Search found 2981 matches

by Salmoneus
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...
by Salmoneus
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...
by Salmoneus
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...
by Salmoneus
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...
by Salmoneus
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...
by Salmoneus
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...
by Salmoneus
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...
by Salmoneus
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...
by Salmoneus
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...
by Salmoneus
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....
by Salmoneus
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...
by Salmoneus
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...
by Salmoneus
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 ...
by Salmoneus
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 ...
by Salmoneus
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...
by Salmoneus
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 ...
by Salmoneus
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...
by Salmoneus
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...
by Salmoneus
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...
by Salmoneus
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...