Food in Languages of the World

The diversity of the world’s languages is driven by a number of factors that are still not well understood. However, there is clearly some influence from environment and other kinds of context. When conducting fieldwork on a language, it’s important to learn as much as possible about the context in order to understand how a language works. This includes cultural and lifestyle patterns of the speakers as much as the actual utterances used to convey meaning.

Food is a large part of any embodied experience, and the diversity of food around the world is intricately linked to cultural and linguistic practices and behaviors. This means that any fieldworker will need to become familiar with the food of a culture in order to understand linguistic patterns.

Linking language with tangible experiences

With that in mind, this semester I introduced a new segment to my “Languages of the World” course at NTU Singapore. The course provides an overview of world languages, highlighting theories about language development and human migration, as well as surveying the major families found in different regions. We consider linguistic typology on multiple levels and discuss the cultures and practices of different groups, but sometimes this can be a bit divorced from experience.

To make the various topics and areas more relatable, I have been sourcing food from the different regions for students to try. Each week when students present on a topic/language/area, I try to find food from a linguistic group represented in that week, so that everyone can try different flavors and get an idea of what they might eat in a fieldwork situation.

Finding accessible options

There are some restrictions on what I can source, for various reasons. One restriction is that much of the food cannot be found in restaurants. Though Singapore is culturally quite diverse, there are certain culinary options for particular regions that are hard to find. Another concern is that there are dietary restrictions: some students only eat Halal/Kosher, and others follow Buddhist vegetarian traditions (besides excluding meat, Buddhist tradition restricts onions, garlic and other pungent vegetables), and some students are vegan.

This means that many restaurant options aren’t viable, even if they can be found. In order to cater to these requirements I’ve actually been finding recipes online and modifying them before cooking food (usually the night before) and bringing it to class. I also make sure to identify all the ingredients and preparation when I introduce the food on the day of, so that individuals can opt out (all my students are adults, so they are responsible for their own decisions), and on the first day of class I asked students to tell me about any possible allergies or other dietary restrictions.

The segment, which I call “Food of the World” has been a real hit with students. Below are some of the foods prepared for the different topics. I’ll be posting the vegetarian friendly recipes over the coming weeks and will link them below when they’re available.

Topics and relevant foods

With a couple of classes left in the semester we have yet to determine what food to cook for the Languages of the Americas week. There are many options from that region. If you have any recommendations let me know, and I’ll update this post once it’s decided!