In this edition of The World in Words: Russian. What names like Putin, Stalin and Medvedev mean. Also, outgoing President Putin likes to quote Russian poetry - as much as seems to enjoy coarse street language. We end with the confessions of a hopelessly unqualified Israeli government speechwriter.

2: Russian names, Putinisms and a diplomatic mistranslation

Linguist Derek Bickerton talks about his lifelong love of creoles and his attempt to create a new language on a desert island. Also former speechwriter Gregory Levey on how he nearly got an Israeli prime minister to channel Seinfeld.

3: creating linguistic history on a desert island, and Israel's Seinfeld connection

Languages are dying out faster than ever, and no-one seems to know quite what to do about it. But that's not stopping a Chilean teen from teaching himself Selk'nam, previous considered a dead language. It's not stopping two American linguists whose attempts to document endangered languages is the subject of a new movie. And it's not stopping  Gullah-Geechee speakers from the southeastern United States from enlisting federal support in their bid to ensure the suvival of their language.

4:a teenager, two linguists and the US Congress revive dying languages

The Bush Administration now offers grants for Americans to study languages such as Arabic. We travel to Cairo where language schools are full of American students. Also, a conversation with self-described language fanatic Elizabeth Little. And a journey through the linguistic politics - and just plain silliness - of the Eurovision Song Contest.

5: Americans' language-learning adventures abroad and the linguistics of a Eurotrashy song contest

As 111 nations agree to ban cluster bombs, we consider the meanings of term "cluster bomb." Also, we begin an occasional series on Arizona's noisy battles over language and immigration: English is the official language, but Spanish is washing across the border. We'll hear from from undocumented high schoolers, and from Arizona writer Tom Miller.

6: cluster bombs, bomblets and Arizona's language wars

The language of humor: is German humor really an oxymoron? Are Soviet jokes still funny? Why does the comedy of say, The Office overcome language barriers while other, sometimes cleverer, humor remain imprisoned within its own language? Also, how two video artists turned an obscure Finnish word meaning "complaints choir" into a worldwide phenomenon.

7: Jokes from near and far, and how one Finnish word sparked a global movement

The evolving language of George W. Bush's foreign policy: we take a look at how his descriptions of Iraq and the "war on terror" have changed over the years. We also hear about a few words the President wishes he hadn't used. And finally, we consider the Boston Celtics' embrace of the Zulu concept of "ubuntu." 

8: Words about Iraq, terror and basketball

Recently, English has made inroads in post-Soviet Russian, much to the consternation of many there.  In neighboring Estonia, everyone's so busy learning English that they have forgotten that they are right next to Mother Russia.  Then there's Sol Steinmetz, a man of many tongues. He speaks Hungarian, Yiddish, and Spanish. But he feels most comfortable speaking English.
There are, of course, global rivals to English but Esperanto is most assuredly not one of them. Now there's a new Esperanto for the text messaging generation.  Someone in our newsroom said it should be called Textperanto. Alas, no: its name is NOL.


9: English and Textperanto go global

Stories about languages and the people who speak them.

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