Etymology of Blessing

The origin of the powerful word “blessing” actually comes from the Proto-Germanic word “blodison” the ancient pagan ritual of sprinkling blood on altars.

Every ancient culture understood the pure divine power of blood.

Guess what the establishment has been heavily targeting?

— Erwan Le Corre (@ErwanLeCorre) January 7, 2023

Old English, AKA Anglo-Saxon

You can listen to what it really sounded like in the original Anglo-Saxon right here, Bibi Janey: https://t.co/771hSjvNuT

These old epics were actually performances.

To me, it sounds like Norwegian or Danish. https://t.co/aIAXz9aTME

— QuintusCurtius (@QuintusCurtius) February 19, 2021

This is amazing. Hear Beowulf performed in the original Anglo-Saxon.

98—An Anglo-Saxon Bard—Benjamin Bagby | Catholic Culture https://t.co/6evsfvtvvh

— James Matthew Wilson (@JMWSPT) February 24, 2021

Lost in Translation?

The fact that Christ's first disciple is a Jewish man with a Greek name foreshadows the universal mission of the Church. Specifically, it signals how the first Christians will fuse the intellectual cultures of Jerusalem and Athens in their earliest preaching of the resurrection.

— Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, OP (@FrAquinasOP) December 1, 2020

Was there a problem when Apostolic Christianity, which was primarily expressed in Greek, was translated into Latin?

Something Positive for Francis

Netanyahu: Yeah we know Jesus, he spoke Hebrew

Pope Francis: Aramaic pic.twitter.com/gXjxdOY6hJ

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) October 27, 2020

But I bet Francis missed this:

Notes
1-Jesus didn't "speak" either; Hebrew & Aramaic were languages for the learned. Pple spoke (as today) dialects; Jesus prob. spoke a Galilean one.

2-Netanyahu did not call Jesus by his Heb. name יהושע (Yehoshua) or ישוע, but by ישו "Yeshu" used to stress foreignness. https://t.co/Hc8E1Ugasz

— Nassim Nicholas Taleb (@nntaleb) October 28, 2020

Voilahttps://t.co/hOgjvcjuTy

— Nassim Nicholas Taleb (@nntaleb) October 28, 2020

A Fortunate Evolutionary Change or Not?

Ancient switch to soft food gave us an overbite—and the ability to pronounce ‘f’s and ‘v’s @evolutionscribe https://t.co/VNLNUfuB2X

— PaleoAnthropology+ (@Qafzeh) October 18, 2020

Language and Music Are Important for Preserving One's Culture and Identity

The Mongolian Metal Band Keeping Their Language Alive Through Music https://t.co/nfEL6wS4rL

— LanguageCrawler (@LanguageCrawler) October 16, 2020

Is This Agape?

Our love for others, for who they are, moves us to seek the best for their lives. Only by cultivating this way of relating to one another will we make possible a social friendship that excludes no one and a fraternity that is open to all. #FratelliTutti

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) October 9, 2020

Let's check the Latin.

Amor in alium sicut ipse est nos impellit, ut optimum requiramus pro eius vita. Hanc huius generis tantum colentes necessitudinem, socialem amicitiam efficimus, quae neminem depellit et fraternitas omnibus patet. #FratresOmnes

— Papa Franciscus (@Pontifex_ln) October 9, 2020

Not helpful. The lack of precision surrounding "love" in Western European languages is a fact, regardless of whether I like it or not. But to avoid precision in the Latin? Why wouldn't his ghostwrter use caritas instead? Then again, amor is used all over Caritas in veritate and Deus Caritas Est. Would we find the same sort of verbal imprecision in a Greek Father or bishop? Do we need a new word or a neologism to replace "love" that is identified with agape or caritas?

Greek and Spanish

I feel the same when I visit Greece. Plus, we can pronounce each other's languages impeccably. If you wonder why, here's a very good explanation:https://t.co/UdDo2Ls7fW

— eva 🇲🇽 🇪🇺 🇪🇸 🏳️‍🌈 (@lavigi) October 3, 2020

Gaelic Psalm-Singing

I first heard the spine-tingling beauty that is the free heterophony of Gaelic psalm-singing on a battered CD borrowed from our holiday cottage near Port of Ness last summer - bringing together, as it says here, our particularity and our unity in God. Do read and listen! https://t.co/OXapgKfcJW

— Arabella Milbank (@ArabellaMilbank) August 28, 2020

'A vertical connection to God': the euphoria of Gaelic psalm singing https://t.co/h5IIDIb1lX

— john milbank (@johnmilbank3) August 30, 2020

Something Different

An Dr @ailbhe_ngc ar a taighde ar scéalta draíochta Dhúiche Sheoighe, Contae na Gaillimhe le léargas ar an cheangal idir scéalta an cheantair agus síscéalta amhail Cinderella agus Beauty and the Beast. Filleann Viva Voce an tseachtain seo chugainn ar @bbcradioulster ┐ @bbcsounds pic.twitter.com/5WMM0UAD7J

— BBC GAEILGE (@bbcgaeilge) August 26, 2020

Something Different

Just found out that the Christian name Tjaart/Tjaard common in South Africa is a variant of Theodard, the martyred bishop of Maastricht.#saints #catholicsaints #catholic #maastricht pic.twitter.com/AAkFB6NDwZ

— Andrew Cusack (@cusackandrew) June 7, 2020

Sailer on Parasite

with some interesting questions about class and regional distinctions in the Korean language.

Patua

SCMP

Uralic Languages

Steve Sailer: Mandatory Finnish Content

Old English

"Han"

I made a comment to a friend over the weekend of 12/18 about being Chinese, someone also of Canto background. If the central government of China is every successful in stamping out Cantonese I think I'd have little reason to identify as Chinese in any way. I do identify as Cantonese with respect to my heritage, family lineage, family history, and family culture, so if Cantonese were to disappear, what link would I have to a dominated people that has become culturally extinct?

What sort of genetic/genealogical relationship really exists between the different peoples that make up the Han ethnic group? There are significant differences in appearance, over a range. Even if all of the Han peoples of China are part of one larger group, there is no necessity for them to have the same language. That is the totalitarian impulse of a centralizing political authority. As an identity "Cantonese" expresses more of the specificity (though it may not be the most refined one, as Chinese identity would be specific to village and clan) reflecting subjective reality than just "Chinese."


Why Are Northeast Asians White-Skinned?

The Psalms

Bono and Eugene Peterson

‎Beyond Bono and Eugene Peterson: The Most Searched and Shared Psalms

The translation by Peterson is apparently problematic; but did those who successfully inculturated Christianity and adapted other languages for Sacred Scripture use an everyday vernacular or did they seek to elevate it? What would Saints Cyril and Methodios say to Eugene Peterson?

The Destruction of Local Cultures

Homogeneity in the name of unity...

China Is Forcing Its Biggest Cantonese-Speaking Region To Speak Mandarin


What would Sun Yat-Sen say?

Scottish Gaelic

Post by Julie Fowlis.

Oppa?

Post by KoreAm Journal.

Someone will be complaining about this.