By Sarah-Claire Jordan As a country populated by immigrants, the U.S. has become home for people from a diverse array of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Even before colonization by any European power, it was populated by over 500 different Native American tribes, who in turn influenced the culture and language of the settlers in […]
By Sarah-Claire Jordan Mandinka, also known as Mandingo, is the native language of the Mandinka ethnic group of West Africa. It is spoken by 1.3 million people all over the world, and yet it isn’t a language that tends to be thought of even when discussing the major languages of Africa. However, that doesn’t […]
By Sarah-Claire Jordan Native English speakers tend to notice how many English words are used in other languages while ignoring the words they use everyday that were originally Arabic, Portuguese, Dutch, and more. English is one of those languages that has no qualms about taking a foreign word and anglicizing it if there isn’t an […]
Sango is the official language of the Central African Republic, and is also native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chad. By having Sango as the official and national language, the Central Republic of Africa is bucking the trend of many African countries which tend to use Arabic, French, English and other languages […]
By Sarah-Claire Jordan Being the second-largest continent on Earth in terms of land and population, Africa is already quite impressive. It consists of 54 different countries, all of them unique and adding a bit of diversity to the continent as a whole. Given that it is located next to the Middle East and Central Asia […]
By Sarah-Claire Jordan Everyone is aware that there are generally at least two languages spoken in any given country, either due to immigration or the complex linguistic history of a country. Many countries include land where originally the official language was not spoken, like the southwest of the U.S. or parts of European countries that […]
By Sarah-Claire Jordan Louisiana has always been a fascinating area of the U.S. in terms of culture, heritage and people. It is the ultimate melting pot, mixing Native American, French, Spanish, and African influences to create something new and unique. This uniqueness is beautifully expressed in the music, food, and art that the people of […]
Generally speaking, creoles and hybrids took more from the dialects of their superstrata than from the standard languages. Hybridization took place in England, in the area called Danelaw (extended from London to Chester), between the10th and the 11th Century, when Danish was probably used for some time. This is testified by the fact that places […]
