Search found 2981 matches
- 22 Feb 2024 21:19
- Forum: Conlangs
- Topic: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1679
- Views: 347889
Re: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
But I'd also say: bear in mind that Latin hadn't even eliminated its own stress irregularities - there were a whole bunch of words that didn't obey the normal rules and weren't regularised. So expecting immediate regularisation of a whole heap of new irregulars may be unrealistic. I didn't know tha...
- 21 Feb 2024 16:13
- Forum: Conlangs
- Topic: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1679
- Views: 347889
Re: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
Yes, I think I'd agree with that. EDIT: I'd also add, a lot of stress shifts aren't really about creating new stresses, but about reprioritising existing stresses - primary stress shifting to a syllable that has some stress already. I suspect "move to initial stress" is common because ofte...
- 21 Feb 2024 02:22
- Forum: Conlangs
- Topic: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1679
- Views: 347889
Re: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
I think I would say that stress "rules" are primarily descriptive. Where a relatively small number of exceptions are created by the diachronics, they can act to regularise those exceptions through analogy. But the more exceptions there are, the less likely they are to be analogised away, a...
- 20 Feb 2024 18:29
- Forum: Conlangs
- Topic: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1679
- Views: 347889
Re: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
I think the stress rule has to go, at least temporarily. The problem is that shortening all long vowels is a massive simultaneous change that effects a vast percentage of the lexicon. If there's a small change - like loss of nasal codas before fricatives - I can imagine that speakers would immediate...
- 18 Feb 2024 20:05
- Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
- Topic: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1110
- Views: 282873
Re: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
Nobody says the Trinity is an easy explain. :) (its like the Dao in that way) :) Oh, the Dao's easy - just remember that the Dao that can be explained is not the Dao and you'll be fine! And in particular, to say that Jesus was a part of God would imply that Jesus was not the whole of God - that the...
- 18 Feb 2024 02:29
- Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
- Topic: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1110
- Views: 282873
Re: Why does God need a name?
Wellllllllllll...basically, yes to both . Remember that for most Christians, the Trinity is a focal point -- Jesus is Himself, and Jesus is God...while God the Father is also God, and both the Father and Jesus (aka the Son) are part of the same God (or Godhead) while also being distinct enough to b...
- 17 Feb 2024 14:11
- Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
- Topic: How could I explain most of the abilities of the Dehanatis Double Sword semi-scientifically?
- Replies: 4
- Views: 449
Re: How could I explain most of the abilities of the Dehanatis Double Sword semi-scientifically?
Dude, it's a magic sword from beyond the dawn of time. It's not scientific. It's not even physically realistic as a sword, because swords don't have two blades, because that would be a stupid idea with no actual benefits and lots of disadvantages. It's not a coincidence that the whole of human histo...
- 15 Feb 2024 22:39
- Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
- Topic: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1110
- Views: 282873
Re: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
To me, that all just seems like normal symbolism (the symbol represents the thing and is treated with the respect due to the thing itself). I would compare these superstitions with the fact that, as every schoolchild knows, paying for a sweet with a coin placed upside down on the counter is high tre...
- 15 Feb 2024 22:19
- Forum: Conlangs
- Topic: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1679
- Views: 347889
Re: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
Yes, /u/ is fronted in most English dialects, including but not limited to SSBE, Australian, New Zealander, South African, and Western American. It's probably fronted to SOME extent in pretty much all dialects. It's also regularly derounded. [for me it's derounded phonetically, but I retain phonemic...
- 15 Feb 2024 01:10
- Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
- Topic: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1110
- Views: 282873
Re: Why does God need a name?
Firstly, you're right. Really, He shouldn't need a Name at all. Some of these Names in theory (such as Allah) seem to reflect that - they're more descriptive than given. But because some religions name G-d (either the people doing so, or G-d Him), He has a Name now, so now you need to explain that....
- 15 Feb 2024 01:00
- Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
- Topic: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1110
- Views: 282873
Re: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
Not trying to go full philosophical here, but couldn't you say that a singular entity contrast with other potential but non-existent entities if the same kind? I was thinking of stuff like "There is only one god and his name is X", which implies that any claim that something with name Y i...
- 14 Feb 2024 22:04
- Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
- Topic: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1110
- Views: 282873
Re: Why does God need a name?
Okay, are you asking "why does a singular entity need a name, beyond simply a word saying what type of entity it is?" ... or are you asking "why do humans give a name(s) to a singular entity, beyond simply a word saying what type of entity it is?" Again, I'm not sure what the fi...
- 14 Feb 2024 22:01
- Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
- Topic: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1110
- Views: 282873
Re: Why does God need a name?
(I posted this here instead of C&C Quick Questions because I’m asking about RL monotheisms.) In a monotheistic religion, where it’s believed only one god exists at all (rather that only one is served or worshipped, as in monolatry or henotheism), why does such a god need a name? (Especially in ...
- 14 Feb 2024 18:35
- Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
- Topic: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1110
- Views: 282873
Re: Why does God need a name?
(I posted this here instead of C&C Quick Questions because I’m asking about RL monotheisms.) In a monotheistic religion, where it’s believed only one god exists at all (rather that only one is served or worshipped, as in monolatry or henotheism), why does such a god need a name? (Especially in ...
- 14 Feb 2024 14:56
- Forum: Beginners' Corner
- Topic: Is it alright if I don't evolve my language?
- Replies: 8
- Views: 340
Re: Is it alright if I don't evolve my language?
I'd also like to add: it's possible to have non-naturalistic diachronics as well. Tolkien's languages, for instance, strictly speaking have non-naturalistic diachronics, despite the end result being largely naturalistic. This is because his elves have considerably more conscious control over their l...
- 14 Feb 2024 14:52
- Forum: Beginners' Corner
- Topic: Is it alright if I don't evolve my language?
- Replies: 8
- Views: 340
Re: Is it alright if I don't evolve my language?
I agree with everything Dormouse and Sangi said. Within the naturalistic school of conlanging (conlanging that aims at producing conlangs that look like real human languages), I think diachronics (evolution of the language through stages) serves at least five purposes: - it's an easy way to produce ...
- 13 Feb 2024 03:49
- Forum: Conlangs
- Topic: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1679
- Views: 347889
Re: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
In what kind of vowel inventories does /ʉ/ (close central rounded vowel) appear? Wikipedia has a very short list. I'm not sure what sort of answer you're looking for. What does "what kind of" mean? What are the options? In terms of individual languages, the obvious example is (many/most d...
- 12 Feb 2024 18:45
- Forum: Beginners' Corner
- Topic: Too many pronouns?
- Replies: 9
- Views: 502
Re: Too many pronouns?
I'm not sure why a language spoken primarily by people with no gender would both distinguishing four animate genders. That seems... counterintuitive. And not just distinguish, but distinguish in the 1st person! Even the vast majority of human languages don't do that! Why are these people so obsessed...
- 12 Feb 2024 18:40
- Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
- Topic: Does my take on Godzilla break the Law of the Conservation of Energy?
- Replies: 12
- Views: 662
Re: Does my take on Godzilla break the Law of the Conservation of Energy?
Obviously not. Famously, E=mc^2. Plug 8.4 metric tons into that and you get about 180,000 megatons, which is more than 10. ---------- However, the energy production mechanism clearly has nothing to do with radioactive materials for nuclear fission purposes. The standard amount of energy produced fro...
- 10 Feb 2024 20:34
- Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
- Topic: English Dialects
- Replies: 78
- Views: 43982
Re: English Dialects
A thing that's often helpful, if you're interested in an unusual word, is looking it up in a dictionary. There's a free one online at witktionary.org, although others are available also. This would tell you that in theory the -ron words are found (archaically) in the USA and in Scotland, and probabl...