It is always interesting to compare languages through their use of daily words and expressions which are (too often !) held as universal.

Our filming crew is asked to gather terms for colours, numbers, daily phrases, etc. from all their interlocutors in their respective languages.

This week we shine the light on Mpongwe, a north-west Bantu language (Myene subgroup) spoken in Gabon.

New words in Mpongwe with Henriette and Kialla

A look on some populations’ translations of modern world notions and objects is equally amusing and instructive: it shows how imaginative men & women can be when it comes to adapting foreign concepts into a given culture, without necessarily using loanwords, or terms belonging to another language.

Linguist : Patrick Mouguiama-Daouda

Image and sound : Muriel Lutz

Editing : Caroline Laurent