On this episode, Eugene and Amy pull again the curtain (the web page?) to debate the historic and political implications of how we talk.
Podcast Free Asia
Ever surprise why English phrases like “knife” are spelled the way in which they’re? Eugene explains that spelling serves as a kind of snapshot in time, reflecting how phrases as soon as have been pronounced. The duty of updating English spellings at the moment would require selecting a regular pronunciation – a frightening prospect contemplating the various English-speaking international locations and populations internationally.
However what about standardizing a language remoted to a single area, or higher but, in a single area containing rival ruling events?
The Rundown
Amy explains that for the reason that early twentieth century, teams of Chinese language intellectuals have argued that the standard Chinese language writing system stood in the way in which of the nation’s modernization. These language reforms have been lastly enacted by the Folks’s Republic within the Nineteen Fifties, and simplified Chinese language characters arrived on the scene. These days, conventional Chinese language characters are used solely in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, a follow that contributes to shaping the distinctive cultural identities of these areas.
![Biáng_(regular_script).svg.png Biáng_(regular_script).svg.png](https://i0.wp.com/www.rfa.org/english/rfainsider/biang_-regular_script-svg.png?ssl=1)
Transferring to the Korean language, Eugene recounts how the North and South sorts of Korean had organically diverged earlier than the nation’s break up; the standardization efforts and worldwide insurance policies carried out by every respective authorities solely furthered an already present divide.
![Korean_dialect_zones.svg.png Korean_dialect_zones.svg.png](https://i0.wp.com/www.rfa.org/english/rfainsider/korean_dialect_zones-svg.png?ssl=1)
Whereas the vocabulary of the North and South differ drastically because of North Korea’s isolationism, Eugene, who’s most comfy with how folks converse in Seoul shares that for him the Pyongyang accent is less complicated to grasp in comparison with the accent of the South Korean metropolis of Busan, which is additional away from the 2 capitals… however native audio system throughout South Korea would possibly get tripped up when listening to North Koreans converse or studying what North Koreans write due to completely different vocabulary and spellings. Among the variations are political. Even the identify for “Korea” is a loaded one, with South Korea preferring the prefix “Han” and North Korea the prefix “Choson.”
How It’s Made
Lao Service Deputy Director Max Avary joins to elucidate RFA Lao’s transition from publishing within the previous Lao language to fashionable Lao. The choice was not an mild one for the Service and stays imperceptible to non-Lao audio system, so Max gives a complete overview of the variations between the 2 writing techniques, the historical past and politics behind the formation of recent Lao and his private experiences speaking utilizing these two techniques in journalism and contained in the nation of Laos.
BACK TO MAIN