Linguistics

friendfeed imported Linguistics
What Was Greek to Them? by Mary Beard | The New York Review of Books - http://www.nybooks.com/article...

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

"Stories of code-breaking and decipherment usually end at the moment the code is finally cracked, or the once-mysterious language demystified and translated. The narrative thrill is in the chase, in the rivalries between the various would-be code-breakers, and if possible (for this adds another dimension to the excitement) in the vested national interests at stake. The British still like to fancy that Egyptian hieroglyphs were first deciphered by their own polymath, Thomas Young. The French, of course, know that it was all done by Jean-François Champollion." - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

"There tends to be a “tortoise-and-the-hare” element to the tales too. Will the winner be the brilliant maverick who cuts corners, but has the lucky hunch? Or will it be the low-key, patient systematizers, hunched over their boxes of file cards? Is successful code-breaking a collaborative enterprise, on the wartime Bletchley Park model? Or is it a job for a lone—and obsessive—genius? In fact, for the general public, one of the most appealing sides to these stories of decipherment is that the heroes and heroines so often turn out not to be highly trained, narrow specialists, but “outsiders” of different kinds. Linda Schele, for example, who was a key figure in deciphering Mayan hieroglyphs, had a background in studio art. Michael Ventris was an architect by day; cracking Linear B, the most important script of prehistoric Greece, was his hobby, for evenings and weekends. In our fantasies we can all become code-breakers." - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

Comment

friendfeed imported Linguistics
Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2013: 'selfie' | OUPblog - http://blog.oup.com/2013...

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

"It's that time of the year again. With a fanfare and a drum roll, it’s time to announce the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year. The votes have been counted and verified, and I can exclusively reveal that the winner is…." - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

"A picture can paint a thousand words The decision was unanimous this year, with little if any argument. This is a little unusual. Normally there will be some good-natured debate as one person might champion their particular choice over someone else’s. But this time, everyone seemed to be in agreement almost from the start. Other words were considered, as you will see from our shortlist, but selfie was the runaway winner. It’s not a new word. For starters, it has already been included in Oxford Dictionaries Online (although not yet in the Oxford English Dictionary), and we wrote about it as part of our occasional Words on the Radar series back in June 2012. But our Word of the Year need not be a new word. However, it does need to demonstrate some kind of prominence over the preceding year or so and selfie certainly fits the bill. It seems like everyone who is anyone has posted a selfie somewhere on the Internet. If it is good enough for the Obamas or The Pope, then it is good enough for Word of the Year." - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

Comment

friendfeed imported Linguistics
Is “Huh?” a Universal Word?—And Why Is It Important? | GeoCurrents - http://www.geocurrents.info/cultura...

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

"Last week I was contacted by the producers of the AirTalk radio based in Los Angeles and asked to discuss the article on the universality of “Huh?” recently published by Mark Dingemanse, Francisco Torreira, and Nick J. Enfield in PLOS One. I was specifically told that the producers were looking for “someone to support the work”. However, I was not prepared to join the seemingly unanimously chorus of support found in media reports and expert opinions, which includes those of Mark Pagel, whose paper on “ultraconserved words” was critiqued in an earlier GeoCurrents post; Tanya Stivers, a UCLA sociologist; and my Stanford colleague from the psychology department Herbert Clark. I made it clear to the producers that I could explain the research and indicate some of the pitfalls, but I was promptly turned down, and UCLA linguist Tim Stowell was interviewed instead. His assessment of this work, however, was not as laudatory as the producers probably expected: the only evaluation he provides in the seven-minute interview is that the paper is “mildly interesting”. In this GeoCurrents post I will do what the AirTalk producers did not want me to do: explain the article and indicate what I see as problems with this research. I will also overview some of the media reports that mushroomed after the PLOS publication came out." - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

"According to the authors of the PLOS article, the starting point for their research on the universality of “huh?” was an observation made when something else was studied: “that almost all spoken languages provide two basic ways of signaling communicative trouble: an interjection like ‘huh?’ and a question word like ‘what?’.” However, while the words for ‘what’ vary widely across languages (e.g. que in Spanish, čto in Russian, etc.), the interjections “looked suspiciously similar across languages”. To investigate this seeming consistency more fully, the authors examined 196 tokens of ‘huh?’ (in relevant contexts) in ten languages: Cha’palaa, Dutch, Icelandic, Italian, Lao, Mandarin Chinese, Murriny Patha, Russian, Siwu, and Spanish. Moreover, the research also found examples of this interjection in 21 additional languages, including English. All 31 languages are shown on the map reproduced on the left." - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

Comment

friendfeed imported Linguistics
Linguistics :: The Great Language Game - http://greatlanguagegame.com/

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

"Lars Yencken, a machine learning researcher and language aficionado, recently created a game to test people’s skills at deciphering just a fraction of the 6,500 languages that exist today. The Great Language Game was built from audio samples taken from news podcasts in 78 different languages. Users are also encouraged to submit audio of languages they left out. Based on the game’s test results, French is the easiest language to identify, while South Efate is the hardest. When the game ends, players receive a handy summary of which languages they missed, along with information about what makes each of those languages unique." - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

<a href="#later</a>" target="_blank">http://friendfeed.com/sea... ; - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

Comment

friendfeed imported Linguistics
Language Log » xkc-infix-d - http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll...

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

"The current xkcd deals with the psycholinguistic properties of expletive infixation:" - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

friendfeed imported Linguistics
▶ History of English (combined) - YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch...

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

Free learning from The Open University <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.open.edu/openl... ; title="http://www.open.edu/openl... ; - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

friendfeed imported Linguistics
APiCS Online - The Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures Online - http://apics-online.info/#

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

"This web site contains supporting electronic material for the Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures (APiCS), a publication of Oxford University Press. APiCS shows comparable synchronic data on the grammatical and lexical structures of 76 pidgin and creole languages. The language set contains not only the most widely studied Atlantic and Indian Ocean creoles, but also less well known pidgins and creoles from Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Melanesia and Australia, including some extinct varieties, and several mixed languages." - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

"APiCS Online contains information on 76 languages and 130 structural features, which was contributed by 88 contributors. There are 18525 examples illustrating the features and feature values. In addition, APiCS Online is designed to allow comparison with data from WALS (the World Atlas of Language Structures)." - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

Comment

friendfeed imported Linguistics
Tarihsel Dilbilim'e giriş gibin kitap, "Diller Neden Yerinde Durmuyor Ambarat?" Why Do Languages Change? R.L. Trask . hayvan gibi basit dille anlatıyor, dilbilim terminolojisini zerre bilmesen bile az bişey kapabiling.

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

<a href="#felixb</a>" target="_blank">http://friendfeed.com/sea... ; - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

<a href="#kesinbiaraokursunnom</a>" target="_blank">http://friendfeed.com/sea... ; - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

Comment

friendfeed imported Linguistics
Knowledge is a Polyglot: The Future of Global Language - http://bigthink.com/big-thi...

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

"[H]ow much more beautiful and authentic and sophisticated and accurate" our world would become if we could appreciate the key terminologies of all cultures. (...) We need to continue to translate, of course, in order to communicate. But when it comes to the key terminologies of a culture, "we should not translate them but rather we should adopt them," Pattberg says. "The only way, as I see it, to create the global language is really to find a scientific way to adopt as many key terminologies as possible and to unite all the languages’ vocabularies into one."" - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

friendfeed imported Linguistics
Does anyone know a website with pronunciation samples of an extinct language? Any extinct language is welcomed.

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

!\o/! thanks faruk. great. the narration is great too, but i am particularly looking for audio files. - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

list follow: cussing in everyday Pali :-) contact me seriously. - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

Comment

friendfeed imported Linguistics
Yidişçe ve Faroece de dahil olmak üzre tüm Cermen Dillerinden hep aynı grup kelimelerin telaffızları. Ve bilhassa da İskoçya'nın türlü yörelerinden türlü telaffuzlar. İngilizcenin North Carolina'dan Johannesburg'a kadar pek çok lehçesi(haritalı).Ölü dillerin maalesef ses kaydı yok sadece fonetik transkristsyoru var. http://www.soundcomparisons.com/

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

menokta, bunu şimdiye dek nası vermedim bilmiorum abi büyük ayıplardaymışım. - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

9 other comments...

Apriyat. sitenin germanic kısmı almış yürümüş beynel. Liverpoolun hastasıyım fakat dancada'daki glottal stop meselesi komplesini açığa alır harbi diyorum. - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

Comment

friendfeed imported Linguistics
Glasgow'luya sataşmican. Highlands'den naylonkemal ful MacGregor klanı ve aklımıza gelecek bi kaç klan daha toplaşır geliriz. NASSI KONUŞUOSAK KONUŞUOS, salak salak turistlere yordamcılık yardakçılık yapma. Camdibiyle aklın alınır kadın. #fuckmescottish FOKIN BRRRIĞLYINT, AEEAY? http://www.youtube.com/watch......

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

adam leprechaunun vücud bulmus hali - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

44 other comments... | Show last 10...

<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ayecan.com/wha... ; title="http://www.ayecan.com/wha... ; AYE CAN. Bölge bölge iskoç ingilizcesi didiğimiz Scots da didiğimiz dili dinleyebilioz okuyabilioz. - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

Comment

friendfeed imported Linguistics
Hariga bir interret kişisi, şu vidyosuyla ünlü oldu yıllar evvel, ardından aksan yapma eğitim vidyoları filan kaydedip yüklemeye başladı, öküz çocukları kadar takipçisi olan Amy Walker ablası. http://www.youtube.com/watch... SouthCarolina'da buluşalım gencingrad. "I'm a Walker aren't I?" http://www.youtube.com/watch...

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

Her çeşit çeşit envai İncilizce aksanı, dialecti. osurtuyor komplesinde abla. essakh aktris bi kişi. - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

9 other comments...

No, Jarolim Gayri, I haven't known about her. Her talent is amazing. It is fun listening to her. :-) - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

Comment

friendfeed imported Linguistics
The Nordic Languages VE The Germanic Languages

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

he oldu he. - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

13 other comments... | Show last 10...

vikingsleri izliyorum nordÇA öğreniyorum ^^ almancayla ne çok ortak yönü var ^^ birbirleri için yaratılmışlar. - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

Comment

friendfeed imported Linguistics
▶ 12 ways to say good morning in the Philippines - YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch...

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

morning - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

friendfeed imported Linguistics
List of English words from indigenous languages of the Americas - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

Cayenne † from Tupí kyinha.[127] ~ Persimmon † From Powhatan <pessemins>/<pushemins>, reconstituted as */pessiːmin/.[41] While the final element reflects Proto-Algonquian *-min, "fruit, berry", the initial is unknown.[42] ~ Potato † from the Taino word for "sweet potato", via Spanish batata.[120] - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

friendfeed imported Linguistics
Mighty oaks from little acorns grow - http://www.phrases.org.uk/meaning...

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

The word acorn doesn't come from 'oak' and 'corn', as is popularly supposed, but from the Old English 'aecern', meaning berry or fruit. The tree genus Acer comes from the same root. - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

1 other comments...

Spidra's acorn photos inspired this post - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

Comment

friendfeed imported Linguistics
Language Helps Our Eyes See Invisible Things - Science News - redOrbit - http://www.redorbit.com/news...

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

The new study reveals a deeper connection between language and simple sensory perception than previously thought. This connection made the researchers wonder about the extent of language’s power. They suggest the influence of language may extend to other senses as well. - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

friendfeed imported Linguistics
What does WRITING look like? :: 32 images - http://imgur.com/a/mL6ll

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

These three are really interesting: 1\ With an alphabet that's been around since around 400 CE, Armenian is one of the most distinct relatives of the majority of other European languages. 2\ Mongolian - written vertically, this script is only written in cursive, and was displaced in large part by the Cyrillic alphabet in the Soviet era. 3\ The Lontara alphabet is a radical simplification of the Brahmic script -- it may look almost ridiculously simple, but it's no more so than any other, and is actually an abugida like some other scripts above. - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

Funny that it remarks that Hebrew is without vowels yet shows a version with vowels. - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

Comment

friendfeed imported Linguistics
Decline of pan-Arabism :: inability of Arabs to move around the region, speak naturally and be easily understood is a big reason they do not always feel themselves to be one . [The Economist] - http://www.economist.com/blogs...

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

"All educated Arabs learn the Koranic-based language that linguists call "modern standard Arabic". It is used in political speeches, news broadcasts and nearly all writing—but nobody speaks it spontaneously in the marketplace or over the dinner table. Most people struggle to write it correctly." \\ Spoken dialects lack mutual intelligibility. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.eric.ed.gov/ER... ; title="http://www.eric.ed.gov/ER... ; - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

friendfeed imported Linguistics
Do Geography and Altitude Shape the Sounds of a Language? - http://aminotes.tumblr.com/post...

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

"[R]ecently, Caleb Everett, a linguist at the University of Miami, made a surprising discovery that suggests the assortment of sounds in human languages is not so random after all. When Everett analyzed hundreds of different languages from around the world, as part of a study published today in PLOS ONE, he found that those that originally developed at higher elevations are significantly more likely to include ejective consonants. Moreover, he suggests an explanation that, at least intuitively, makes a lot of sense: The lower air pressure present at higher elevations enables speakers to make these ejective sounds with much less effort. (...)" - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

"[H]e found that 87 percent of the languages with ejectives were located in or near high altitude regions (defined as places with elevations 1500 meters or greater), compared to just 43 precent of the languages without the sound. Of all languages located far from regions with high elevation, just 4 percent contained ejectives. And when he sliced the elevation criteria more finely—rather than just high altitude versus. low altitude—he found that the odds of a given language containing ejectives kept increasing as the elevation of its origin point also increased. (...) As a result, over the thousands of years and countless random events that shape the evolution of a language, those that developed at high altitudes became gradually more and more likely to incorporate and retain ejectives. Noticeably absent, however, are ejectives in languages that originate close to the Tibetean and Iranian plateaus, a region known colloquially as the roof of the world." - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

Comment

friendfeed imported Linguistics
An Interactive Map of Regional American Accents, With Audio - http://io9.com/an-inte...

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

"This is the culmination of Rick Aschmann's years-long "hobby" of collecting dialects. It's a comprehensive and detailed map of the dialects (and sub-dialects!) of English-speakers in Canada and the United States. (...) Aschmann's site is a veritable font of information on English dialects. There's the Dialect Information Chart which tells you which vowel sounds can be found in what dialect and each dialect's "unique features." Like Mat-Su Valley Alaska, which has the unique feature of being "strongly like North Central" but with some "main Alaska dialect" mixed in. If that doesn't mean anything to you, there's a helpful parenthetical there: "See Sarah Palin." Aschmann bases his map and dialect information on the Atlas of North American English, his own research created the names of some of the dialects and made adjustments to their borders." - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

friendfeed imported Linguistics
Ultraconserved words point to deep language ancestry across Eurasia - http://www.pnas.org/content...

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

Fortunately, a couple of serious linguist have taken this on. - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

4 other comments...

Afonso, it is my pleasure. :-) - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

Comment

friendfeed imported Linguistics
ETCSLhomepage - The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature - http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

"Sumerian is the first language for which we have written evidence and its literature the earliest known. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL), a project of the University of Oxford, comprises a selection of nearly 400 literary compositions recorded on sources which come from ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and date to the late third and early second millennia BCE. The corpus contains Sumerian texts in transliteration, English prose translations and bibliographical information for each composition. The transliterations and the translations can be searched, browsed and read online using the tools of the website. Funding for the ETCSL project came to an end in the summer of 2006 and no work is currently being done to this site or its contents. For more information, see the About ETCSL menu or the site map." - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

friendfeed imported Linguistics
乡音苑 Phonemica - a panorama of Chinese dialects, painted by speakers through their stories - http://phonemica.net/#

1 decade ago from Friendfeed - Comment - Hide - - -

"Phonemica is a project to record spoken stories in every one of the thousands of varieties of Chinese in order to preserve both stories and language for future generations. We are a team of volunteers working within China and abroad." - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

1 other comments...

Cool! - friendfeed from FriendFeed - -

Comment

Linguistics

Warning!