Cross Analysis of Ancient Written Language
A Prison of Virgins is a “Gugu” in Akkadian
A Prison of Virgins is a “Gugu” in Akkadian, or in truth, the plot of the Sound of Music, which is really a form…
“Blacklists” and “Whitelists”
A salutary warning concerning the prevalence of racist language in discussions of predatory publishing Frank Houghton Director, HEALR Research Group, Limerick Institute of Technology,…
In Sumerian “Nig” is “Bitch”—Coincidence? No.
In Sumerian, the sound “nig” equates to a female mammal or a farming tool, as can be seen below in the words “lioness,” “bitch,”…
“Self, Other, and Canine”: The “Dog” Radical in Chinese History and Its Implications for Chinese Minority Identity
“自我，他指，以及犬系”: “反犬旁”在中国历史中的发展及其对中国少 数民族身份的暗示 Author Unknown (It was available at http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/tempus/archives_files/Brown.pdf until Summer 2020) 作者未知(http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/tempus/archives_files/Brown.pdf) Translated by Maggie Li 译者李琪 Presented by Jennifer Ball 出品人包弫 One of…
Start Using Inclusive Language
Announcing The 2024 Inclusive Language Contest Winners: If we want to help eliminate bias, we need to change our…
Gender and Grammar in Chinese With Implications for Language Universals
Gender and Grammar in Chinese With Implications for Language Universals 中文里的性别和语法 ——对语言共性的影响 Dr. Catherine S. Farris University of Washington 凯瑟琳·法里斯 华盛顿大学 First published in…
“Covert Sexism in Mandarin Chinese” by David Moser
Sino-Platonic Papers Number 74 January, 1997 David Moser Dept. of Asian Languages and Cultures University of Michigan Introduction Western linguists have been…
“Meow” is just another name for “cat”
Jennifer Ball Soochow University, Suzhou, China Email: originofalphabet@me.com How to cite this paper: Ball, J. (2019). “Meow” Is Just Another Name for “Cat”. Open…
The Role of the “Groove” 卯 Character in Chinese Writing: 69 characters and 22 definitions
by Jennifer Ball and Xu ChaoUsing a Hanzi substructure-search engine designed by Xu Chao and Jennifer BallNov. 11, 2018 Semantic Breakdown of Raw Data…
The Role of the “Youth/Essence” 青/靑 Character in Chinese Writing
byJennifer Ball and Xu ChaoUsing a Hanzi substructure-search engine designed by Xu Chao and Jennifer BallNov. 11, 2018 Thanks to Chinese Text Project, Wiktionary,…
The Role of the Female 女 Character in Chinese Writing: 1,495 characters and 645 definitions
by Jennifer Ball and Xu Chao Using a Hanzi substructure-search engine designed by Xu Chao and Jennifer Ball Nov. 5, 2018 Thanks to Chinese…
Role of the “Opposite Dog “犭 Character in Chinese Writing: 947 Characters 279 definitions
by Jennifer Ball and Xu Chao Using a Hanzi substructure-search engine designed by Xu Chao and Jennifer Ball Aug. 16, 2018 Semantic Breakdown of…
Are Jiahu Symbols Writing? Probably
In Chinese, a common type of sentence is four characters; this four-character sentence is known as a “chengyu” 成语. A chengyu is not dissimilar…
Duh, I own it: Possession is Universal
的 de (no tone) = of (possessive), target, bull’s eye Portraying ownership was one of the first usages of writing. “This is mine” was…
We all emerge from an egg stored in a secret place — 我们都来自隐秘在某处的一枚卵
excerpt: 我们都来自隐秘在某处的一枚卵
请注意以下中国汉字间的联系：
Hair as a Medium for Communication
One’s hairstyle projects one’s status. Female hair telegraphs availability. Certain styles indicate “not yet: this wearer is too young to bear children.” Early communication was often about a female’s ability to carry offspring.
The shape of the letter “V” means “female” in three different cultures and times
The shape of the letter “V” means “female” in three different cultures and times: Discovered by Denise Schmandt-Besserat, this first character is a Neolithic…
#ChangeLanguageChangeMinds #BlackIsBeautiful #DarkIsDarling #BlackIsNOTBad #DarkIsNOTBad #NoMoreBlackIsBad #NoMoreDarkIsBad
The use of darkness as a synonym for “bad” is a microaggression that results in macro-oppression. The constant devaluing of darkness pings upon the…
Mother or Donkey? They are both beasts of burden
Soundwise, it’s a close call in Sumerian—Ama vs. Eme. Ama is “mother” in Sumerian 863 times; eme is “donkey” 354 times and “tongue” 178…
Tail = kun in cuneiform
Or would that be tail = cun? The word “tail” has many meanings, but on an animal it is a flag to say, “Here…
The Relationship of Stork to Child is 5,000 Years Old
The suggestive nature of the lily, as seen above, is a clue as to why these flowers were so important to early humans. The…
Could Mayan Flowers Really Be Vaginas?
Is this first character really a Water Lily? Especially considering the package this jaguar is sporting? (See reddened circles.) The bisymmetry of the “u…
More evidence that the “V” shape means “female”— this time in Linear B (circa 1,450 BC)
Script depictions are from a no-longer functional website, but you can find equivalent source material here: https://linearbknossosmycenae.com/2014/04/26/linear-b-ideograms-level-5-0-advanced-ideograms-formed-by-combinations-of-syllabograms/ The vagina is the most consistently represented…
Sumerian symbols for animals depict their genitals
The complementary relationship between female and male animal signs in cuneiform suggests that these signs are not arbitrary. The authors of Archaic Bookkeeping did…
“V” has meant “female” for 6,400 years
The top character means “female sheep/ewe.” This marking and the examples below are taken from Before Writing Vol. I (©1992) by Denise Schmandt-Besserat, page 143. The complex…
The Chinese word for “heart” 心 comes from a penis
Precursors of 心 from http://hanziyuan.net. The penis is the real source of male emotion. The precursors of 姦 “adultery, wicked, debauchery” make it clear…
Prototype for a Substructure – Searchable Database of Hanzi
Let’s say you wanted to find all incidents of 卯 in every Chinese character, which right now you cannot. You would take a cursor…
Letter A: From Hawk to Ox
The oldest Egyptian hieroglyphs to have been discovered were inscribed around 3200 BC, fully formed, with no clear antecedent. This is more than 5,000…
Breasts, Vaginas, and Tools: Musings on the roots of our alphabet
If you want to describe something to someone, but neither of you speak the same language, drawing a picture is the simplest way to…
Thank you Steven Pinker
And thank you for writing me words of advice twice and recommending I contact MaryAnne Wolf a few years ago about my theory that…
Eyes come as a pair, even when you’re only talking about one
My Business Card in Chinese and English
To the Berkeley Professor of Linguistics:
August 6, 2012 Dear Dr. Lakoff: I would like to get a Ph.D. under you studying metaphors in Chinese characters and their correspondent meanings…
Sex and War are inextricably linked
Quotes from Sex and War How Biology Explains Warfare and Terrorism and Offers a Path to a Safer World by Malcolm Potts and Thomas…
Argument for a Structural Analysis of Chinese Characters
㧕 to feel or touch with hands; to hold, to lay the hand on, to cover jiu4 liu3 yu2 (lau5) 捫 lay hands on;…
4 = West = Wine
A Structural Analysis of Written Chinese The book Reading and writing Chinese: a guide to the Chinese writing system, the student’s 1,020 list, the…
Milk is Too Sexy for My Mouth
Why is “milking” an issue a pejorative? Because men only know this word in the context of masturbation. – Jennifer Ball Why is it…
Why is “Milking” a Bad Word???
Why is “milking”an issue a pejorative? Because men only know this word in the context of masturbation. – Jennifer Ball Bias is so thorough as…
“Slave Girl” in Chinese and “female” in Sumerian are oddly alike
丫= “slave girl” in Chinese = “woman” in Sumerian This similarity should make you think about the alphabet’s letter Y. It starts words…
Why does “uncle” in Hebrew look like “TIT”?
Why does דוד mean “uncle, beloved” in Hebrew? Is this an amazing coincidence to TIT or are humans simple? I’m going with simple. The…
Mothers are flowers, aren’t they?
“Mother,” “son,” and “flower”: all have breast imagery in the Maya hieroglyphs Son Mother Flower
The roots of “Please 请” are kind of messy
请 Please qing3 = please The right-hand phonetic 青 is also in the word for“semen”: 精 jing1. This makes sense: the bottom is the moon stand-in…
In Chinese, English, Egyptian, and Hebrew, A Similar Symbol Represents “Tits”
太太 = Mrs. tàitài tai4 tai4 Think about a “Mrs.” at a time of no birth control. These two “tais” represent breasts. “Tài tài”…
Sumerian Titillation
Early Porn musician goddess prostitute, fox rotated 90° cw Sumerian cuneiform 2600–2500 BC Cuneiform depiction and definition are from the Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary …
“Seed” in Sumerian
Based on this character for “seed,” do you think the Sumerians understood sex? Note that the Akkadian word for “seed” is “zeru,”…
Harmony “hamun” is fish plus salt in Sumerian
Sumerian cuneiform is considered the oldest written language. Sumerian is the spoken language, cuneiform is the script; just like English is our language, but…
Music, the ultimate narcotic, lulls one to sleep (along with milk)
05/27/2011 / Jennifer Ball / No Comments Musician “Nar” is the Sumerian word for “musician” 643 times, yet this character looks like a female…
“Lady Gaga” meant “wet nurse” in Sumerian
Lady Gaga vs. Emegagu Emegagu is the Sumerian word for “wet nurse.” It translates as “female with milk,” but it sounds like the name…
Could “Diddly squat” have come from the Babylonians?
Could “diddly squat” have come from the Babylonians? Didi meant “small” in cuneiform. When things are small, you might have several, like children or wives. When you…
Breasts vs. Testes: which primate has the largest? Jared Diamond knows
“Asymmetric adultery laws…genital mutilation of women: these behaviors are unique to the human species, defining humanity as does the invention of the alphabet.” —…
Greek and Sumerian agree: Malag/malakos = prostitute/secondary wife—And an excellent source of milk
“Milkah” meant “queen” in the Bible, possibly because she bore her uncle eight children, because that was the kind of relationship you had with…
Who knew Sumerians were just like electricians?
Sumerian signs for sheep and goats with male to female correspondence. Signs taken from Archaic Bookkeeping by Hans J. Nissen, Peter Damerow, Robert K.Englund, and…
The Roots of the Word for “Idiot” Reference Vaginas Because Men Wrote Language
Roots of the Word “Idiot”
Seal Script addendum to “Meow”
Addendum to “‘Meow’ is just another name for ‘Cat’” Seal Script underpinnings by Jennifer Ball © January 28, 2011 The word “cultivated” is…