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Category: Other Languages
How much does our knowledge of obscure languages depend on missionary work which preserved and exposed them?
Quite a bit. I trained around fieldwork linguists. Which was a colossal mistake for someone working on a European language. But useful if you want to be exposed to typology. I hear the IPA horror stories of my peers here, and blanche. Can linguists differentiate between all the sounds of the IPA? Now. Fieldwork linguists […]
How often did scribes have to copy an ancient text before the invention of printing in order for that text to survive throughout the centuries?
At an absolute minimum in Europe, four times. Each time there was a technological advance in book production, the superseded tech books were copied and discarded. Tech advances included: The introduction of papyrus The introduction of the codex The introduction of parchment The introduction of lowercase Answered 2016-11-18 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/How-often-did-scribes-have-to-copy-an-ancient-text-before-the-invention-of-printing-in-order-for-that-text-to-survive-throughout-the-centuries/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]
Will the Norn language see a successful revival in Orkney and Shetland?
http://nornlanguage.x10.mx/index.php?intro Ah, a lot of doom and gloom here from other respondents. I’ll admit that all I know about Shetland is that they have ponies, and all I know about Orkney is “huh, isn’t that halfway to Norway already?” But I knew Norn existed. I’ve had a quick look at Wikipedia (and pasted links in […]
Have any creoles become national languages?
Neel Lex Lumi’s answer names Tok Pisin and Haitian Creole. Add: Papiamento: “is the most-widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands, having official status in Aruba and Curaçao. The language is also recognized on Bonaire by the Dutch government.” Maltese language: may or may not be a creole. Afrikaans: may or may not be […]
Which Western language has the most un-phonemic spelling system?
Irish, especially before the mid-20th century spelling reforms, quite possibly; its marking of slender vs broad consonants is still pretty baroque even now. It led to the following comment on the Lojban mailing list in 1993 by And Rosta: “Some of the English might say that the Irish orthography is very Irish. Personally, I have […]
How do you refer to your left foot with languages that only use cardinal directions?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guugu_Yimithirr_people To elaborate on Joe Devney’s answer to How do you refer to your left foot with languages that only use cardinal directions? Yes, your South foot, if you’re facing west, and your North foot, if you’re facing east. Just as geographically oriented languages will refer to it as your seaward foot if you’re by […]
Where in the Balkan sprachbund did the invariable future tense marker originate?
A capital question. You were right, Zeibura, in the discussion that prompted this: the Balkans is a big mess of not continuously attested languages and dialects; and the only hints of whether a feature originated in one place rather than another is whether the feature is also present in Koine Greek or Old Church Slavonic—both […]
What do Greeks think of Aristidh Kola (Αριστείδης Κόλλιας)?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeks I was not aware that he’d died. I was even less aware of the conspiracy theories about his death. I’d come across his books when I was looking at Arvanitika for my linguistics thesis. (My stuff on Balkan language contact ended up left out of the thesis, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to […]
What if sign language was compulsory in schools in the same way that English, science and maths are?
Then we’d be properly acknowledging sign language speakers as our fellow citizens. Hell, even exposure once in your schooling would help with that. And I’d be able to borrow my deaf neighbours’ ladder without them them shooing me away because they assume I’m a salesperson. (It happened the once.) Plus, a lot more parents would […]
What is the most beautiful writing system (script)?
Originally Answered: What is the most beautiful written script according to you? Armenian. Not because my wife’s Armenian. She doesn’t speak the language. Not because the alphabet’s well-designed. I think all the letters look the same. In fact, precisely because I think all the letters look the same. The results look like this: Beautifully flowing. […]