Visualizing language contact
About
This website is about travel and contact.
Travel: to move from one place to another.
Contact: two people or things touch each other.
These two seemingly different activities can produce interwining effects on social structure, culture, language, etc. We will explore how separation from our own cultures and meeting new cultures result in the creation of new modes of communication.
latest articles
Whether in times of war or peace, money is always an essential. This was particularly the case in late...
Learning English in the way shown in the featured image above looks bizarre today. However, if you were...
By the late 19th century, cruising had become a popular vacation choice. Shipping companies that used...
One of the periods that had long lasting global impact was the Industrial Revolution, occurring between...
When asked the reason for the painted eyes on the bow of a junk, a Chinese would likely respond: “No...
恭gung1喜hei2發faat3財coi4！That’s what the featured image says – 恭喜發財 a wish for prosperity and wealth. The...
Water covers approximately 70% of the surface of the globe, which means that the lives of a large number...
The Age of Discovery, from the 15th to 17th century, created unprecedented opportunities for people of...
In 1784, the first merchant ship of the newly established United States of America – Empress of China...
Located at the Pearl River (珠江) (Cantonese: zyu1 gong1, Mandarin: zhujiang) in south China, Canton...
For most of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and the early period of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), China...
When a foreign word takes root in new soil, the life of the word takes its course and continues to evolve...
Before taking a vacation to explore a different culture, one thing we do is check the exchange rates...
Before the First Opium War (1839–1842), Westerners’ activities were confined to provincial city of Guangdong...
Titled “A coolie of Hongkong”, the featured postcard portrays a rather unusual representation of coolies...
The featured photography shows two Europeans and a group of South Asians. At the back of the photograph...
The Hobson-Jobson Being a Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial Words and Phrases and of Kindred Terms...
Shanghai entered the international stage after being designated as one of the treaty ports in the Treaty...
In the 18th century, Europeans and their employees worked in a “Factory”, not to produce goods but to...
The compradores were the right-hand men of the taipans, and the taipans were the heads of the companies....
A unique social class that emerged in the context of China trade was the compradores. Their education,...
As China opened up its market for foreign trade, the flow of people, money, ideas, and technologies from...
The foreignness of people and things often results in curiosity, suspicion, and hostility. Such feelings...
To the Hokkien-speaking Chinese, the term 紅hung4毛mou4 is familiar as it is traditionally used to refer...
Previously, we saw a postcard posted from Honolulu to Hong Kong dated 1888 (see 3. Chin-chin). As shown...
Hawaiʻi comprises a group of islands located in the central Pacific Ocean. The state capital and the...
Courtesy is important in social interactions. Therefore, the first Chinese Pidgin English expression...
Postcards are the most representative type of printed ephemera. When the idea of writing a message on...