https://durwasa-chakraborty.github.io/tags/language/Recent content in Language on Anachronistic MonkHugo -- gohugo.ioen© 2026 Durwasa ChakrabortyFri, 05 Dec 2025 03:38:30 +0530https://durwasa-chakraborty.github.io/posts/english-honorifics-and-in-academia/Fri, 05 Dec 2025 03:38:30 +0530https://durwasa-chakraborty.github.io/posts/english-honorifics-and-in-academia/<blockquote><p><strong>“Call me Ishmael.”</strong></p> </blockquote><p>That line opens one of literature’s great sweeping saga: a man, a whale, and the bruising, salt-earning adventure of simply not dying at sea. But the name does something subtle: like a polite knock on the front door of literature. It positions the narrator. In Sanskrit, nāma means exactly that: the thing by which you call someone from afar.</p>https://durwasa-chakraborty.github.io/posts/language-semantics/Fri, 24 Mar 2023 11:07:52 +0530https://durwasa-chakraborty.github.io/posts/language-semantics/<p><strong>Happy Birthday to Me: Musings on Language and Code</strong></p> <p>Today, I find myself celebrating my birthday in the tranquil confines of a cozy Airbnb in Vancouver. It’s a momentary escape from the pressures of work, a rare breather amidst the ever-present demands of the office. Through the frost-touched window, I watch the Canadian flag battle the icy winds. Below, I can hear the faint murmurs of a French-speaking couple, my neighbors. A little later, the cadence of Mandarin reaches my ears, no doubt my landlord going about his day. And then, the phone rings. It&rsquo;s my mother, calling from home, so naturally, the conversation begins in Bengali. When my father takes the phone, we switch seamlessly to Hindi. After the call, I set the phone down, open my laptop, and begin composing an email in English.</p>