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Month: June 2017
Are speakers of non-standard languages discouraged from using the web?
The bulk of material on the Web, like the bulk of written material in general, is in standardised forms of languages. If you know the standardised form of your language, or the official language of your country, you can access the Web as well. And if you’ve gone to school at all, then you know […]
Why didn’t the Byzantine Empire have ethnic conflicts like the Ottoman Empire did?
Do read this in conjunction with: Stefan Hill’s answer to Why didn’t the Byzantine Empire have ethnic conflicts like the Ottoman Empire did? Ethnicity was not important in the Medieval world. Common people did not have to communicate with the state. They were supposted to work and pay taxes. The best they could hope for […]
Why are unicode characters outside the BMP called astral?
Thank you for the A2A, Jelle Zijlstra, and why do I suspect that you’ve read my page Astral Planes? There’s 17 * 65536 characters in Unicode. Each 65536 characters is called a Plane. The first plane, the BMP, is the plane that most characters you will ever encounter are in. Only two other planes are […]
What is the word on Wonder woman’s shield?
Wonder Woman’s Shield says that the quote OP gives is on the shield. However, The Badass Quote That’s Engraved On Wonder Woman’s Sword says that it is on her sword: In the “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Tech Manual” (via Digital Spy), it’s revealed that director Zack Snyder wanted inscriptions on the sword and […]
What does Archaiomelesidonophrunicherata mean?
https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=SYkS-Vj-g3wC&pg=PA353&lpg=PA353&dq=Archaiomelesidonophrunicherata&source=bl&ots=3zo-hj2vo_&sig=97J1-BT8D-UNebTujARTq3xXhNU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0A_5VLPQFoSf8QXG8IJI&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Archaiomelesidonophrunicherata&f=false My thanks to Konstantinos Konstantinides for doing the back research. The word is real, and it’s not mangled much: it should be –melisi– It’s another coinage by Aristophanes, from Wasps 220: ἀρχαιομελισιδωνοφρυνιχήρατα. Aristophanes, Wasps, line 183 ὡς ἀπὸ μέσων νυκτῶν γε παρακαλοῦσ’ ἀεί,λύχνους ἔχοντες καὶ μινυρίζοντες μέληἀρχαιομελισιδωνοφρυνιχήρατα,οἷς ἐκκαλοῦνται τοῦτον. They arrive here, carrying lanterns […]
In Ancient Greek, does the middle voice of φιλέω (φιλέομαι) mean “I love in my own interest,” “I love myself,” (reflexive) or “I am loved” (passive)?
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0029:card=976&highlight=filou%3Dmai I’m going to do some backgrounding on this for people not blessed enough to have delved in the waters of Greek. English makes a distinction between active and passive voices of a verb. Homeric Greek made a distinction between active and middle voices of a verb. It distinguished between you actively doing something to […]
Can you write an English sentence, phonetically, in another script without changing the language?
Having read James Garry’s answer to Can you write an English sentence, phonetically, in another script without changing the language? Όου Γκουντ Λορντ. Μάι μπρέιν ιζ χέρτιγκ του. Δε πέιν, δε πέιν… … Χαγκ ον, James Garry, γιου ρόουτ Ένσιεντ Γκρικ, νοτ Μόντερν. Οκέι. Λετ μι όφερ μάι ατέμτ. I’m pretty sure Ancient Greek rendered […]
What are some words or phrases that are only used in your region?
Let us now praise Australian hypocoristics. Or Diminutives in Australian English. I’ve seen hypocoristic used here, because the Australian forms aren’t used like normal diminutives, to indicate that something is cute or small; hence bikie “member of a motorcycle club, with a connotation of involved in criminal activity”. Of course, hypocoristic is just Greek for […]
What’s the most unusual script/alphabet?
A close companion to What in your opinion is the ugliest/most unappealing script? Cultural familiarity is going to defuse anyone’s opinion; so you won’t get many responses nominating Latin, or anything originating on the same continent as Latin. Is it Lontara alphabet, optimised to be written on palm leaves? Is it Vai syllabary, which aesthetically […]
Could toponyms “Trebižat” (in Herzegovina) and “Trebizond” (in Turkey) be related?
Trebizond is derived from the Ancient Greek Trapezous (genitive Trapezountos, hence Modern Greek Trapezounda), meaning ‘table-like’, and referring to the mountain formation in the area. Per People and Culture: Trebižat River, There are two theories on how the river got its name. The first one says that it was named “Trebižat” because it escapes from […]