Random linguistic things
Linguistic keyboard
The set is designed for Linux, BSD &c. It should be possible to use it on a Mac but it has not been tested. There are two files:
- xkb-lng is the keyboard proper. It contains a Latin layout with quite a large number of dead keys (e.g. dead-key + / + a = á) and an Arabic, Cyrillic, Greek and Hebrew layouts based on Latin (i.e. ب, б, β and ב are all under b. Overall, the design is quite flexible and very easy to memorize. It is also easy to make up the required combination in case of forgetting.
There are also some extra features: Caps Lock is turned off, left function keys are swapped as in Macs (Hyper – Alt – Ctrl), Shift-Backspace = Delete &c.
More information inside the file. - XCompose is an extension of the standard composing definition.
There are no instructions in the file but the syntax is very easy to understand: e.g. multi-key + d + z = ʒ, multi-key + κ + σ = ξ &c.
To install, save the file in your home with a dot prepended to the name and restart the X server.
Linguistic humour
A place for linguistic humour (as in math jokes), not language humour (as in political correctness parody).
- Phonetic battleships
I owe this one to Michał Németh and a sleepless night on a train. A board for battleships, only instead of letters and numbers, there are vowels and consonants, so rather than A4, you say a syllable. Practical usage is obviously limited, so I used IPA for a better (more scientific) look. - Linguistic looking down chart
I owe the idea to this diagram. Mine is similar in many ways, only I think circle is a better layout. - A Pre-Finno-Mordvinian comes to a Proto-Indo-European village…
An excerpt from Helimski E., Early Indo-Uralic Linguistic Relationships: Real Kinship and Imagined Contacts – Carpelan C. / Parpola A. / Koskikallio P., Early Contacts Between Uralic and Indo-European: Linguistic and Archaeological Considerations = Mémoires de la Société Finno-Ougrienne 242, Helsinki, 2001, 187-205. - Selected writings of Metalleus (Kenneth L. Miner)
The formatting is my own because the original was pure ASCII.
Language humour
A place for things which are not strictly linguistic but funny nonetheless. Not the political correctness parody kind, though.
- Some linguistically relevant comics
I owe these to xkcd, Calvin and Hobbes and other. Do take a look at some more of both. xkcd is mostly maths, physics and such but it’s good. Calvin and Hobbes will be lots of fun to anyone who has ever seen a small boy in their life. - The Big Eskimo Book of Fun
I owe this one to mofaha.
Other
Really other (non-linguistic) things go here.
- A comparison of weather forecasters
A comparison of different weather forecasting services I did annoyed by checking the weather on three different websites to find three – or more… – mutually exclusive forecasts.