog's various tag-lines, at left, the phrase "The Only Spanish-to-English translation service operating in the Korean Peninsula!" I would be pretty confident this is true, though who really knows what Kim Jeong-eun is up to in his secret cultural propaganda factories in the basements of Pyeongyang.

Yesterday, Bob sent me a song in the genre of candombe (see the wiki thing).  He was hoping I could translate it and/or offer some cultural observations. Here's what I sent back to him this morning.

Here's an in-line translation, mostly "on the fly" with a few checks with the RAE (Royal academy of Spanish Dictionary website). There are a few disorganized notes below the translation.

Candombe del seis de enero

Verse 1

Es por todos sabido que el 6 de enero
    Everyone knows that January 6th
es el dia de los Reyes Magos
    is the day of the Three Magi [Epiphany]
y en honor de uno de ellos, el más negro
    and to honor one of them, the darkest,
se programa una fiesta en el barrio.
    a party is arranged in the neighborhood

Es por todos sabido que es el más negro
    Everyone knows that the darkest,
el rey de los santos candomberos
    the king of the candombe saints
San Baltasar es un santo muy alegre
    Saint Balthazar is a very happy saint
dice la mama Inés y mueve los pies.
    that's what Mama Inés says, and she moves her feet

Refrain

Listos corazones
    Ready hearts
van con el candombe
    come with candombe
y con este ritmo a profesar,
    and with this rhythm, to show
los rojos colores
    the bright colors
con festón dorado,
    with golden edging
le gustan al rey San Baltasar.
    they love Saint Balthazar

Verse 2

La comuna convoca y lo venera
    The troupe gathers and venerates
por la estrella lucero que el ciclo espera
    under the Wandering Star that the calendar will bring
San Baltasar se hamaca sobre las aguas
    Saint Balthazar rocks over the waters
de un mar de promesantes que canta y baila.
    of a sea of worshippers who sing and dance

Conversa el ronco bombo mientras avanza
    the husky drum speaks as it moves forward
repican tamboriles en las comparsas
    tambourines sing out in the dance-lines
fiesta criolla de negros y blanqueados
    a high-caste party of blacks and whites together
cuando cambian de toque cambian de estado.
    when the rhythm changes, the whole mood changes

Refrain

– by Yábor (Uruguayan folk singer, b 1950) – in-line translation is mine

Possibly controversial translations:

* criollo as high-caste – normally criollo is translated as "Creole" but that, in colloquial English, is tightly associated with Franco-Carribean culture, which obviously is something different than what we have here. So I went back to the original Spanish meaning (actually originally Portuguese), which is a reference to a specific rank within the complex caste system that existed in Spanish colonial America – the criollos were the locally born white folk, thus at the top of the caste system. But criollo also developed a broader meaning of "locally born" as opposed to "foreigner" (immigrants and "peninsulares" i.e. Spaniards) – especially during the 19th century. So in that sense, the "fiesta criollo" might just mean "a party for and by locals". In the first half of the 20th century, it even became a kind of term of pride that was essentially unifying as opposed to divisive. Probably that's what's intended, here, but by using the term "high caste" I'm getting at the word's problematic roots.

* toque as rhythm – that's not a dictionary translation, but it seems to fit the context. It really might be wrong, but "when the touch changes" feels meaningless to me, so I made a guess based on my feel for broader semantics of the word toque – much wider than English "touch" – and my vague recollections of interactions with Spanish-speaking folk musicians (a few in the 1980s, and one, a close friend of my dad's, in the 2000s).

The most notable thing about this song, to me, is the clear implication that whites participate and enjoy, too ("a high-caste party of blacks and whites together"). This is underscored by the insistence that Saint Balthazar is the "darkest" – it's announcing a kind of "Africa Day" for the whole community, which is unifying in a pre-PC way. That's how I read it, anyway. Cynically, if Yábor is the author (and I think he is), as a white Uruguayan folk singer, he would naturally want to emphasize this aspect if he decided to author a candombe. In that sense, this song most definitely is a bit of cultural appropriation, but perhaps no less authentic or meaningful for that – it represents a genuine if somewhat starry-eyed effort at racial unity in the complex landscape of Latin American racial politics (which, we must always remember, work differently than US racial politics, as much as we want to notice the obvious parallels and similarities).

What I'm listening to right now.

Yábor, "Candombe del 6 de enero."

Letra (above).

[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: What Bilingualism?

The satirical linguistics website, SpeculativeGrammarian, publishes all kinds of crazy stuff.

This one struck me as particularly funny – it addresses the question of "bilingualism in the Rio Grande Valley" (i.e. southern Texas) – an issue that has seen much attention in the history of sociolinguistics. But of course, this particular satirical approach reaches quite strange results. See if you can detect their fallacious assumptions.

[daily log: walking, 6.5km]

 

Caveat: 끌 수 없어

A few days ago, I mentioned the popularity of “dance covers” in Korea. Then yesterday I ran across a very interesting case of cultural diffusion: apparently dance covers of Korean pop music videos are a popular thing in Latin America, especially Mexico. The idea of South Korea exercising cultural “soft power” in Mexico intrigues me, in part due to my longstanding interest in both countries, but also because it’s just so strange, from a broader historical perspective.
Here is a group of Mexican women from the city of Monterrey, doing an almost professional-level dance cover of the Korean group Blackpink’s song “Playing With Fire.” Note that they are even lipsyncing the half Korean half English lyrics. This seems remarkable to me.

Blackpink, “Playing With Fire,” dance cover by Joking Crew.
The original…. What I’m listening to right now.

블랙핑크, “불장난.”
가사.

우리 엄만 매일 내게 말했어
언제나 남자 조심하라고
사랑은 마치 불장난 같아서 다치니까 Eh
엄마 말이 꼭 맞을지도 몰라
널 보면 내 맘이 뜨겁게 달아올라
두려움보단 널 향한 끌림이 더 크니까 Eh
멈출 수 없는 이 떨림은
On and on and on
내 전부를 너란 세상에
다 던지고 싶어
Look at me look at me now
이렇게 넌 날 애태우고 있잖아
끌 수 없어
우리 사랑은 불장난
My love is on fire
Now burn baby burn
불장난
My love is on fire
So don’t play with me boy
불장난
Oh no 난 이미 멀리 와버렸는걸
어느새 이 모든 게 장난이 아닌 걸
사랑이란 빨간 불씨
불어라 바람 더 커져가는 불길
이게 약인지 독인지 우리 엄마도 몰라
내 맘 도둑인데 왜 경찰도 몰라
불 붙은 내 심장에 더 부어라 너란 기름
kiss him will I diss him I
don’t know but I miss him
중독을 넘어선 이 사랑은 crack
내 심장의 색깔은 black
멈출 수 없는 이 떨림은
On and on and on
내 전부를 너란 불길 속으로
던지고 싶어
Look at me look at me now
이렇게 넌 날 애태우고 있잖아
끌 수 없어
우리 사랑은 불장난
My love is on fire
Now burn baby burn
불장난
My love is on fire
So don’t play with me boy
불장난
걷잡을 수가 없는 걸
너무나 빨리 퍼져 가는 이 불길
이런 날 멈추지 마
이 사랑이 오늘 밤을 태워버리게
whooo

[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: and, but no

This made me laugh, quite a bit.

First they came for the verbs, and I said nothing, because verbing weirds language
Then they arrival for the nouns, and I speech nothing, because no verbs
Then they for the descriptive, and I silent because verbless and nounless
Then they for me, and, but no

This very humorous bit of linguistics-based humor has been circulating on the internets. Attribution is vague – the best I could find with google is an attribution of the first two lines to Peter Ellis (whoever that is). I first ran across it mentioned the All Things Linguistic blog, and that links to another tumblr page (tumblr is a kind of social media "lite" blogging host – in fact, the All Things Linguistic blog is in that medium, but I guess its settings are more blog-like and less social-media-like). Finding attribution on tumblr is like jumping down a rabbit hole, and without an active tumblr account mostly I get bombarded with requests to sign up, and I'm not interested in going there. So if whoever actually made this up finds this here without attribution, please don't get upset – I did my best.

[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: Borges Takes the TOEFL

My student was tasked with a typical "Type 1" TOEFL speaking question which prompted (roughly), "What is the most remarkable book you have read?"

He spoke coherently and in detail, for the allotted 45 seconds about a book entitled "The Diaries of Mr X." 

Apparently, this book is about a student who makes many mistakes. It sounded a bit picaresque, as he described it. It has a tragic ending (suicide), but it is also uplifting because it presents things humorously. My student said he learned a lot from the book about what sorts of mistakes a middle school student should avoid, during the difficult years of puberty.

The thing is, this "book" was invented by the student on the spot.

In fact, I have many times told my students that on an "opinion question" on the TOEFL Speaking section, it is probably quite okay to lie, if it is the easiest thing to do in the moment, as long as the lie is plausible. Clearly one shouldn't lie on the summary of facts presented in other types of questions – that would cost points – but when it's a matter of opinion, one should definitely take the path of least resistance.

Indeed, in discussing this issue, I have often given the example of the quite similar prompt, "What is is your favorite book?" I try to expalin that if I were taking the test, I would never answer my true favorite book (Persiles by Cervantes), because that book is not commonly known, it's not in English anyhow, and it would be hard to explain anything about it in 45 seconds allowed. Instead I would speak broadly and generically about some anodyne prototype that would be familiar to just about anyone, such as Harry Potter. But with respect to the issue of lying specifically, I say that if one is "stumped" in the moment, don't be afraid to fudge the facts of your beliefs and preferences. Fluency counts for more than "truth," anyway. There is no way a test evaluator can know if the book being spoken about is real or not – it's not as if that person is going to go search the internet and try to verify the book's existence or compare its plot to the one presented by the test taker. They are doing a job of evaluating your spoken English, and probably are on a tight schedule (I have heard less than 2 minutes allowed per question response scored).

My advanced students have always understood the point I'm trying to make, but most of them are uncomfortable with that kind of creative improvisation.

Until last night. Certainly, I never had a student use this strategy quite so skillfully. It was downright Borgesian, in a kind of stumbling, accented, Korean-middle-school way.

[daily log: walking, 6.5km]

Caveat: Амьдрал гэдэг там л байна

Mongolian hip-hop is a real thing. 

What I'm listening to right now.

Дайн ба энх, "76." Although my Mongolian-language googling skills are quite poor, I even managed to find the lyrics.

Lyrics.

Зөөлөн суудлаасаа тэд *** өндийлгүй өдөржин хэлэлцэж
Зөв буруу хууль дүрэм баахан юм баталцгааж
Цөөхөн хэдэн ард бидэндээ зурагтаар л бараагаа харуулж
Хийж бүтээх нь багадсан
Хэлэх амлалт нь ихэдсэн 76-д зориуллаа
Тэд өөрсдөө Монгол хүн чи хүн би хүн бид адил хүмүүс
Эртнээс эхэлсэн энэ цус Монгол цус
Халуун биеэр минь халх цус
Эрэлхэг хүчирхэг Монгол түмний дуу хоолойг ойлгож сонс одоо цагт
Төрийн суудалд үхэн хатан мөнгө цацан хаян тэмцэхийг бодоход
Түүнээс илүү ашиг хонжоог хайж байна гэсэн үг биш үү
Үүнээс цаашгүй түүнээс цаашгүй
Хэрэлдэж уралдсан 76
Үнэндээ чанартай маньдаа хамаагүй хий дэмий амны зугаа
Ууж идэж хахаж цацаж бүгдийг авлаа болоо юм биш үү
Улсаа хөгжүүлэхийн төлөө та нар одоо юм хийх болсон юм биш үү
Хүний төлөө энэ нийгмийн бохирдлыг устгая
Улс орны сайхны төлөө санаа тавь тавь тавь
Тавьсан санаа хаана л байна л гэж л хэлмээр байна л
Ард л олон л тэр л амла мөр л хөтөлбөр л гэдэг үлгэр домог болдог
Тэр л том том дарга руу байгаа чиглүүлэв үгээр чичрүүлэв би

Дахилт:

тэнгэрт найдахаас Монголчууд аа
Тэдэнд найдаж болохгүй шүү молигодуулваа
Чааваас даа миний цөөхөн халх ардаа
Хаанаас даа ийм зүйл байж боломгүй юм даа
Тэд бол их л хуурдаг ардад бурдаг худлаа бурдаг
Нөхөд л гардаг хуралдаж хуралдаж хувьдаа ашигласан
Зүйлээ хуваалцаж байж л тардаг явдаг даа
Санаа нь амарч харьдаг даа 76 нь ийм юм бол Монгол улс мөхжээ
Монголд төрсөн хүн л мөн болдоо
Мангар тэнэг биш л байх боддоо өө
Улс орноо гэдэг бодол байдаг юмуу даа
Амьдрал ер нь тамуу даа сүйрэлд хүрэх замууд
Энэ л олон намууд аа тэд нийлээд чадах уу даа
Ээ хар малнуудаа рад түмэнлүүгээ эргэн нэг хараач
Тэр олон гахайд найдаад хэрэг байхгүй за байз яая даа
Хараал идэг чөтгөр аваг
Энэ муу новшийн нийгмийг хар хар
Хар дарсан зүүднээсээ тэр сэр сэр сэр
Ертөнц хорвоод баян ядуу баян ядуу
Мөнгөтэй төгрөгтэй мөнгөгүй төгрөггүй
Мэдэлтэй мэдэлгүй нь хосолсоор хосолсоор
Хэн нь сайтар хэн нь муутар амьдрах хүн бүрээс хамаарах болж
Энэ л үед ийм үед мөрөн дээрхээ тэр толгойгоо
Энэ нийгмийн толгойлогчдод буруу бий буруу бий
Хямралд оруулж байгаа хүмүүс эд нар мөн эд нар мөн

Дахилт:

Чи бол Монгол би бол Монгол хүн
Бидэнд бие биенээ харйлах сэтгэл зүрх байх л ёстой гэж л бодно
Миний бодсон нэг л худлаа бас л худлаа болоод байх шиг байдаг
Ер нь яадаг тэнэг нөхөд гэхээр улс төр л мөр л гэж явдаг байна л
Ард л олон яана л шал худлаа
Тэр л сайхан нам л байна
Амьдрал гэдэг там л байна
Тэр л 76- гаа л сандал суудал зулгаа л
Энэ л төрийн нүүр л царай л гэвэл энэ ээ
Нэг хоёр гурван жил 76 нам жим
Ингэсээр сүүлийн дөрвөн жил гэнэт гарч ирэн намайг дэмж
Энэ миний мөрийн хөтөлбөр энэ чиний сургалтын төлбөр
Энэ бүгдийг чиний төлө харин чи тууштай миний төлөө
Гэж хэлээд суудалд суухдаа тэр маш их мөнгө зарсан
Тэр гарсан зарсан мөнгөө хэд хэд нугалж олсон
Ард бид чинь та нарт итгэн суудалд суулган залсан
Ахисан даварсан тэд нар харин гарсан хойноо мартсан

[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: Aan­ga­jaar­naq­tu­li­uq­tu­qa­qat­ta­li­lauq­si­mann­git­ti­am­ma­ri­ru­lung­niq­pal­lii­la­in­nau­ja­qa­tau­na­su­&&­an­naaq­tum­ma­ri­a­luu­va­li­lauq­si­ma­&&a­pik­ka­lu­ar­mi­jun­ga­lit­t

This satirical article at SpeculativeGrammarian explains why twitter is not a good idea for the fine residents of Nunavut. I actually have no idea if the Inuit phrases cited are authentic or instead just satirical inventions. The word/sentence “Aan­ga­jaar­naq­tu­li­uq­tu­qa­qat­ta­li­lauq­si­mann­git­ti­am­ma­ri­ru­lung­niq­pal­lii­la­in­nau­ja­qa­tau­na­su­&&­an­naaq­tum­ma­ri­a­luu­va­li­lauq­si­ma­&&a­pik­ka­lu­ar­mi­jun­ga­lit­tau­ruuq” has 199 characters, and allegedly means, “At a younger age it is said that I had also been saying that I wished drugs were never made!” Which might very well be something some anti-drugs Nunavutian politician might want to send out on twitter. So, indeed, it seems a linguistic injustice on the part of the twitterverse.
Relatedly (perhaps), I recently learned that Greenland’s 18th largest city, Ittoqqortoormiit, has 452 residents. South Korea’s 18th largest city is Namyangju, in Gyeonggi province (not far from my own home in Goyang, which happens to be South Korea’s 10th largest city, although, really, both cities are just politically autonomous suburbs of Seoul). According to the wiki thing, Namyangju has 629,061 residents.
Here is a picture of Ittoqqortoormiit.
picture
Possible spurious correlation of the day (?): The smaller the town, the longer the words.
[daily log: walking, 7km]

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