David Mora-Marin is an assistant professor of linguistics and one of the few specialists in ancient Mayan languages from around 400 BC to 200 AD. A recent article was published about the writing system used by the Olmecs, the first civilization in Mesoamerica. Mora-Marin analyzed the Olmec writing tablet and found patterns that contradict the researchers’ findings.
Laura Janda, professor of Slavic linguistics, studies the complexities of aspect and other Slavic grammatical categories. Janda uses rocks, sand, blocks of wood, and ping-pong balls to explain aspects which require adding a marking to every noun, pronoun, and verb in a sentence to indicate relationships among objects and ideas.
Craig Melchert, professor of linguistics, studies extinct Anatolian languages. Anatolian developed from a language spoken by Indo-European people who moved to Asia Minor from north of the Black Sea by 2000 B.C. Melchert traces the linguistic history to understand how ancient people thought and lived.
Recalling upon his time spent in the Sahara Desert on vacation., the author notes that the use of the word “folklore” in every language he heard, including English, Spanish, French, German, and Swedish, when the guides were speaking about a traditional folk dance.
As tobacco was a popular cash crop in North Carolina, the methods and terms used to raise and harvest the tobacco are shared between regions. From preparing the tobacco beds to selling, and touching on hazards and illegal practices, the author gained most of his knowledge from his grandfather. With illustration.
As an avid collector of all things folklore, the author begins the article with an overview of some of the superstitions, speech, home remedies, and place name origins. The last part of the article deals with humorous anecdotes and jokes he had come across in Kentucky. With illustration.
In the context of this article, the author uses the term ‘fairy’ as synonymous with the Turkish ‘peri’ and Indian ‘apsara.’ The article outlines their mythical origin, purpose, and outlines the structural components of stories that have the fairies as subjects, along with comparing and contrasting the two to European fairies.
Based in humor from the southwest, “Some Adventures of Simon Suggs” became a famous literature about frontier life. Complete with illustrations and a short biography of the author of the novel, the similes found in the book are categorized by their comparisons.
From the request to know if the term “Sandlapper” was suitable for a magazine title, the author presents the origin, meaning, and any stigmas attached to the word.
The parallels between cultures of American Indians groups and native Asian peoples are highlighted through shared religious mythology and related linguistic patterns. The importance of the serpent and turtle as symbols in both cultures are discussed in depth along with the Flood myth or archetype. Also discussed are the consonant sounds present in the words water and serpent and their presence in the languages of Asiatic peoples and American Indians. One group highlighted in connection to the Asiatic cultures is the Cherokee of the Eastern United States.