Author: Nick Nicholas

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

Is dysphemism the same as swearing?

By: | Post date: 2016-11-10 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: General Language, Linguistics

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)?

By: | Post date: 2016-11-09 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Culture, History, Modern Greek

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 […]

What is the life expectancy of the English language?

By: | Post date: 2016-11-09 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: English, Linguistics

Yes, it is impossible to tell, for reasons my learnèd colleagues have touched on. Allow me to expand one angle. As I was saying to Martin Silvertant just before (wat de neuk?), I predicted the death of Dutch in 200 years as a postgrad, when I found out that university courses were being lectured in […]

What character can we use as an irony mark?

By: | Post date: 2016-11-09 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: General Language, Writing Systems

Irony punctuation – Wikipedia There have been various proposals over the years, though none have taken off. In internet discourse, where irony marks are pretty necessary, the smiley has prevailed; it’s more about “I’m only joking! I’m only joking!” than about actual amusement. Some Ethiopian languages use a special temherte slaqî or temherte slaq punctuation […]

How many Greek words begin with a?

By: | Post date: 2016-11-09 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Ancient Greek, Linguistics, Mediaeval Greek, Modern Greek

It’s kind of a meaningless question, because vocabulary is productive; but to Vasiliki Baskos’ answer I will add these figures from non-Modern lexica: 19699 from the Liddell Scott lexicon, 2045 from the LSJ supplement; but LSJ does not separate out derived words very well 28405 for the DGE Diccionario Griego-Español, which includes proper names 23487 […]

When did the 1453 Fall of Constantinople become inevitable?

By: | Post date: 2016-11-08 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: History, Mediaeval Greek

Matthew Sutton no longer posts on Quora, for reasons I entirely empathise with. Matthew has however left a ginormous comment on this question at https://www.quora.com/When-did-t… With his permission, I am citing his comment here. FWIW, I agree entirely with his answer; I’d researched the period as the setting of the Byzantine poem I’ve coauthored a […]

What is that one picture that best describes your city / country / state?

By: | Post date: 2016-11-08 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Culture, Literature, Modern Greek, Music

A2A Pegah. I was going to post something smart-alecky about my country, Australia. But I see that it has already been covered: Shayne Bradbury’s answer to What is that one picture that best describes your city / country / state? User-10398731632804616022’s answer to What is that one picture that best describes your city / country […]

What happened to the Greek population of South Italy?

By: | Post date: 2016-11-08 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: History, Modern Greek

I refer you to Nick Nicholas’ answer to Why does Grecani language not exist in Sicily (Magna Grecia)? From what I’ve read, the Greek-speaking population of Southern Italy gradually shrank geographically. It was quite a broad area in the 1600s; it was a much smaller area in the 1800s; and it’s pretty tiny now. In […]

Why do people use “Nope” even though “No” is easier to say and shorter to spell?

By: | Post date: 2016-11-07 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: English, Linguistics

A2A by Z-Kat. Marc Ettlinger’s is the definitive answer: Marc Ettlinger’s answer to Why do people use “Nope” even though “No” is easier to say and shorter to spell? —but I was a research assistant for a guy who worked on labiovelars, and I’ve mentioned it here. (No doubt Z-Kat saw the comment.) So supplemental […]

Who are some people you know who became fluent in a foreign language as an adult?

By: | Post date: 2016-11-07 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: English, Linguistics

Here’s one. Chie Hama. She was doing an MA in my linguistics department, under A/Prof Janet Fletcher. I’ve googled Chie; she’s now tutoring down the road at RMIT, but RMIT doesn’t give its casual tutors much of a web presence. Chie Hama came to Australia from Japan. Chie swore to us blind that she did […]

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