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Month: December 2016
Could someone into Greek Orthodox Christianity define “καθωσπρεπισμός”?
Like Dylan Sakic, I’d need a lot more context, but here’s a stab. Καθώς πρέπει is a calque of French comme il faut, “as it should be done”. It refers to social propriety, observing social etiquette, but it has an intense connotation of hypocrisy and stuffiness; it’s the kind of thing that “bourgeois” gets inevitably […]
What is your favorite proverb from your culture or country? What country is it from?
I did a rich assortment of off-colour Greek proverbs over at Nick Nicholas’ answer to What are some weird expressions? A tuthree more off-colour sayings. Which I’ve actually tried to use in English, with decidedly mixed results. Τα μεταξωτά βρακιά θέλουν και επιδέξιους κώλους. Silk undies require agile arses. One must be equipped to handle […]
Is pronunciation speed a meaningful feature when discussing languages?
I don’t know that this has really attracted the interest of typologists, though I’m happy to be corrected. The phonologist I used to work for as a research assistant was considering writing an article, comparing the speed of newcasts, but I don’t think he went ahead with it. I think the impression we have that […]
How did the surname “Featherstonhaugh” get its completely unintuitive pronunciation?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Featherstonhaugh Not getting an answer online, or in Patrick Hanks’ The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland . I do get this from Wells, J. C. (2000), Longman Pronunciation Dictionary: Odd pronunciations of proper names – examples: there are four recorded pronunciations of Featherstonhaugh: /ˈfɛð ərst ən hɔː/ (Featherstonhaw) /ˈfiːst ən heɪ/ […]
What are some human-made things you dislike or like that are present in South (and West) Cyprus?
This actually isn’t my own dislike, but it’s a dislike that really struck me. My father left Cyprus in 1966. He was in tears the day that Archbishop Makarios III died. I’ve only been back to Cyprus twice, in 1979 and 1989, and briefly and superficially at that. So I don’t have a clear notion […]
Is it possible for a person to acquire a written language as their native language?
Hello all the good people, Clarissa and Audrey and Brian. I was going to join in to your discussion under Brian’s answer, but it didn’t head in the direction I was hoping. Laura Bridgman and Helen Keller, who are the deaf–blind people Brian alludes to, communicated through finger spelling, read Braille, and wrote. Must have […]
How did you learn the International Phonetic Alphabet, and how long did it take?
Two or three lectures spent on understanding the axes of the IPA charts: place of articulation, manner of articulation; vowel height, frontness, and rounding. A round of the class all calling out the cardinal vowels in unison. /iiiii eeeee ɛɛɛɛɛ æææææ, uuuuu ooooo ɔɔɔɔɔ ɑɑɑɑɑ/. I got to make my first year students do that, […]
Why is there no Unicode Italic H?
Because it was already created elsewhere, as U+210E PLANCK CONSTANT ℎ. Unicode will not differentiate between the symbol for the Planck Constant, and a mathematical italicised lowercase h (which is what the Planck Constant is). Every character has a story #20: U+210e (PLANCK CONSTANT) Answered 2016-12-07 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/Why-is-there-no-Unicode-Italic-H/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]
Is it possible to invent a word which would describe rule by the loudest?
Not δυνατότερο. One, because that’s Modern Greek, not Ancient; Two, because Modern Greek doesn’t have a distinct word for “loud”, it just uses the word for “strong”, dynatos. (In fact the OP’s form is “stronger, louder”.) Actually looking at Woodhouse’s English-Ancient Greek Dictionary, Ancient Greek isn’t much better. The words given for “loud” are literally: […]
In languages with formal/informal pronouns, do people explicitly tell you to switch pronouns?
Modern Greek speakers tend to squirm when addressed in the politeness plural, unless they are deliberately being high and mighty. The politeness plural connotes negative, not positive politeness to them, and emphasises social distance. Greeks don’t like social distance, they like being friendly and in your face. The exception these days would be officialdom and […]