OLD NORSE

“It’s natural for any English speaker to be interested in Old Norse,” said Ian McDougall, a professor of Old Norse at the Centre for Medieval Studies.

The language has contributed much to modern-day English, including an endless list of vocabulary—where would we be without “oaf,” “freckle,” or “keg”?). Many common phrasal verbs (verbs that have a particle, like “to take out”) also come from Old Norse.

“It also goes without saying that learning to read Old Norse provides one access to one of the great literatures of the Middle Ages, and one which, if you ask me, affords the most vivid picture available of everyday life in Northwestern Europe before the 14th century,” said McDougall, who is working on a dictionary of Old English.

Old Norse is also the ancestor of continental Scandinavian languages, and of modern Icelandic. It serves as a natural introduction to present-day Icelandic.

INUKTITUT

The claim that there are more Inuktitut students in France than Canada spurs on professor Alana Johns. There are 28 students in Paris learning Inuktitut, more than in Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver, according to Canadian Geographic. Take Bruno Perrone, who already speaks six languages fluently. “Some of my colleagues play golf. I study Inuktitut,” he said. Interest runs high: in summer 2004, Inuktitut students in Paris opened Espace Culturel Inuit to showcase art, books, films, and photographs portraying daily life in Canada’s North.

Johns is determined to change this state of affairs. She works with an international research group who collaborates with northern communities on the future of their languages.

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN

Ronald Leprohon, an Ancient Egyptian professor at the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Studies, says that there’s a really easy answer to the question.

“I love the pure magic that comes from the fact that someone is talking to me from across the ages.”

“These texts were written thousands of years ago and here I am, sitting here and now, reading them. Someone is actually talking to me from 4,000 years ago. What a trip!”

To study a culture in depth, it’s necessary to read the texts from the original language, said prof Katja Goebs. “One quickly becomes aware how little has changed between then and now in some ways, while other areas are extremely different. This helps us to situate ourselves in world history, with all the benefits that a greater awareness brings,” she added.

Goebs also said Ancient Egyptian is particularly fascinating because it is a “picture script” that places itself into a zone between art and text, which the ancient Egyptians played to with great effect. That, and “it is simply lovely to look at.”

ONEIDA

Oneida is an endangered Iroquoian language that has fewer than 250 fluent speakers. Teaching it is important so that the aboriginal culture and traditions can grow stronger, said Grafton Antone, a sessional instructor and an Elder at U of T’s First Nations House.

“What I like about the language is that it opens up a whole new way of speaking: it helps us to understand Mother Earth…it brings us into contact with all creations and the cosmos,” Antone said.

In the Introduction to an Iroquoian Language course (ABS220Y), students learn more than just the language. Through the Iroquois creation story, the class provides a cultural base to ceremonies, healing ways, and reciprocal connections with the earth. Students also learn the social songs that are sung with the water drum to help keep their focus and connection to the Creator.

“This course brings the past, the present, and future together in a way that will promote how the Peace Maker worked hard in the past to set up a peaceful way for people to work together,” said Antone.