Author: Nick Nicholas

Website:
http://www.opoudjis.net
About this author:
Data analyst, Greek linguist

Why did the post-structuralists ignore linguists such as Chomsky, who is far more important than Ferdinand de Saussure?

By: | Post date: 2017-04-18 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Culture, General Language, Linguistics

I’m not convinced by Michael Minnich‘s account, which makes a French Swiss linguist a Teuton. But it is certainly true that poststructuralism, as a European invention, was always going to draw more inspiration from what was happening in the generation of the European linguists who had trained the first poststructuralists, than in what was happening […]

Why do my classmates like using my Chinese name instead of my English name?

By: | Post date: 2017-04-18 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Culture, English, Linguistics

Two contrary reasons. In the particular context you’re detailing (them laughing), one is likelier; but both should be stated for others coming across this question. One tendency is mockery of the exotic; teenagers in particular have a strong, even brutally, conformist ethic, and they deride names that they find out of the ordinary. The contrary […]

Does our alphabet encompass almost all possible sounds?

By: | Post date: 2017-04-17 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: English, Writing Systems

The question details ask for a meticulous and specific answer (though the question itself is neither). The original 24 letter alphabet used for Latin did not even encompass the sounds of its daughter languages, let alone the sounds of other languages. Centuries of often messy digraph and diacritic solutions ensued. But any language using a […]

somnambular

By: | Post date: 2017-04-17 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: English, Linguistics

Michael Masiello’s answer to If a healthy person suddenly starts preparing for their funeral, does that mean they’re subconsciously aware of impending death? I suppose if someone were to make these arrangements while on Ambien, in a remarkably focused somnambular state, one might say the person was unconsciously aware of impending death. But “subconsciously” just […]

trichotillomania

By: | Post date: 2017-04-16 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: English, Linguistics

The Magister’s comment to Nick Nicholas’ answer to Do you find Thucydides hard to read in Greek? https://www.quora.com/Do-you-fin… I feel your pain. I am sorry to report that’s just Thucydides talkin’, too. Try reading Pericles’ famous speech if you want to develop trichotillomania. I understood the word, and now, you will too: Trichotillomania – Wikipedia: […]

Are there any dialects of Greek that Nick Nicholas can’t understand?

By: | Post date: 2017-04-16 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Ancient Greek, Linguistics, Modern Greek

First up, my vanity is well gratified! Well, there’s the question, and then there’s the details. Can I understand someone speaking modern Tsakonian, or read ancient Arcadian and understand it, sight unseen? Mate, I struggled to understand the Cypriot of my cousin’s husband Fotis; and I have no idea what Homer is on about. Homer! […]

What does this emoji mean “U0001f60b”?

By: | Post date: 2017-04-16 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: General Language, Writing Systems

There are several online dictionaries of emoji meanings. The intended meaning of [math]unicode{x1f60B}[/math] is “Face Savouring Delicious Food”, which is the Unicode name of the emoji. U0001f60b Face Savouring Delicious Food Emoji (Emojipedia) offers “Used to indicate a silly happiness; goofy; hungry.” U0001f60b (Urban Dictionary) offers “thirsty; desperate” Face Savouring Delicious Food Emoji (Emojibase) notes […]

Should καί be stressed when writing Standard Modern Greek with polytonic orthography?

By: | Post date: 2017-04-16 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Linguistics, Modern Greek

Yes. It was never written unaccented, because it was never treated as a clitic. On the other hand, the unstressed variant κι was indeed never accented. Answered 2017-04-16 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/Should-καί-be-stressed-when-writing-Standard-Modern-Greek-with-polytonic-orthography/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]

Do you find Thucydides hard to read in Greek?

By: | Post date: 2017-04-16 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Ancient Greek, Linguistics

In Nick Nicholas’ answer to Are there any dialects of Greek that Nick Nicholas can’t understand?, I just exclaimed: I can kinda understand Attic, but I will sneak peeks at the dictionary when I don’t think you’re looking, and I ain’t touching no Thucydides. So. Let’s touch some random Thucydides. 6.30. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα θέρους […]

Where can one find the obscure works (i.e. plays and poems) of Nikos Kazantzakis (“Julian the Apostate”, “Odysseus”, “Tertsinas”, etc.)?

By: | Post date: 2017-04-16 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Literature, Modern Greek

In Greece, it’s not particularly difficult to find all the works of Kazantzakis in any middling bookstore; and bless you for mentioning the Terza Rimas, that I have a lot of affection for. In the Anglosphere, a university with a Modern Greek teaching program will have them. A university that used to have a Modern […]

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