Video of the day -- four languages

A comparison of four very-closely-related languages.  Try to ignore the written forms (writing is generally only a very limited and imperfect representation of actual speech) and just listen to the pronunciation.  It gives a good sense of the way languages with a common origin tend to gradually evolve apart, and how much or little mutual comprehension is possible between similar languages.

Image round-up for 28 November 2023

More pictures, some slightly NSFW -- click for full size.

(For the link round-up, click here.)

Interior decorating, 1971, or possibly the inside of an alien spacecraft

Notre-Dame cathedral, Paris, during the 2019 fire, showing sparks raining down into the interior

Iceland

Venice

Bibliothèque Nationale, France

Gorilla mother and child