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Month: November 2016
How did the word “gaster” come to mean “stomach” in Greek?
You mean, there’s a story there? (Checks Frisk.) Hm. Looks like there’s a story there. gastēr “belly” is likely derived from *grastēr, “something that does graō”. Graō in turn is a really, really obscure word for “gnaw, eat”, that shows up once in Callimachus, and that also turns up in Ancient Cypriot, which was an […]
How does IPA keep up with the constant change of sounds in the languages?
Several ways to tackle this question. And it’s a very good question. Both consonants and vowels in the IPA are defined, not against a word of a language (they can indeed change), but against an articulatory gesture. Because people’s oral cavities are pretty much the same, that works. [ç] is defined as a Voiceless palatal […]
What’s the most recent song you’ve cried to?
My close followers will have noted a bunch of posts lately on Greek songs that move me. This is another one. What have I done to you, to make you smoke. 1968. Lyrics: Lefteris Papadopoulos. Music: Mimis Plessas. stixoi.info: Τι σου `κανα και πίνεις The lyrics are nowhere near as indirect and allusive as some […]
What is meant by projection problem in semantics?
Presupposition (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) http://eecoppock.info/Presupposi… Simple clauses have presuppositions. For example, The current king of France is bald presupposes that there is a current king of France. If you do various things to a clause, like negate it, question it, or say it’s unlikely, the claim of the clause is no longer affirmed. But […]
What are some great threats one can make?
NSFW, and rather instructive in attitudes towards anal sex as punishment. There was a threat made by Georgios Karaiskakis, the foul mouthed general of the Greek War of Independence, that I’ve just discovered. It has a kind of magnificent menace to it. For it to even be intelligible in English, I have to cite from […]
How do linguists view programming languages?
Read Logan R. Kearsley’s answer to How do linguists view programming languages? Vote #1 Logan R. Kearsley. What he said. Supplemental: At very very most, a linguist programmer will see YACC rules specifying a programming language’s syntax, and think “Oh, how cute. Kinda like phrase structure rules, but ludicrously simpler.” Or, look at the three […]
Why is the communist symbol (☭) an emoji?
There are two problematic premises in this question. The first is that the primary semiotic of the hammer and sickle is “mass random murder of dissidents”, rather than “common ownership of the means of production”. The legacy of Communism may have been tainted by what Lenin and Stalin did; but that does not make the […]
What are your favourite lyrics?
It’s a self indulgent answer, but then again, it’s a self indulgent question. The Greek laiko tradition (bouzouki pop) came from the Greek rebetiko tradition (bouzouki blues). The rebetiko tradition was singer-songwriters, often in jail, singing about getting high or my woman done me wrong. At its best (and that certainly includes Vamvakaris), the lyrics […]
Is dysphemism the same as swearing?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysphemism Can you swear without dysphemisms? Yes: swearing involves using profane vocabulary; dysphemism involves negative, offensive terms for particular things. You can swear without dysphemisms, and indeed without having any negativity at all, through the use of profanities as positive intensifiers: That was a motherfucking magnificent job! Holy fucking shit, that felt good! Jesus, that […]
Who is the most famous Greek who was named Alexander in the previous 15 centuries (one for each century)?
Imma skip 19th and 20th centuries, which my Greek peers have already amply answered. EDIT: Filled in with the help of Uri Granta, for which my humble thanks. V century: Alexander of Apamea [Uri] VI: Alexander of Tralles, medical author VII: Alexander, bishop of Cotrada, participated in the 6th Ecumenical Council, 680–81 (Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen […]