Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Talks About the Winter Solstice in China

22 December 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, : Dr Lisa Lim talks about the winter solstice in China that is a time for family, harmony and lavish meals, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“The shortest day of the year – or longest night – is celebrated with dishes symbolising togetherness”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2125269/winter-solstice-china-time-family-harmony-and-lavish-meals

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Talks About Where the Cockatoo Got Its Name from

10 December 2017 (Sunday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, : Dr Lisa Lim talks about where the cockatoo got its name from, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“The name of the bird, one species of which is often spotted in Hong Kong, comes from Malay via Dutch”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2123331/where-cockatoo-got-its-name-not-english-cock

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Talks About Indian Words Enter Oxford English Dictionary

24 November 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, : Dr Lisa Lim talks about Indian words enter Oxford English Dictionary, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“Do you know your annas from the your abbas, your bhindi from your gosht? Indian English words derived from a variety of subcontinent’s languages follow Chinese guanxi and Singaporean kiasu into official lexicon”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2121293/indian-words-yoga-poses-menu-items-enter-oxford-english

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Talks About Where the Word “Congee” Comes From

10 November 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, : Dr Lisa Lim talks about where the word congee comes from, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“The dish is frequently associated with East Asian cuisine but the term originated in India – from the Tamil kanji”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2119163/where-word-congee-comes-answer-may-surprise-you

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Talks About Where English Took the Words “Tycoon” and “Honcho” from

27 October 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, : Dr Lisa Lim talks about where English took the words “tycoon” and “honcho” from, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“Though one sounds Chinese, and the other Basque, these two terms for powerful people both entered the lexicon from Japan; one was subsequently used as a nickname for Abraham Lincoln”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2117111/where-english-took-words-tycoon-and-honcho-you-may-be

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Talks About the Origin of the Word “pyjamas”

12 October 2017 (Thursday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, talks about the origin of the word “pyjamas”, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“How the word entered the English lexicon, and how the garment was adopted by Europeans – though not initially as nightwear”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2115038/where-word-pyjamas-comes-or-it-pajamas

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Talks About Why it is Hard to Argue There is One Chinese Language

29 September 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, talks about why it is hard to argue there is one Chinese Language, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“To a linguist ‘the Chinese language’ is a family of languages – not dialects – that for the most part are mutually unintelligible and written different ways; an appreciation of this variety would help discussions about language policy”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2113222/cantonese-mandarin-its-all-one-big-family

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Talks about the Origin of the Word “gweilo” and Other Names East Asians have for Foreigners

15 September 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, talks about the origin of the word “gweilo” and other names East Asians have for foreigners, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“Once considered offensive, the Cantonese slang for white man is now generally accepted, even embraced, by some expats as a light-hearted epithet”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2111173/where-word-gweilo-comes-and-other-names-east-asians-have

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Talks about the Origin of the Word “typhoon”

1 September 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, talks about the origin of the word “typhoon”, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“A closer look shows ‘typhoon’ may not have originated from Chinese after all”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2109164/hong-kong-braces-mawar-find-out-where-word-typhoon-came

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Talks about the Origin of the Word “Praya” and how it Became Part of Place Names in Hong Kong

18 August 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, talks about the origin of the word “Praya” and how it became part of place names in Hong Kong, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“Hong Kong once had Praya Central, a glorious stretch of seafront that fell victim to reclamation in the late 19th century”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2107162/where-word-praya-came-and-how-it-became-part-place-names

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Discusses the Reason of Adopting English as the Official and Working Language in Asean

6 August 2017 (Sunday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, discusses the reason of adopting English as the official and working language in Asean, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“Why the 50-year-old association, whose 10 members encompass 1,000 dialects, continue to converse in a foreign language.”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2105289/speaking-tongues-why-asean-members-stick-english

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Explores the Dramatic Evolution of Ketchup

21 July 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, explores the dramatic evolution of ketchup from a preserved fish sauce to sweet tomato gloop, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“The name of the world’s favourite sauce originated with Min Chinese, entered the lexicon in Indonesia, and from there was eventually absorbed into English via British India; along the way the sauce evolved dramatically.”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2103418/when-china-invented-ketchup-300bc-and-how-it-morphed

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Talks about how 'kowtowing' Acquired a Negative Connotation in English

07 July 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, talks about how 'kowtowing' acquire a negative connotation in English, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

"The practice dates back to the Qin dynasty, when subjects prostrated in front of the emperor as an act of respect, but it was only after foreigners visiting China found the practice disdainful that the word came to mean ‘submissive’"

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2101547/how-kowtowing-acquired-negative-connotation-english

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Explains the Word "Nullahs"

26 June 2017 (Monday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, explains the word "Nullahs", in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

"The word “nullah” refers to an inlet of the sea, a river or stream, watercourse, gully or ravine, particularly in South Asia. Usually found in mountainous or hilly country, in India, nullahs are typically gravelly channels that contain a trickle of water in dry weather but can become a torrent in the rainy season..."

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2099541/why-hong-kong-has-nullahs-not-drains

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Discusses the True Significance lies in the Chinese Name of The Dragon Boat Festival

26 May 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, discusses the Chinese names of The Dragon Boat Festival, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

"Also called Tuen Ng or Duanwu, it is one of Hong Kong’s biggest festivals – but what do the dragons and rice dumplings signify?"

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2095688/dragon-boat-festival-its-true-significance-lies-its-chinese

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Illustrates Various Ways to Say "Ma" in Different Languages

14 May 2017 (Sunday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, illustrates the diversity of the word "Ma" in different languages, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

"People in various parts of the world are today sending wishes to their mothers, addressing them as mummy, ma, moeder (Dutch), mamma (Italian), mãe (Portuguese), mæ (Thai), amma (Sinhala), ammi (Urdu) and emak (Malay).

Is this a case of common ancestry or of languages influencing one another in the course of history?"

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2093964/mothers-day-how-say-ma-different-languages-and-why-do-they

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Talks About How Linguistic Diversity Affects Our Environment

1 May 2017 (Monday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, discuss the correlation between biodiversity and cultural and linguistic diversity, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“Studies have found that language loss has a negative impact on biodiversity conservation.”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2091163/how-linguistic-diversity-affects-our-environment

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Asks Why Few Asian Words Make it into English

13 April 2017 (Thursday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, talks about the foreign words that make into the Oxford English Dictionary, and why few Asian words make into it, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“If words such as restaurant (originally French) and pizzeria (Italian) have been absorbed into English, what will it take for dai pai dong and bing sutt to become trendy enough to follow them?”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2087362/foreign-words-make-it-oxford-english-dictionary

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Asks What the Case of Hong Kong’s Star Policeman Says About the City’s Language Policy

31 March 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, shares her views on the city’s language policy and discusses the case of Constable Ifzal Zaffar, a Hong Kong policeman of Pakistani descent who became an overnight star, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“Ifzal Zaffar recently climbed a crane and, speaking in Urdu, persuaded a fellow Pakistani not to commit suicide. He’s proficient in Cantonese with help from a government scheme, but a fuller embrace of multilingualism is still needed.”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:
http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2083468/what-case-hong-kongs-hero-policeman-says-about

Source: SCMP

Faculty of Arts in the Media: Dr Aaron Magnan-Park Discusses the 'Ghost in the Shell' Casting Controversy on Al Jazeera

3 April 2017 (Monday)

Dr Aaron Magnan-Park from the Department of Comparative Literature was interviewed for Al Jazeera’s report on 'Ghost in the Shell'. This new movie based on the adventures of a Japanese manga comic hero has attracted criticism for casting Scarlett Johansson as an Asian heroine.

Please click on the following link for the video of the interview:
http://www.aljazeera.com/video/news/2017/04/ghost-shell-criticised-casting-white-heroine-170403051821614.html

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Discusses the Many Meanings that the Word ‘Shroff’ Carries and Their Origins

17 March 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, explores how the word ‘shroff’ has narrowed its scope of meaning with a rich history spanning several centuries in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“Money changer, silver expert, customs officer, court money collector, cashier’s office – a word originally borrowed by English from India, which coined it from Arabic, has meant different things down the years.”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:
http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2079497/where-word-shroff-came-and-its-many-meanings

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Makes the Case for Renaming a Hong Kong Street

3 March 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, makes the case for renaming Upper Lascar Row, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“Historical circumstances aside, mindful consideration of nomenclature is important in terms of respect and inclusivity. Consider the Lands Department’s 2010 ruling against the request by South Asians for a street name change on the grounds of mō lō ’s derogatory meaning, as well as TVB’s use of mo lo cha to refer to an Indian character in a 2015 series.

The cost of, say, renaming streets – places such as South Africa, Namibia and Berlin have changed colonial place names deemed politically incorrect or offensive – is incomparable with the price of a community’s dignity.”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:
http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2075502/where-word-lascar-and-cantonese-mo-lo-come-and

Source: SCMP Picture: Ren Publishing

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Calls for Concerted Efforts to Save the World’s Mother Tongues

18 February 2017 (Saturday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, raises the alarm on the rapid loss of languages, and urges for recognition of all languages as a means of promoting cultural diversity and multilingualism in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“Ahead of International Mother Language Day, on February 21, we take a look at the role of our native tongues and why up to 90 per cent of more than 6,000 spoken languages are at risk of extinction”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:
http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2071431/how-intolerance-lashes-worlds-mother-tongues

Source: SCMP

Arts Faculty Newsletter Winter 2016/17

The fourteenth issue of the biannual Arts Faculty Newsletter has just been published. It showcases the most recent achievements of our staff and students, and keeps you informed of Arts events.

Click on the link below to access the online version of our Winter 2016/2017 Newsletter:
< http://arts.hku.hk/winter201617.pdf >

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Discusses the Inclusion of “Heaty” and “Cooling” in the Oxford English Dictionary

2 February 2017 (Thursday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, discusses the inclusion of words that represent Chinese traditional cultural concepts in the Oxford English Dictionary in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“New Englishes, such as Singapore English, have evolved to encompass these cultural concepts as lexical items. Singaporeans constantly advise each other that eating too much durian, mango or chocolate will make you heaty, and such an indulgence has to be countered by consuming something cooling, say, mangosteen or coconut water.

Such widespread currency of these words in new Englishes has been recognised by the Oxford English Dictionary: the words “heaty” and “cooling” were included in its December 2016 update, the former first documented in print usage in 1940, and the latter as far back as 1842.”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:
http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2067467/how-heaty-and-cooling-made-it-oxford-english-dictionary

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Illustrates How Language Dictates the Menu at our Lunar New Year Feasts

22 January 2017 (Sunday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, explains the symbolic role that language plays in the feasting that accompanies Lunar New Year in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“At numerous family meals – tyìn nìn faahn 團年飯, “reunion meal (on the Eve)”, and hoī nìn faahn 開年飯, “start of New Year (family) meal” – an even number of dishes are served, baat, “eight”, being the most auspicious as a near homophone – words with different forms but the same pronunciation – with faat,“to become wealthy”. The most Cantonese of dishes combines faat chòi, “black/hair moss”, sounding like faat chòi, “to become rich” (the latter found in the New Year greeting gūng héi faat chòi), with hòu sí, “dried oysters”, resembling hóu síh, “good business”, or hóu sih, “good things”. Another popular dish is filled tong yún , “glutinous rice balls”, homophonous with tyùn yùn, “to be reunited”."

Please click on the following link for the complete article:
http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2063589/how-language-dictates-menu-our-lunar-new-year

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Follows the Term ‘tuk-tuk’ Around the World

6 January 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, discusses how ‘tuk-tuk’, the Thai word for the three-wheeled motorized form of transport commonly seen in Southeast Asia, has spread in spite of its many other different names in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

 “What’s in a name? Apparently questions of culture, authenticity, commodification – and the power of tourism, not only in the spread of culture, but also in the evolution of language.”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:
http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2059529/how-term-tuk-tuk-has-travelled-world

Source: SCMP