Month: July 2024

The Shavian Alphabet, also known as the Shaw alphabet, was funded by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw and largely designed by Ronald Kingsley Read. Shaw was interested in replacing the standard English alphabet with an alternative that would remove all the ambiguities from English pronunciation. The new alphabet was based on phonemes and all the letters were distinct from the Roman alphabet. It consists of tall, deep, and short letters, each with a shape that can be written in a single movement. Aside from a small community of enthusiasts, the Shavian alphabet never really caught on, and English speakers continue to deal with remarkably inconsistent spelling norms. 

English has a large number of plural nouns, also known as “lexical plurals ”, where the noun almost always appears in a plural form and is practically never used in the singular. Can you think of some examples? Ones that you might use every day include “scissors”, “trousers” and “tights.” These objects are considered to be sets, in which more than one item (for example, two trouser legs) come together to form a whole.

The San people of southern Africa engage in a profound spiritual practice known as the trance dance. Participants, guided by experienced healers or shamans, enter a trance state through hours of rhythmic clapping, singing, and dancing. This tradition is believed to facilitate contact with the spirit world, where healers seek guidance, healing, and rain for their community.

Depicted in ancient rock art across the region, the trance dance symbolises the San’s deep connection to their ancestors and the natural world. It includes rituals like transformations into animal forms and encounters with mythical beings and ancestral spirits.

Image Source: Drawing of a painted trance dance scene made by members of the Rock Art Research Institute team at Wits University.

The tiny islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, with just over 6000 inhabitants, are a self-governing territory of France, located near the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The islanders speak French, and largely claim descent from French Basque and Breton settlers. Basque was still spoken by some families on the islands until the mid-twentieth century. The islands’ annual Basque Festival features traditional Basque sports.