Monthly Archives: December 2011

Where writing fails

Posted on December 24, 2011 by

I wrote earlier about the problems of deciphering Akkadian, going from transliteration to normalization to translation. And you run into similar problems with Sumerian. Of course, if you want to capture the sound of Mandarin, you are left with pin … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Listening to the dead; talking to computers

Posted on December 11, 2011 by

In the past few months, I’ve taken an interest in early Semitic languages, mentioned in the post below. One of the most interesting aspects of studying languages like Babylonian is the concept of normalization. What this means is that after … Continue reading →

Posted in Semitic languages | Tagged | 2 Comments

Stumbling into the Semitic languages

Posted on December 3, 2011 by

In the past few months, worn out on old language paths, I’ve experimented with some new ones. I’ve learned a little bit of Vietnamese – mostly enough to apologize for not understanding, but also to order a beer – and … Continue reading →

Posted in Semitic languages | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Heading toward a new year, with new addictions

Posted on December 3, 2011 by

As I mentioned some time ago, the ability to update to my home site from blogger went away. Since then, I’d been updating by hand. But the updates have fallen by the wayside since I don’t often find the patience … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment