Search found 2981 matches
- 31 Dec 2023 00:12
- Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
- Topic: Can we agree on that simplified Chinese is way simpler than English?
- Replies: 68
- Views: 2576
Re: Can we agree on that simplified Chinese is way simpler than English?
You are clearly entirely ignorant of basic linguistic terms and concepts, and your English is limited. With respect, I'm not sure there's any point anyone here trying to educate you (and in any case, it's hard to give much credit to your views on English when you're not able to express them in Engli...
- 29 Dec 2023 22:08
- Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
- Topic: Can we agree on that simplified Chinese is way simpler than English?
- Replies: 68
- Views: 2576
Re: Can we agree on that simplified Chinese is way simpler than English?
"Simplified" and "traditional" "Chinese" are not two varieties of Chinese. They're just different systems of spelling. Which is irrelevant to the language itself. ["Chinese" isn't really a language at all, other than for the purposes of the central government'...
- 21 Dec 2023 21:02
- Forum: Conlangs
- Topic: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1679
- Views: 347829
Re: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
Something that just came to my mind is syntactic ergativity vs. morphological ergativity. If you assume that there is a language with true and total ergative word order, where intransitive S is treated like the object/patient O of a transitive verb, could can get the following languages. SV, SOV SV...
- 20 Dec 2023 22:49
- Forum: Conlangs
- Topic: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1679
- Views: 347829
Re: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
The one thing that really leaps out from those stats (thanks for compiling them!) is the SOV/SVO issue. From your figures, of languages as a whole, there's 564 SOV languages to 488 SVO languages - i.e. 46% of S-initial languages are SVO. But among ergative languages, there's 20 SOV languages to 1 SV...
- 17 Dec 2023 20:54
- Forum: Conlangs
- Topic: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1679
- Views: 347829
Re: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
How do you develop consonant clusters? I have always found it problematic. Do you just table all three consonant combinations possible with the consonant inventory and decide which ones you like? Do you just have some kind of intuition? Do you read a grammar of some native American language and cop...
- 17 Dec 2023 01:48
- Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
- Topic: a question about monster raving loony alignment
- Replies: 4
- Views: 476
Re: a question about monster raving loony alignment
I'm afraid I don't speak Rushani, so I don't know how it deals with this problem. However, if a language doesn't have a dedicated mechanism for indicating counterintuitive argument assignments, it may use a general mechanism - perhaps an unexpected topicalisation or focusing can encourage listeners ...
- 17 Dec 2023 01:39
- Forum: Conlangs
- Topic: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1679
- Views: 347829
Re: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
As Arayaz says, the obvious answer is vowel loss. /dakata/ > /dakta/, etc. A rarer option is fortition of glides, which can originate in vowels or through excrescence: /daita/ > /dakta/, or /dat_ja/ > /dakta/ It's also possible to have direct decomposition - a labial-velar stop could become a cluste...
- 12 Dec 2023 14:31
- Forum: Conlangs
- Topic: Word for 'chicks'
- Replies: 3
- Views: 235
Re: Word for 'chicks'
I'd also note that not only is English "chicks" for "young women" mostly offensive, it also makes you sound like a 1980s American yuppie. [the connotations of "chick" for one woman may be slightly different, and certainly if it's used in the vocative] This demonstrates ...
- 11 Dec 2023 01:41
- Forum: Conlangs
- Topic: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1679
- Views: 347829
Re: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
It is extremely creepy to make us stalk people from somewhere else who don't know us, and whom we don't know. Did you ask them before taking their words and reposting them elsewhere on the internet without any context? It's disturbing thinking you may be doing the same thing to us. Is it even legal,...
- 11 Dec 2023 01:27
- Forum: Conlangs
- Topic: Extreme Conlang Ideas
- Replies: 37
- Views: 2156
Re: Extreme Conlang Ideas
My conlang, U, departs from normal linguistic (Saussurean) expectations by not using signs that represent things or ideas. [at least, not at the heart of the language; there are some functional gestures that could be seen, I guess, as symbolic]. I never got too far into it, though (partly because I...
- 09 Dec 2023 15:34
- Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
- Topic: (C&C) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1938
- Views: 656594
Re: (C&C) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
It's not really a republic at the earlier stages of history, but it was established in response to a monarchy, so I will call it republic. It probably could be called a councilist elective aristocratic monarchy with a palace economy, too. That's literally exactly what a republic usually is: an elec...
- 09 Dec 2023 14:15
- Forum: Everything Else
- Topic: The Sixth Conversation Thread
- Replies: 762
- Views: 194050
Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread
Be glad you're not doing the "move in to new home in morning, have to move out of old home completely and forever by evening" thing. That is... stressful.
- 08 Dec 2023 17:38
- Forum: Conlangs
- Topic: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1679
- Views: 347829
Re: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
Not that English spelling and pronunciation have a great correspondence, but the pronunciation with /e/ doesn't even make sense looking at broader patterns in the language. The only instances of stressed <a> saying /e/ that I can think of are "any" and "many". (Curious if anyone...
- 08 Dec 2023 16:06
- Forum: Conlangs
- Topic: Extreme Conlang Ideas
- Replies: 37
- Views: 2156
Re: Extreme Conlang Ideas
My conlang, U, departs from normal linguistic (Saussurean) expectations by not using signs that represent things or ideas. [at least, not at the heart of the language; there are some functional gestures that could be seen, I guess, as symbolic]. I never got too far into it, though (partly because I ...
- 08 Dec 2023 15:59
- Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
- Topic: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1110
- Views: 282808
Re: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
Is there any instance of a language distinguishing voicing in all fricatives except lateral fricatives? In other words, in a naturalistic conlang that has f/v, s/z, ʃ/ʒ etc., would it be fine to only have ɬ, or should I also have ɮ in that case? Looking at some of the languages listed here , I foun...
- 04 Dec 2023 19:14
- Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
- Topic: (C&C) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1938
- Views: 656594
Re: (C&C) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
I should probably add: another common option in fantasy settings is to model magical craft on mediaeval European non-magical crafts and have a guild: hence master and apprentice, often some intermediary term equivalent to 'journeyman', probably a council of masters and some sort of 'grandmaster'. I ...
- 04 Dec 2023 18:24
- Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
- Topic: (C&C) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1938
- Views: 656594
Re: (C&C) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
I'm no economist, so I have no idea if this would make sense, even for a Kardashev II civilization, particularly since I've already established that normal space colonies exist to fill this need. But the idea just sounds too cool to ignore.[/qauote]You could justify it if your society has rampant c...
- 04 Dec 2023 17:58
- Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
- Topic: (C&C) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1938
- Views: 656594
Re: (C&C) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
What is a good term for the boss/head of a wizard association/council? Also, what is a good term for that council? There's no answer to that. There are two ways you could decide (or you could find a compromise between the two): internal logic, and artistic function. Internal logic would ask what wo...
- 30 Nov 2023 02:01
- Forum: Everything Else
- Topic: The Sixth Conversation Thread
- Replies: 762
- Views: 194050
Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread
Bad News: my ancient laptop's screen, which was occasionally iffy, has now stopped working entirely. Good News: I'm pretty sure I know why. It's not the screen, it's the cable attaching the screen to the board. And I've worked out I can buy a replacement quite cheaply. Bad News: in investigating whe...
- 29 Nov 2023 19:08
- Forum: Conlangs
- Topic: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
- Replies: 1679
- Views: 347829
Re: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
Oblong countable objects vs non-oblong non-countable objects Is this intended as a joke? Or, that could actually be a valid gender system.. different shape classes. Japanese (in part) makes use of different counters for different shaped things. Not specifically a gender system but maybe it could be...