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Summary

The article "Amour, Amor, Amore: Word LOVE in 111 languages" explores the diversity of expressing love across different languages and cultures, presenting the word "love" in 111 variants, while also touching on the myth of the Tower of Babel and the beauty of linguistic diversity.

Abstract

The article delves into the fascinating world of languages by showcasing how the concept of love is articulated in 111 different languages. It opens with a brief discussion of the Tower of Babel myth, suggesting that the confusion of languages at the tower's construction site led to the birth of diverse tongues. The author then transitions to the main feature of the piece: a collection of the word "love" translated into 111 languages, emphasizing the beauty and variety of human communication. Despite relying on tools like Google Translate and Glosbe for assistance, the author acknowledges the limitations of such resources and invites readers to contribute additional translations. The article also notes the sheer number of languages currently spoken worldwide and encourages an appreciation for linguistic diversity, revealing the author's passion for languages and the joy of discovering new ones through this project.

Opinions

  • The author finds the Tower of Babel myth to be a beautiful explanation for the origin of diverse languages.
  • There is a clear appreciation for the ability of languages to convey the same emotion, such as love, in myriad ways.
  • The author values the contribution of translation tools but also recognizes their imperfections and the potential for errors, hence the request for reader contributions to enhance accuracy.
  • The project is seen as a fun and educational endeavor, through which the author discovered previously unknown languages and writing systems.
  • The author expresses a desire to continue expanding the list of how to say "love" in even more languages, with the help of the readership.
  • There is an underlying enthusiasm for language learning and a sense of wonder at the vastness of linguistic diversity on Earth.

Amour, Amor, Amore: Word LOVE in 111 languages

Which one is your favourite?

Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash

Aren’t languages amazing? It’s incredible, and in a way magical, that they even exist.

Are you familiar with one of the myths about its origin: The Tower of Babel? Well, settle in:

According to the story found in Genesis, humans who survived the Great Flood spoke the same language. They settled in a land known as Shinar, where they decided to build a tower, high enough to reach the heavens. But because God didn’t like that, he made their speeches confusing — they couldn’t understand each other anymore. Thus the tower couldn’t be finished and the people scattered all over the world, and ta-da languages were born! (source: alpha omega).

True or not, I for one, find it very beautiful how there can be different ways of saying the same thing.

As promised, LOVE in 111 variants

As an appreciation of this amazing tool of communicating, here is the word LOVE gathered in 111 versions. It may seem like a high enough number, but it’s only a fraction of the actual languages.

In fact, do you know how many languages there are currently spoken on this planet? According to Lingualinx, 2.700 (!), of which Chinese, Spanish, English and Hindi are the most widely spoken.

Nevertheless, I hope you will enjoy the diversity of these 111 languages and find beauty in each one of them:

For creating this chart, Google Translate and Glosbe served as a huuuuge help. I wish I didn’t need it, but unfortunately, I don’t speak all these languages. If I made any mistakes, I apologize in advance. Please don’t be shy and correct me.

As someone who enjoys languages, this was a fun little ‘project’ to do. I discovered so many languages I’ve never even heard of and discovered alphabets I never even knew existed.

Help

I would love to get to know even more of them, and for that I need your help: if your language or any other one you know isn’t on the list, please respond to this post and share the word LOVE with us, so we can expand the list even more.

*This post was created with LOVE!*

Reading suggestions:

Language
Communication
Humanity
Learning
Discovery
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