Freitag, 18. September 2009

Various Tai performances


Tai Lue: Northern Thailand, Xishuangbanna Dai Automnous Prefecture

Lao: Laos, Issan- Thailand

Tai Dam: Thailand, Laos, Vietnam

Thai: Thailand

Shan: Thailand, Shan State- Burma, Yunan- China

Dienstag, 15. September 2009

I get death threat


So If you ever wonder what happened to me, look up this guy.

Donnerstag, 10. September 2009

English =/= Romance Language

I don't know how this myth keeps propagating itself. We have linguist facts and historical records to show that it's Germanic. Similarities to a Romance language are largely due to

  1. The fact that English -> Germanic ->Indo-European just as all Romance languages are Indo-European.
  2. English borrowed from visitors/invaders/natives where ever their speakers go.
  3. 300 years of Norman control of the region tends to change the language.

I hear some claim that English is a Romance ( A.K.A. Latin) language because it has a lot of Latin words. SO? Plenty of other languages have Latin words too! Due to contact!

Based on that reasoning, English should also be

  • Sino-Tibetan: Chow = 炒 from Cantonese, Ketchup = 茄汁 from Cantonese or Amoy, Tea = 茶 from Amoy, and so on.
  • Austronesian: (Malay and related languages): Amok = amuk, Bamboo = bambu, Paddy = padi, junk, gong, and so on. (Polynesian): Taboo, Lei, Wiki, and so on. (Filipino languages): Boondocks, Yo-Yo.
  • Native American: Muskrat, Moose, Opossum, Hickory, Skunk, and so on.
  • African: Tango, Aardvark, Zebra, Zombie, and so on.
  • Semitic: (Hebrew): Abacus, Sack, Golem, Macabre and so on. (Arabic): Algebra, Algorithm, Arsenal, Alcohol, Candy, Coffee, and so on.
  • Celtic: Bunny, Craig, Spunk, Slogan, Bog, Bard, Drum, and so on.
  • Greek: So many. Photo for example.
  • Indo-Iranian: (Sanskrit languages): Avatar, Atoll, Jungle, Thug, Shampoo, and so on. (Iranian) as, Cash, Afreet, Kabob, and so on.

There is even more then this. So yeah, saying English is Romance based on Lexicon comparison would be absurd because then it would be every other languages too.