Paradero incierto.

How does one defeat it? Here’s what yourdicitonary.com says on the matter:

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Long time, no post! I’ll spare everyone the mundane details of my four-month hiatus, and hopefully this post will give way to more regular posts henceforth.

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He’s won today, and has laid down the road to his own perpetuity in power. And in response, Bolívar turns in his grave:

“Las repetidas elecciones son esenciales en los sistemas populares, porque nada es tan peligroso como dejar permanecer largo tiempo en un mismo ciudadano el poder. El pueblo se acostumbra a obedecerle y él se acostumbra a mandarlo; de donde se origina la usurpación y la tiranía. Un justo celo es la garantía de la libertad republicana, y nuestros ciudadanos deben temer con sobrada justicia que el mismo magistrado, que los ha mandado mucho tiempo, los mande perpetuamente.”

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Yeah, this one’s old news, but felt like posting it anyway, especially seeing as it’s set to go into operation next year:

“Como elemento integrador [entre Venezuela y Cuba] el cable submarino puede proporcionar comunicaciones seguras y con mayores prestaciones que las proporcionadas por los enlaces satelitales [comerciales de uso actual] en combinación con las redes terrestrales.”

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In 1845, Henry David Thoreau, that impertinent, cantankerous, vegetarian idealist and early steward of nature that we so dearly love and admire, decided to leave the society of his town of Concord, MA, for the sublime experience of a fully self-dependent life out in the forest. He was but a mile and some away from his home town, and the sounds (and sights) of locomotive trade and travel came to him through the woods. He also entertained many a visitor, both the expected and the uninvited, and waxed philosophical on a myriad of subjects touching on all aspects of contemporary New England society. For two years he carried on this existence, having built a humble but sufficient cabin by lake Walden, fruit of his own labor, and striving to provide as many necessaries as possible from his very own hands. The result of this undertaking is a 200-plus page manifesto on the existential journey required of any person fit to call themselves a member of the human race.

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So I decided to backpack the Leatherwood Wilderness over Thanksgiving break. I figured what better time to keep away from relatives and enjoy some good ol’ peace and quite, with only nature to keep me company? Yes indeed, the benevolent old Mother regularly beckons me to her buxom, and how can I resist her awe-inspiring, liberating pull?

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That’s right, I’m a huge fan of the host of Worldview. His soothing, measured voice emanates from my speakers, undulating like the speech of some comforting, rocking-chair gran’ pappy academic, if there ever were such a thing. Jerome’s question-and-answer approach is to give his interviewees as much space as possible to answer his always relevant, well-informed questions. If he weren’t married, god knows whether I’d still be heterosexual.

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So, if it wasn’t already obvious (perhaps painfully so?), these past few posts on linguistics have largely been part-regurgitation, part-digest of my introductory readings in the field. And of course, for my latest post I do not plan to break from that convention.

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Who knew that what is today a very small but lively Latin-American language might once have functioned as a vehicle for the transmission of African-creole and pidgin traits into Spanish? Ok, that’s a long-winded question, but seriously, bien fino verdad?

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According to John M. Lipski, author of the indispensable, though dated, American-Spanish primer Latin American Spanish—yes, I know, it sounds like a generic text for Spanish-language instruction, as spoken south of the border, but seriously—Canary islanders left an indelible influence on the Spanish of the Caribbean basin region. Among the region’s biggest isleño destinations, as Canarians are popularly known, the most notable ones included Puerto Rico, Cuba and Venezuela.

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