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Franz Kafka | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6271 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 1 of 8 26 March 2009 at 8:52pm | IP Logged | ||
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Perhaps not a polyglot, but interesting in relation to languages.
Of course famous as a writer in German. His ancestors presumably spoke Yiddish, but there was a wholesale move to German among Jews in much of the Hapsburg Empire, as it was an official language. He developed some interest in Yiddish later, promoting a theatre performance in it, but may not have been able to speak it. He also spoke colloquial Prague Czech, though he felt the need to have his efforts to write in the language checked by others (literary Czech is rather different from the spoken language). When the Empire collapsed and Czechoslovakia was established, his ability to speak Czech meant he hung onto his job. Several monoglot German speakers were fired. He claimed some knowledge of English and I believe also French and Italian on job application forms (I don't know how founded the claims were - he was after all trying to get a job and might have exaggerated). He studied Hebrew with some success as an adult, though apparently did not become fluent. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Toufik18 Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member Algeria Joined 5743 days ago 188 posts - 202 votes Speaks: Arabic (Written)*, Arabic (classical)*, French, English | Message 2 of 8 27 March 2009 at 11:01am | IP Logged | ||
Here are some more information about him from Wikipedia Kafka was born into a middle-class Jewish family in Prague, the capital of Bohemia. His father, Hermann Kafka (1852–1931), was described as a "huge, selfish, overbearing businessman"[2] and by Kafka himself as "a true Kafka in strength, health, appetite, loudness of voice, eloquence, self-satisfaction, worldly dominance, endurance, presence of mind, [and] knowledge of human nature".[3] Hermann was the fourth child of Jacob Kafka, a ritual slaughterer, and came to Prague from Osek, a Czech-speaking Jewish village near Písek in southern Bohemia. After working as a traveling sales representative, he established himself as an independent retailer of men's and women's fancy goods and accessories, employing up to 15 people and using a jackdaw (kavka in Czech) as his business logo. Kafka's mother, Julie (1856—1934), was the daughter of Jakob Löwy, a prosperous brewer in Poděbrady, and was better educated than her husband.[4] Kafka was the eldest of six children.[5] He had two younger brothers, Georg and Heinrich, who died at the ages of fifteen months and six months, respectively, before Kafka was seven, and three younger sisters, Gabriele ("Elli") (1889–1941), Valerie ("Valli") (1890–1942), and Ottilie ("Ottla") (1891–1943). On business days, both parents were absent from the home. His mother helped to manage her husband's business and worked in it as much as 12 hours a day. The children were largely reared by a series of governesses and servants. Kafka's relationship with his father was severely troubled as explained in the Letter to His Father in which Kafka complained of being profoundly emotionally abused since childhood. Kafka's sisters were sent with their families to the Łódź Ghetto and died there or in concentration camps. Ottla was sent to the concentration camp at Theresienstadt and then on 7 October 1943 to the death camp at Auschwitz, where 1267 children and 51 guardians, including Ottla, were gassed to death on their arrival.[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka Thanx Mr.Camden 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Akipenda Lugha Diglot Groupie Canada Joined 5737 days ago 78 posts - 82 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Swahili, Sign Language, Spanish | Message 3 of 8 30 March 2009 at 4:09am | IP Logged | ||
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Also the namesake of the world's most alienating airport ;)
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/pragues_franz_kafka_in ternational?utm_source=a-section 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6271 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 4 of 8 30 March 2009 at 5:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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"When Gregor Samsa woke up in the departure lounge, he found he had been transformed into a gigantic insect"
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| Languagelover Heptaglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 7375 days ago 41 posts - 50 votes Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, German, Italian, Spanish, Latin, Ancient Greek Studies: Mandarin | Message 5 of 8 12 October 2009 at 7:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have been told that "Kafka" means "Crow" in English, and the frequent presence of crows in his books is a pun to his name. Could anyone speaking Czech confirm this ?
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| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6271 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 6 of 8 04 November 2009 at 8:59pm | IP Logged | ||
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I don't speak much Czech, but kavka apparently means "jackdaw".
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| Splog Diglot Senior Member Czech Republic anthonylauder.c Joined 5668 days ago 1062 posts - 3263 votes Speaks: English*, Czech Studies: Mandarin | Message 7 of 8 04 November 2009 at 9:11pm | IP Logged | ||
"Crow" is "Vrána" in Czech and (indeed) "Jackdaw" is "Kavka". Kafka does play on this pronunciation similarity in his book "The book of laughter and forgetting" where there is a sign with a Jackdaw painted on it in front of his father's shop. EDIT: Sorry, I should add that "Kavka" is also Czech slang for somebody who is a bit slow mentally. I guess the English equivalent would be "dunce" or "simpleton". So, Kafka's name could be a bit of an embarrassment - which may explain his wish to draw attention to Jackdaws instead. Edited by Splog on 04 November 2009 at 9:16pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6271 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 8 of 8 05 November 2009 at 9:55am | IP Logged | ||
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Jews in the Habsburg Empire acquired family names relatively late. (A law was passed requiring it.) In the Czech-speaking areas, the name could be either German or Slavic - I think a fee had to be paid for the name, the type of name and its origin determining the cost.
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