The Linguist

Chartered Institute of Linguists WINTER 2024 The Linguist 25 FEATURES WHO'S WHO? Identify the people above and the language- related reason they have been in the news. 1 2 3 4 LEAGUE OF THE LEXICON 1 Which language has the longest alphabet? a) Khymer (Cambodia; pictured) b) Rotokas (Papua New Guinea) c) Urdu (Pakistan) 2 Who is the odd one out? a) Michael Caine b) Lewis Carroll c) Agatha Christie 3 In the idiom 'flotsam and jetsam' what is 'jetsam'? a) Sea grass b) Cooking waste c) Items thrown overboard a ship 4 Which word is NOT an eponym (i.e. named after a person)? a) Dunce b) Magenta c) Mausoleum For your chance to win the League of Lexicon game, send your answers to linguist.editor@ciol.org.uk by 15 January. TRAGIC MISTRANSLATIONS 1 Scholars revealed that the ancient Greek word malakoi was disastrously mistranslated in the RSV Bible, but how was it translated? 2 US Democratic representative Ilhan Omar was labelled a "foreign agent in our government" after her words were mistranslated from Somali as: a) "I am Somalian first." b) "Somalia is God's greatest country." c) "America has done much evil." 3 What reason did three NZ MPs give for referring to King Charles as 'King skin rash/ sore' (K īngi harehare) in Te reo Māori? 4 A revised edition of which work by Freud corrects a misinterpretation of 'sexual' and suggests "he wasn't so obsessed with sex"? Answers on page 33. LEGAL BATTLES 1 People from which country are seeking compensation from the Australian government after they were denied legal interpretation and wrongly incarcerated as people smugglers when they were children? 2 Interpreters from which country are protesting poor public services equipment after some experienced hearing injuries? 3 The company Ecctis has unlawfully charged thousands of people applying for visas in the UK for what service – a discovery made when the government sought to renew its contract this year? 4 Former international students are seeking compensation from the Home Office for wrongly accusing them of what and cancelling 35,000 UK student visas? EDUCATION MATTERS 1 What percentage of parents in England believe learning a foreign language in school should be compulsory? a) 14% b) 43% c) 68% 2 What percentage of young people in the UK do not think they will need a language in their career, according to a British Council survey? a) 37% b) 63% c) 86% 3 Folk music stars, including Iona Fyfe and Julie Fowlis, joined protests (which were somewhat successful) over plans to axe Gaelic at which Scottish University? 4 A new languages GCSE specification was introduced in the UK in September, but when will the first exams be taken? INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES 1 The Swedish and Finnish governments announced funding cuts to a body that was created to safeguard the use of which group of Nordic languages? 2 Since being sworn in, several New Zealand ministers have ordered their departments to stop using names in which language, causing concern? 3 A lawmaker in which country gave a speech to the regional legislature in the Indigenous language Anishininiimowin, after the rules, which had permitted only English and French, were changed? 4 In April, there were demands for the UK government to add what language to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages on the same basis as Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Welsh and Irish? 1. LAUREN HURLEY / NO 10 DOWNING STREET OGL; 3. MARCEL DE GROOT CC BY-SA 2.0; 4. FUZHEADO CC BY 4.0 BJØRN CHRISTIAN TØRRISSEN CC BY-SA 4.0

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