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Category: Linguistics
Is the English “cuz” (because) becoming a clitic?
Not yet in my speech, but you’re pointing out something interesting. If you pronounce them as a single word, cuzall, cuzawesome, yeah, that’s a proclitic, and that’s grammaticalisation. I don’t. I do pronounce ’cause as a single syllable often, many do. That’s a reduction, but I think it’s still independently stressed for me, and it’s […]
Is there any function of swearing?
Terry Casalou has the answer here I like the most. (Vote #1: Terry Casalou’s answer to Is there any function of swearing?) Swearing is a form of communication that includes our passion level. I’d like to dig a little deeper. Why does swearing do that? Breaking taboos is one mechanism of indicating passion. Not the […]
What is a concise Latin translation of “Just because someone does bad things doesn’t mean bad things should happen to them”?
Etsi quis mala facit, mala ei ne fiant. Before you get a tat with it, stay tuned for Alberto Yagos to say Yea or Nay. Updated 2016-11-15 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/What-is-a-concise-Latin-translation-of-“Just-because-someone-does-bad-things-doesn’t-mean-bad-things-should-happen-to-them”/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]
How did the word “gaster” come to mean “stomach” in Greek?
You mean, there’s a story there? (Checks Frisk.) Hm. Looks like there’s a story there. gastēr “belly” is likely derived from *grastēr, “something that does graō”. Graō in turn is a really, really obscure word for “gnaw, eat”, that shows up once in Callimachus, and that also turns up in Ancient Cypriot, which was an […]
How do linguists view programming languages?
Read Logan R. Kearsley’s answer to How do linguists view programming languages? Vote #1 Logan R. Kearsley. What he said. Supplemental: At very very most, a linguist programmer will see YACC rules specifying a programming language’s syntax, and think “Oh, how cute. Kinda like phrase structure rules, but ludicrously simpler.” Or, look at the three […]
What is meant by projection problem in semantics?
Presupposition (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) http://eecoppock.info/Presupposi… Simple clauses have presuppositions. For example, The current king of France is bald presupposes that there is a current king of France. If you do various things to a clause, like negate it, question it, or say it’s unlikely, the claim of the clause is no longer affirmed. But […]
Is dysphemism the same as swearing?
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 […]
How many Greek words begin with a?
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 […]
What is the life expectancy of the English language?
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’s the best translation of the intensifier “the fuck” in other languages?
Modern Greek. “What” (τι) questions will have σκατά “shit” inserted after it: τι κοιτάζεις “what are you looking at” > τι σκατά κοιτάζεις “what shit are you looking at”. The more generic intensifiers are στο διάολο “to the devil”, for interrogative sentences, or ρε γαμώτο “for fuck’s sake; literally hey, I fuck it”, for other […]