infundibulum

I started a category on Wikipedia: Category:Earliest known manuscripts by language. I’m not terribly happy with the phrasing of that, but I couldn’t come up with anything better. Anyway, it seems to have struck a chord as there have been daily additions since the addition.

As you might expect, there are some arguable cases, but IMHO, the discussion about which particular documents belong in the category and which are on the periphery is the whole point.

Taipei Times: Flanders PM sparks linguistic storm

If, like me, you are a connoisseur of linguistic brouhaha of all flavors, you should look no further than Belgium to get your kicks. Because good grief! I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t quite figured out exactly who is talking about what when you the terms thrown around in that neck of the woods — starting a sentence with “Flemish” in particular, seems like a pretty good way to get into an argument.

I for one will gladly bow out beforehand…

“Apparently, the Francophones are intellectually incapable of learning Dutch,” Leterme was quoted as saying in the interview, published on Thursday. “Look at the difficulties Francophone leaders, even the king in this country, have speaking Dutch fluently.”

SHAZZAM!

“One can only imagine that the remarks … must have been mistranslated or are an example of improper usage of the French language,” he was quoted by another leading French-language daily, La Libre, as saying.

FTHWAP!

Please insert rambunctious onomatopoeia in your dialect of choice.

PS, I’m just kidding!

Thanks to pal Amy for the tip:

Australia picks first Aboriginal-language movie as Oscars entry

The movie, which was filmed entirely in the indigenous language of Ganalbingu, was screened at the Cannes film festival in May, winning de Heer a special jury prize.

Starring Jamie Gulpilil, Richard Birrinbirrin and Frances Djulibing, it tells a fictional story set in the distant past in which the lead character is attracted to one of the wives of his older brother.

In order to teach his brother tribal law, the older sibling tells a mythical story of love, kidnapping, sorcery and revenge.

Neat.

There’s just one (!) hit for “Ganalbingu” in Wikipedia, here you go:

The linguistic variety is echoed by the cultural diversity in the area, evidenced by the number of different religious ceremonies and the multitude of artistic forms in design, music and dance. People speak Ndjébbana, eastern Kunwinjku, Kune, Rembarrnga, Dangbon/Dalabon, Nakkara, Gurrgoni, Djinang, Wurlaki, Ganalbingu, Gupapuyngu, Kunbarlang, Gun-nartpa, Burarra, and English. Most people have command of at least three of these languages.

That’s from the article about the Maningrida indigenous community. (You can see where it is in Google Maps.)