Subscribe to Blog via Email
March 2025 M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Category: Linguistics
Why do my classmates like using my Chinese name instead of my English name?
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 […]
somnambular
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 […]
Are there any dialects of Greek that Nick Nicholas can’t understand?
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! […]
Do you find Thucydides hard to read in Greek?
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 […]
Should καί be stressed when writing Standard Modern Greek with polytonic orthography?
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]
trichotillomania
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: […]
What are some interesting examples of Ancient Greek vernacular?
This is (a) very old and (b) profane. Hope it’s what you’re looking for, Vangeli. Whether or not it’s what you’re looking for, it’s what you’re getting from me. The Greeks got hold of the alphabet in the early 8th century BC. If you’re studying the history of the Greek alphabet, as I’ve done, you […]
On social media, I notice that people deliberately omit the word ‘I.’ What might be behind that?
None of the answers satisfy me, though Logan R. Kearsley’s is by far the closest to satisfying me. EDIT: Uri Granta’s answer satisfies me more than mine. Go read that. There is a colloquial register in English, in which the first person subject is omitted routinely. It predates social media; see, for example the Beatles’ […]
Is Kokakarsas a Greek last name?
Yiannis Papadopoulos has done the right homework, OP, of finding Greek Wedding 1879 Melbourne, mentioning your ancestor. For those confused by that: A Constance Ocass of Cerigo (= Cythera) got married in Melbourne in 1879. Tahlia O’Cass (the OP) is his descendant, and posted in that thread. The surname is clearly mangled from something Hellenic, […]
What is the meaning of meaning, philosophically speaking?
I’m going to give the linguistic meaning of meaning; certain (old school) philosophers would accept it as an answer, and Gottlob Frege, who came up with the crucial distinction, is considered a philosopher and not a linguist. (Back in the 1890s, linguists weren’t really doing semantics.) Language is a code. A code is a system […]