Author | Lightnews

Can

@ayter.com

410 followers 170 following 120 posts

SELECT insights FROM linguistics WHERE name IN ("[dʒɑn]", "𐰲𐰣", "Җан", "ᠵᠠᠨ", "ჯան", "Τζαν", "Ջան", "جان", "ཅན") AND curiosity = ∞ ayter.com

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Can @ayter.com · Apr 5

'All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.'

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Reposted by Can

Conversation Kenge @fenken.bsky.social · Aug 13

That's not a million miles from Douglas Adams' discussion on the impact of the Babel fish:

youtu.be/iuumnjJWFO4?...

Babel Fish - The Oddest Thing In The Universe - The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - BBC

YouTube video by BBC Studios

youtu.be

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Reposted by Can

Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell @kurzgesagt.org · 18d

AI-generated content is flooding the internet, and we're entering a new era of information overload. Watch our latest video to find out how AI slop affects the internet and why kurzgesagt videos will always remain human-made: https://kgs.link/AISlop

In the middle, there is an AI-generated picture of a duck. Below it, there is a human-illustrated Duck, looking at the other duck in shock, and saying "Wtf is this?"

18 400 1.2K

Reposted by Can

Darin Flynn @phono-logical.bsky.social · 27d

I love that /ɑ/ and /ɔ/ kind of rhyme for those who have undergone the cot–caught merger, such as Californian Zack de la Rocha

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Can @ayter.com · Sep 24

In Taiwanese, @ is "little mouse" (小老鼠 (xiǎo lǎoshǔ). It's "dog" (собака/sobaka) in Russian, "strudel" (שְׁטְרוּדֶל/shtrúdel) in Hebrew, "monkey's tail" (apestaart) in Dutch, "duckling" (παπάκι/papaki) in Greek, and "snail" escargot in French. The @ sign is a mirror of history going back 1000's of years.

The 3,000-year-old story hidden in the @ sign

In Taiwan they call @ "little mouse". It's "strudel" in Hebrew, "dog" in Russian and "monkey's tail" in Dutch. The @ sign is a mirror, and its story goes back thousands of years.

bbc.com

Can @ayter.com · Sep 18

Of, street view koymamışlar trafoya ._. maps.app.goo.gl/Lqd2bVe38erk...

maps.app.goo.gl

Can @ayter.com · Sep 18

Tamam geliyorum. İş güç sahibi de oldum şimdi bilet alıp gezebilen bir insana dönüştüm. Gelip kan veririm sonra da ayak başparmaklarımızla iki buçuk tane falan çiğ köfte yaparız.

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Can @ayter.com · Sep 18

Ben. :3

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Reposted by Can

Endangered Languages Project @e-l-p.bsky.social · Sep 9

Announcing the new ELP! 🎉⁠ A redesigned online space to:

🌱 Strengthen language revitalization worldwide⁠
🗣️ Share knowledge and stories⁠
💡 Find learning resources, guidance, and ideas for your language work⁠
🌏️ Connect across borders and boundaries⁠
💬 All in 9 languages!⁠

endangeredlanguages.com

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Can @ayter.com · Sep 4

This is the evilest thing I've read for a long time.

Can @ayter.com · Aug 21

This is very cool. Thanks for sharing.

Reposted by Can

Laura @lauropea.bsky.social · Aug 13

We need a Star Trek episode about how the invention of the universal translator caused people to stop valuing actually learning languages, while they fatally overestimated the UT's accuracy and the resulting misunderstandings led to a massive war that tore the quadrant apart

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Reposted by Can

Niko Kontovas @nikokontovas.bsky.social · Jul 19

Channeling my best David Attenborough to introduce one of the many wonderful items in our #Treasured exhibition, currently running until 26 October in the ST Lee Gallery of the Weston Library in #Oxford. Come visit to see this manuscript and more!

Bodleian Libraries @bodleian.ox.ac.uk · Jul 17

Happy July 4th 😉!

Please enjoy this video on the Gregorian vs Julian calendar with Treasured curator @nikokontovas.bsky.social: www.youtube.com/shorts/R9ea-....

#JohnGreaves #CalendarReform

Calendar lessons from Uzbekistan #history #astronomy #uzbekistan #oxford #science

YouTube video by Bodleian Libraries

www.youtube.com

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Can @ayter.com · Aug 4

Çok uzun zamandır kullanmadığım bir sözcüğü muhabbet esnasında bağlama uygun şekilde kullanmanın dayanılmaz hafifliğiyle evrenimizin uçsuz bucaksız derinliklerinde süzülüyorum.

Mevzubahis sözcük: olabilebülüp.

Can @ayter.com · Jul 30

📚 New read: Algospeak is the study of language evolution through content moderation algorithms. Great for anyone tinkering with linguistics & data. Re: lexical innovation through algorithmic rules, phonemic substitution patterns, and corpora analysis of viral propagation via a sociolinguistic lens.

‎Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language (Unabridged)

‎Languages · 2025

books.apple.com

Reposted by Can

Adam Bremer-McCollum @acbm.bsky.social · Jul 25

Old Uyghur word of the day
/sıŋ/ (< 層 céng) story, floor, level

as in Diam. Sutra, ed. Zieme, A₂ 1-2
/ulug varxar-nıŋ törtünč kat sıŋ-da-kı kalık ičintä/
"in the great monastery's fourth story, in the upper room"

/sıŋ/ in hendiadys with /kat/

/varxar/ from /vihāra/ by way of Sgd /βarxār/

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Reposted by Can

Sedat Kapanoğlu @ssg.dev · Jul 21

“kaçıncı” is a turkish word that doesn’t correlate to a word in english. i propose a new word “whichnth” (pronounced which-unth) for it. so instead of saying “how many times has this happened abi ya!” you say “whichnth is this abi ya!”. (“abi ya” is just an exclamation for frustration)

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Can @ayter.com · Jul 20

a cartoon character says good news everyone

ALT: a cartoon character says good news everyone

media.tenor.com

Reposted by Can

Darin Flynn @phono-logical.bsky.social · Jul 20

Helvetica, the most famous and undisputed king of typefaces, has most IPA characters? Since when???

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Can @ayter.com · Jul 7

İnviloptan çıktı orda gördüm. 👁️

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Can @ayter.com · Jul 7

Aaaa, baya Malta'ya gitmişsin.

Can @ayter.com · Jul 2

Please stop clouding your and our feeds with pseudoscientific nonsense.

Reposted by Can

Because Language (becauselangpod) @becauselanguage.com · Jun 15

Today is Uyghur Language Day.
I once had the honour of talking with Uyghur language advocate Abduweli Ayup, who was imprisoned for his work by the Chinese government.
That’s here, from 37:36.

becauselanguage.com/101-talkin-c...

101: Talkin’ Chomsky (with Katie Martin and Abduweli Ayup) – Because Language

becauselanguage.com

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Can @ayter.com · Jun 13

I’d love to watch a Wes Anderson-style movie about the lives of everyone I know, care about, and love.

Can @ayter.com · Jun 4

Bleeding Me 🤘

Can @ayter.com · May 31

Bartholomew.