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Day: November 23, 2016
Why is English one of the official languages of India?
Writing this so that lots of other people can correct me. And because I keep passing on Mehrdad’s A2As. 🙂 English is neither the official language of UK, US or Australia. Indeed. The notion of an official language seems to have been ignored in the Anglosphere, simply because they took it as given that the […]
Why do we use number 5, in some Greek words: “You left me in 5 streets or in 5 winds”, “You are 5 (times?) orphan”, “5 t. beautiful”?
Vote #1 David Caune. Excellent and wide-ranging answer. David Caune’s answer to Why do we use number 5, in some Greek words: “You left me in 5 streets or in 5 winds”, “You are 5 (times?) orphan”, “5 t. beautiful”? I’ll add some Greek-specific details. Modern Greek uses a few numbers to mean “lots”; they […]
What is your opinion on eurasiatic and nostratic theory?
In my last lecture of Historical Linguistics, I brought in a guest lecturer, a fellow PhD student, who was an ardent Nostraticist. I hadn’t discussed Nostratic with him for years. To my astonishment, I watched him recant Nostratic right before my eyes. And the way he did it was by making fun of Starostin et […]
What is it like to be a kabeinto? What was it like to leave Esperantujo?
My bio for Esperanto says Kabeinta Esperantisto, lingvisto: “Esperantist who has done a Kabe, linguist” (for explanation on Kabe, see question details). So I guess I qualify to answer. I have been corresponding with Clarissa Lohr a fair bit in Esperanto recently. I don’t think that means I’ve un-Kabe’d though; Clarissa is hardly a verda […]
In First Corinthians 13:5, what do you think Paul had in mind when he uses the word ‘unbecomingly’ to describe what love isn’t like?
Vote #1 Colin Jensen and Joe Fessenden, who have nailed it. To add a bit. It is the height of arrogance to fast forward to Modern Greek. But I’ll do so anyway. In Modern Greek, the adjective askhimos < askhēmōn means ‘ugly’. The etymology of askhēmōn is ‘un-shape-ish’. So unshapely, not with a nice shape. […]