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Index » Radio Paradise/General » General Discussion » Little known information...maybe even facts Page: Previous  1, 2, 3 ... , 64, 65, 66  Next
Post to this Topic
Lazy8

Lazy8 Avatar

Location: The Gallatin Valley of Montana
Gender: Male


Posted: Dec 1, 2008 - 2:52pm

 dionysius wrote:
Latin? Three genders but no articles. Closely related to Greek, three genders with articles. Lithuanian has strongly inflected noun system, like those ancient languages, but with no article. Icelandic uses only postfixed definite articles. English, with a developed system of definite and indefinite article, is more sophisticated than most languages. Try to have a Russian speaker make a quick and easy distinction between "a (any) banana lassi" and "the (one under discussion) banana lassi" and you'll get my point. That Frenchman was un homme complètement fou!

And I am aware that articles are weakened demonstratives, but demonstratives (like the Latin ille which yields Spanish el)  are not used like articles in these languages!

 
Languages tend to get simpler as they get older, and the bits that fall off are the ones that carry no information. Like gender.

Numbering systems tend to get simpler too—counting in Mandarin is much simpler than in English, which is simpler than French.

French has a further disadvantage: l'Académie Française. The French language actually has a sort of governing body that decides what is French and what isn't, a sure-fire way to freeze the evolution of the language and doom it to the dustbin of history in a few centuries. Assuming anyone pays it any attention.

musik_knut

musik_knut Avatar

Location: Third Stone From The Sun
Gender: Male


Posted: Dec 1, 2008 - 2:41pm

 

 

Most people can not chew gum while simutaneously slapping their ass with both hands. {#Yes}

If someone offers to slap your ass while you chew gum, call the authorities.


BlueHeronDruid

BlueHeronDruid Avatar

Location: planting flowers


Posted: Dec 1, 2008 - 1:46pm

The current temperature at Newark Liberty Airport gate A18 is in the low 120's F.
phineas

phineas Avatar



Posted: Dec 1, 2008 - 1:25pm

 Isabeau wrote:

I consider it boorish to look under a chair to see what gender it is.{#Snooty}

 
Chairs the world over appreciate this!

phineas

phineas Avatar



Posted: Dec 1, 2008 - 1:23pm

 dionysius wrote:


Latin? Three genders but no articles. Closely related to Greek, three genders with articles. Lithuanian has strongly inflected noun system, like those ancient languages, but with no article. Icelandic uses only postfixed definite articles. English, with a developed system of definite and indefinite article, is more sophisticated than most languages. Try to have a Russian speaker make a quick and easy distinction between "a (any) banana lassi" and "the (one under discussion) banana lassi" and you'll get my point. That Frenchman was un homme complètement fou!

And I am aware that articles are weakened demonstratives, but demonstratives (like the Latin ille which yields Spanish el)  are not used like articles in these languages!


 
And crazy, too!

dionysius

dionysius Avatar

Location: The People's Republic of Austin
Gender: Male


Posted: Dec 1, 2008 - 1:09pm

 Welly wrote:
Billy G has a soft spot for Librarians {#Wink}

 

And who wouldn't?
Welly

Welly Avatar

Location: Lotusland
Gender: Female


Posted: Dec 1, 2008 - 1:08pm

Billy G has a soft spot for Librarians {#Wink}
dionysius

dionysius Avatar

Location: The People's Republic of Austin
Gender: Male


Posted: Dec 1, 2008 - 1:05pm

 phineas wrote:

Years ago, in Nepal, I sat next at a table next to a group of travellers, among them a Frenchman who was declaiming loudly that, because there is no 'gender' in English, "It is a baby language... THE butter, THE chair..."  I wish I had been quick enough to ask if he thought, then, that French must be an adolescent language (2 genders), compared to, say, German with three. And would that in turn make Mandarin, which doesn't even use definite articles, an embryonic language.

But no, I just ordered a banana lassi and some toast...
 

Latin? Three genders but no articles. Closely related to Greek, three genders with articles. Lithuanian has strongly inflected noun system, like those ancient languages, but with no article. Icelandic uses only postfixed definite articles. English, with a developed system of definite and indefinite article, is more sophisticated than most languages. Try to have a Russian speaker make a quick and easy distinction between "a (any) banana lassi" and "the (one under discussion) banana lassi" and you'll get my point. That Frenchman was un homme complètement fou!

And I am aware that articles are weakened demonstratives, but demonstratives (like the Latin ille which yields Spanish el)  are not used like articles in these languages!

AliGator

AliGator Avatar



Posted: Dec 1, 2008 - 12:59pm

 phineas wrote:

Years ago, in Nepal, I sat next at a table next to a group of travellers, among them a Frenchman who was declaiming loudly that, because there is no 'gender' in English, "It is a baby language... THE butter, THE chair..."  I wish I had been quick enough to ask if he thought, then, that French must be an adolescent language (2 genders), compared to, say, German with three. And would that in turn make Mandarin, which doesn't even use definite articles, an embryonic language.

But no, I just ordered a banana lassi and some toast...
 
My ex, who's French as you may know, used to say English was a primitive language for the exact same reason.

Isabeau

Isabeau Avatar

Location: sou' tex
Gender: Female


Posted: Dec 1, 2008 - 12:56pm

 phineas wrote:

Years ago, in Nepal, I sat next at a table next to a group of travellers, among them a Frenchman who was declaiming loudly that, because there is no 'gender' in English, "It is a baby language... THE butter, THE chair..."  I wish I had been quick enough to ask if he thought, then, that French must be an adolescent language (2 genders), compared to, say, German with three. And would that in turn make Mandarin, which doesn't even use definite articles, an embryonic language.

But no, I just ordered a banana lassi and some toast...
 
I consider it boorish to look under a chair to see what gender it is.{#Snooty}


phineas

phineas Avatar



Posted: Dec 1, 2008 - 12:29pm

 dionysius wrote:


Well, not that strange. Many languages have stronger grammatical gender than English does. Even inanimate objects can have "gender" which will determine if it gets a masculine, feminine or (in some languages) neuter adjective or article, for instance. Der DJ and die DJ might grate on German-speaking ears without further gender distinction. The Romance languages are even stronger with the gendered nouns, often with distinctive endings and declension. Anyone out there with specific examples from their own languages?

 
Years ago, in Nepal, I sat next at a table next to a group of travellers, among them a Frenchman who was declaiming loudly that, because there is no 'gender' in English, "It is a baby language... THE butter, THE chair..."  I wish I had been quick enough to ask if he thought, then, that French must be an adolescent language (2 genders), compared to, say, German with three. And would that in turn make Mandarin, which doesn't even use definite articles, an embryonic language.

But no, I just ordered a banana lassi and some toast...

Talalala

Talalala Avatar

Location: Århus, Denmark
Gender: Female


Posted: Dec 1, 2008 - 12:22pm

dionysius wrote:


Well, not that strange. Many languages have stronger grammatical gender than English does. Even inanimate objects can have "gender" which will determine if it gets a masculine, feminine or (in some languages) neuter adjective or article, for instance. Der DJ and die DJ might grate on German-speaking ears without further gender distinction. The Romance languages are even stronger with the gendered nouns, often with distinctive endings and declension. Anyone out there with specific examples from their own languages?


Yes...I actually minored in German in college.  {#Wink}   That makes sense.. and B said that 'die DJin' wouldn't really sound good, so I guess that's why they came up with DJane.  They kinda thought 'DJay' even though they know that 'DJ' actually is an abbreviation of 'disc jockey'.    Danish used to have more of a separation too, but they kinda got rid of it. 

OmegaConcern

OmegaConcern Avatar

Location: Sunrise, FL
Gender: Male


Posted: Dec 1, 2008 - 12:22pm

Speaking of gender specificities and rrrrromance languages (have to rrrroll the rrrrr), it's interesting to note that in spanish the vulgar terms for genitals are gender inverse.  That is, "vulgar penis" has a female ending and "vulgar vagina" has a male ending.  As such, you'd use "La" with the male and "el" with the female term.  Reminds me of a movie I saw once actually...

Hmmm... "vulgar penis"...where's that Name My Band thread...




dionysius

dionysius Avatar

Location: The People's Republic of Austin
Gender: Male


Posted: Dec 1, 2008 - 12:17pm

 Talalala wrote:
My husband just told me that in Germany, female DJ's are called  "DJanes" ...   HUH.   Strange compulsion to make things masculine or feminine.  Semantic reasons? 

 

Well, not that strange. Many languages have stronger grammatical gender than English does. Even inanimate objects can have "gender" which will determine if it gets a masculine, feminine or (in some languages) neuter adjective or article, for instance. Der DJ and die DJ might grate on German-speaking ears without further gender distinction. The Romance languages are even stronger with the gendered nouns, often with distinctive endings and declension. Anyone out there with specific examples from their own languages?
lily34

lily34 Avatar

Location: GTFO
Gender: Female


Posted: Dec 1, 2008 - 12:13pm

 Talalala wrote:
My husband just told me that in Germany, female DJ's are called  "DJanes" ...   HUH.   Strange compulsion to make things masculine or feminine.  Semantic reasons? 

  i like it!


Talalala

Talalala Avatar

Location: Århus, Denmark
Gender: Female


Posted: Dec 1, 2008 - 12:11pm

My husband just told me that in Germany, female DJ's are called  "DJanes" ...   HUH.   Strange compulsion to make things masculine or feminine.  Semantic reasons? 
Servo

Servo Avatar

Location: Down on the Farm
Gender: Male


Posted: Feb 20, 2007 - 12:39pm

samiyam

samiyam Avatar

Location: Moving North


Posted: Feb 20, 2007 - 10:00am

zipper

zipper Avatar



Posted: Feb 20, 2007 - 9:25am

zipper

zipper Avatar



Posted: Feb 20, 2007 - 9:23am

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