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Category: Linguistics
What do we call the process of creating all of the possible morphological extractions of a given word?
In traditional grammar, this is conjugation for verbs, and declension for nominals; both are limited to inflectional morphology. Answered 2016-08-30 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/What-do-we-call-the-process-of-creating-all-of-the-possible-morphological-extractions-of-a-given-word/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]
What does αέναη σοφία mean in Greek?
Yes, I’m going to have fun with this. First: HAH! You’ve outed yourself as a Modern Greek speaker, Anon OP! In ancient Greek, that would be ἀέναος σοφία. Compound adjectives used the masculine ending for the feminine; and αέναη is what you get when noone you know has been aware of Greek vowel quantity for […]
Eros and Agape are much more specific words than the English word love. Why was the word love decided to be the word for love? What are the etymological roots of love? Why did the English word for love not evolve to be as precise as the greek words?
Critical insight with the four-way classification of love in Koine Greek (Greek words for love): do not assume that the Greek classification was that clear cut. These are theologically useful idealisations. Like I already pointed out in Nick Nicholas’ answer to Why isn’t there a non religious equivalent of agape love?, the Diccionario Griego–Español’s definitions […]
In the New Testament, what different semantic shades can the verb agapao (“love”) take?
A non-theological response: I’m grabbing all the definitions of agapaō from ἀγαπάω, DGE Diccionario Griego-Español, and highlighting those for which they give New Testament or Septuagint instances. As you can see, there’s a fair area of coverage for the verb; theologians have tried to pin it down in a nice schema, but a concept as […]
What country of origin does the first name “Zander” come from?
Can be German as Romain Bouchard said, can be English, can be Dutch (mostly as Sander (name)); Zander, Sander, and Xander are abbreviations of Alexander. Xan Fielding was born in 1919, and the oldest Xander listed under Xander was Xander Berkeley, born 1955. But the name was popularised through Xander Harris of Buffy. As a […]
Why isn’t there a non religious equivalent of agape love?
The noun agapē first arises in Koine. (In fact, the first attestations, other than as a proper name, are in the Septuagint.) But the related verb agapaō was used for 800 years before Christ, both agapē and agapaō have been used for 2000 years since Christ, and there’s nothing intrinsically Christian about agapē. In fact, […]
Is there a more specific word for endonyms which simply mean “our language” or similar and are semantically awkward for outsiders to use?
Not aware of such a term, but it’s a nice distinction: the endonym is really just a pronominal reference, so much “ours” that it doesn’t warrant a name at all. I could coin the term hemeteronym, “ours-name”, for it, but I won’t. It’s a pronominal, or deictic, endonym. Answered 2016-08-28 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/Is-there-a-more-specific-word-for-endonyms-which-simply-mean-our-language-or-similar-and-are-semantically-awkward-for-outsiders-to-use/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]
What should I know (but don’t) about the culture and history of the Cyclades in general and Syros in particular?
https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A3%CF%8D%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%82 Taking the *Greek* Wikipedia article as a baseline, Dimitris Almyrantis? I hate you. The fact that the anthem of Rebetika, Frangosyriani, means “Catholic Girl from Syros”, is too obvious for the Greek Wikipedia page to mention; it does at least mention that the song’s composer Vamvakaris was himself a Catholic Boy from Syros (a […]
How do you pronounce η (eta)?
How do I pronounce eta? In Modern Greek: /i/. When reading Ancient Greek to myself, still /i/. I’m Greek, which makes me Reuchlinian, as Haggen Kennedy described: I pronounce Ancient Greek as Modern Greek to myself. When reading Ancient Greek out loud, or describing Ancient Greek historically, I do not use whatever weird-ass Pronunciation of […]
Is the use of the word “niggardly” acceptable and politically correct?
There’s several perspectives one can take on the whole sorry-ass saga of niggardly, on which as always see Controversies about the word “niggardly”. There’s the perspective of the linguist, the language-lover, the activist, and the anti-American. The Anti-American first, so I can get it off my chest: Christ, I’m glad I don’t live in your […]