langfafflr

[langfafflr]

#irish

[langfafflr]

reccomendaciones de youtubers españoles

archivo mitologíco - si te gusta la mitología este canal es perfecto. los episodios duran 10-30 minutos, son muy interesantes y tienen animaciones bonitas. el canal tiene un foco en mitología griegas, pero a veces habla de otros mitologías, como la nórdica.

wissbegierde - él tiene muchos videos sobre diferentes lenguas, ambos lenguas reales & conlangs. también habla de cómo aprender lenguas.

leyendas & videojuegos - este canal es un canal de ensayos, historia, curiosidades y diseño de videojuegos. los topicos son siempre interesantes.

infoprimates - un otro canal sobre lengas, este tiempo con animaciones. creo que los videos son muy divertidos :].

jaime - él tiene muchos videos sobre música y tecnología y es muy interesante. él tambien tiene un otro canal cuando él habla de muchos mas tópicos.

perdón si tengo errores, y porfa corregirme :]

#spanish #spanish resources

[langfafflr]

Swedish still has this. Sin, without the macron

Old as sīn

In certain dialects of Old English, there were two ways to express 'his' and 'her'. Beside his and hire, there was sīn (pronounced ‘seen’), but this pronoun was reflexive: it could only refer to the subject of the sentence. My new infographic and the article below tell you the whole story.

On my Patreon, everyone – including free members – can read a detailed explanation (1200 words) of this system, which also compares it to Latin. If you subscribe to tier 2, you can listen to the reconstructed pronunciation of the phrase and all historic words.

#old english #historical linguistics #swedish

[langfafflr]

The word I used (faff) to describe my half-arsed language learning has a friend that's even closer to my user name, and means stutter, stammer!

British Slang Faff and Naff

I happened to hear both of these used in the same sentence and realised that not a lot of American and non-native English speakers might not grasp what either means.

Faff means to engage in ineffectual action. One faffs about, looking like one's busy but really doing nothing much. Usually used as a criticism. I can hear Sherlock accusing Anderson of faffing about rather than actually solving a case.

The word first appears in English usage in the late 18th century (originally it was a dialect word for ‘blow in puffs’, describing the wind). The current sense may have been influenced by another dialect word, faffle meaning a ‘stammer, stutter’. Together they became ‘flap in the wind’, which came to mean ‘fuss, dither’ at about the same time as faff in the late 19th century.

Naff means something entirely different.

Nowadays it means worthless, rubbish, unfashionable, tacky, a bit cringe-making. But a lot of people disagree about where it came from and how it acquired its modern meaning.

One school of thought traces its roots back all the way to Anglo-Saxon, where nafala meant the human navel. It then became associated with female genitalia, specifically, the vulva. Another possibility is that “naff” may be traced to a 16th-century Italian word, gnaffa (a despicable person).

By the 19th century, it had acquired a different meaning. In Scottish and Irish English, a “nyaff” was a small object or a trifle. The word also meant and is still used to mean, “a diminutive, insignificant, or contemptible person,” the OED says. In the north of England, “naffhead,” “naffin,” and “naffy” were once regional terms for a simpleton or idiot.

Or you can look to the English slang language called Polari (did you know such a thing existed?) With origins going back as far as the 16th century, Polari was a "hidden dialect" that combined Italian with a lot of other borrowings- from Yiddish, for instance, as well as Romany. It was used amongst merchant seamen, actors, circus performers, boxers, and other travelling entertainers. You'd hear it too at fish markets, market fairs, street performances. Shakespeare used the Polari word bona to mean good in his play Henry IV Part Two.

From there it leaked into some Cockney Rhyming Slang but also developed a rich vocabulary of its own. In the 1850s, Punch and Judy shows included scripted dialogue using Polari.

An 1893 novel's sentence ""If the rozzers was to see him in bona clobber they'd take him for a gun" means "If the police were to see him dressed in this fine manner, they would know that he is a thief."

Interestingly, in the 19th century, it also became used in homosexual culture. As many homosexual men worked in theatrical entertainment, it was also used among the gay subculture to disguise homosexuals from hostile outsiders and undercover policemen. It was also used extensively in the British Merchant Navy, where many gay men worked as waiters, stewards, and entertainers.

This usage continued until the 1960s, when it became more acceptable to be homosexual, even though the laws were still against same-sex relations. Some of the Polari words that became part of mainstream English include:

acdc, barney, blag, butch, camp, khazi, cottaging, hoofer, mince, ogle, scarper, slap, strides, tod, zhuzh.

Naff is the victim of a backronym- that is, a false etymology invented by someone for humourous purposes, in which it is erroneously described as an abbreviation of "Not Available For Fucking."

The BBC played a part in popularising these words; take a look at this video.

#english #polari

[langfafflr]

Welcome!

Language Learning as of 4/2/2024

I just picked up language learning again and i wanted to make a place to document it. I've been learning several languages on and off since 2016. The only ones I'm still learning are Spanish and Japanese. I am currently eyeing Mandarin Chinese and Korean as well but I'm trying to avoid overloading my brain, two is already a lot.

This blog is for me to update on my language learning and maybe other learning subjects as well. I'll try to update regularly (hoping for daily but no promises) on what I've been studying and how it's going. However, be warned if you care about seeing efficiency in learning I don't focus on that. I learn these things as a hobby and often what is efficient isn't fun. So even though i know learning multiple languages at a time isn't efficient, I do find it fun.

Today I was getting back into things so I logged back into Duolingo and did a couple Spanish lessons and watched a simple Spanish children's story on YouTube to see how well I could follow it (i got 5 minutes in). For Japanese I tried a few new apps to see if I liked any, watched a video on all the Hiragana halfway, and reviewed the Hiragana I learned a few times (hours between) using both flashcards and an online quiz.

Tomorrow I hope to review more Spanish and make a better plan for it. I've studied Spanish the longest and feel I haven't gotten anywhere so I'm looking to step it up. For Japanese I'll watch the other half of the hiragana video and review more.

My biggest goal in Japanese is to learn Hiragana, I've been stuck on it for a while, for Spanish it's to start reading more children's stories/early reader books and to expand my vocabulary.

I'm also listening to a lot of beginner and "what i wish i knew before starting" videos on Korean and Mandarin to see how interested I am in them and sort of prime my brain without actually starting yet.

[langfafflr]

everyone go to Cenindo on YouTube for the utterly fantastic video series Speak Elf Yourself run by Helge Fauskanger, creator of Ardalambion

#quenya #tolkien languages #conlangs

[langfafflr]

kind of interesting how the boop feature makes tumblr feel so much more active? like idk usually you see people reblogging stuff but you never know if that's a queue and you forget that there are real people behind the blogs. but if ur getting booped? somebody saw you and acknowledged your existence. wild.

#boop #phatic expressions #linguistics

[langfafflr]

suggestions and advice on how to remember and memorize characters? it's the part I'm finding the most difficult

i struggle w this too rn bc of the pace my professor has been going at. if you dont have a practice workbook i def recommend those bc they show the stroke order and just give space for you to write repetitively. otherwise just try and write sentences using the characters/words you know or generally practice writing/reading as much as possible.

i like skritter a lot for practicing characters or learning new vocabulary related to things im actually interested in and would talk about in real life rather than a lot of the stuff ill learn in class.

because of the lack of alphabet a lot of people (me included) tend to rely heavily on pinyin but since ive started learning zhuyin i’ve definitely felt it helps. not having romanization means i have to actually try and cant just fall back and give up like i would if something was shown only in characters + pinyin.

i specifically like using my ipad or an external monitor when im studying characters so i can blow up the characters and look at them like an image rather than a letter (im learning traditional these little things have so many strokes i like to make sure i can see/recognize all of them) then also i feel like it stays better as a visual in my brain.

im still taking elementary level mandarin so realistically i dont know all that much, only what ive been trying and what works for me if anyone else has tips pls feel free to reply

#chinese #hanzi

[langfafflr]

— Kató Lomb + 10 requests for language learning, from Polyglot: How I Learn Languages (p.159-161)

#language learning

[langfafflr]

My Library: Left: read going to read couldn't finish pretend that I've read

Center: Waiting for more time to read Will never read For the décor Right: Have read it, but can't remember a thing I wish I'd never read it.

#russian

[langfafflr]

Language families of Caucasus

#maps #language families #caucasus

[langfafflr]

I see/hear people use 'féidir' a lot and I know it in the context of is féidir liom/I can but I'm curious as to what else it can be used for

I would say that's the main thing, féidir is used with the copula (is) to mean 'possible'.

Is féidir nach bhfuil sé ann - It's possible he's not there

You can, of course, also use it with le to express ability,

Is féidir liom - I can Is féidir leat - You can etc.

The other common one you'd hear is b'fhéidir, this uses the conditional form of the copula - ba, and means 'it would be possible'. It's used to mean "maybe", "perhaps"

B'fhéidir go bhfuil sé breoite - Maybe he's sick

Something to note is that historically the future wasn't used with b'fhéidir, rather the conditional would be used. But there is variation.

B'fhéidir go ndéanfainn é amárach - I might do it tomorrow

edit: I changed amáireach to amárach, which is the standard spelling, it's said amáireach in kerry though

#irish

[langfafflr]

#spanish

[langfafflr]

ことわざ 17/?

ことわざ are Japanese proverbs, and I have listed some basic proverbs, their equivalents in English, and a rough translation of the meanings of the Japanese phrase.

There is a test for ことわざ called the ことわざ能力検定 (ことわざのうりょくけんてい) and these are some of the phrases that appear in level 9 or 9級 (10 being the lowest level). For the time being, try one or two of these out the next time you speak with a native Japanese speaker!

ことわざ (こと検9級): 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 More ことわざ (こと検10級): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

眉を顰める

まゆをひそめる

to furrow your brow

furrow your brow

緑の黒髪

みどりのくろかみ

lustrous black hair

black hair with a greenish sheen

身に染みる

みにしみる

to be deeply moved; to have wind/cold pierce the body

a feeling that permeates the body

身につまされる

みにつまされる

to be touched by another's plight

feel a pinch of guilt on your body

身の毛がよだつ

みのけがよだつ

hair-raising; spine-tingling

have your body's hair stand up in fear or from cold

耳が痛い

みみがいたい

hitting close to home

accurate criticism that is painful to the ear

耳が早い

みみがはやい

in the know

ears are quick to receive new information

耳に入れる

みみにいれる

to inform

put into someone's ear

耳に胼胝ができる

みみにたこができる

to hear ad nauseum

told something so much it creates calluses in your ears

耳に付く

みみにつく

irritating or annoying (sound)

a sound that sticks in the ear

耳寄りな話

みみよりなはなし

a topic of interest

talk that makes ears approach

耳を疑う

みみをうたがう

to doubt your own ears

doubt your ears

耳を貸す

みみをかす

to lend an ear

lend an ear

耳を傾ける

みみをかたむける

to listen closely

tilt your ear over to listen

耳を澄ます

みみをすます

to focus your attention (and listen)

clear out your ears

耳を揃える

みみをそろえる

to get the money together (to pay a debt)

arrange the ears (edges) of your coins

身を入れる

みをいれる

to give it your all

put in your whole body

身を切られる思い

みをきられるおもい

heartrending

a thought that cuts your body

身を削る

みをけずる

to work yourself sick

whittle away your body with work

身を粉にする

みをこにする

to work hard without complaint

work your body into powder

身を立てる

みをたてる

to make something of yourself; to make it on your own

raise up your body

胸が痛む

むねがいたむ

to feel great sympathy

chest in pain

胸が一杯になる

むねがいっぱいになる

to be overcome with emotion

chest like a cupful of joy or sadness

胸が躍る

むねがおどる

excited; psyched up

chest dancing with joy or in anticipation

胸が騒ぐ

むねがさわぐ

to feel uneasy

chest disturbing you with feeling something bad is going to happen

胸がすく

むねがすく

to be relaxed, worry-free

chest clear of worry

胸が詰まる

むねがつまる

to feel uneasy

chest stuffed with sadness or worry

胸に刻む

むねにきざむ

to take something to heart

engrave on your chest

胸を痛める

むねをいためる

to cause someone emotional distress

cause pain in another's chest

胸を打つ

むねをうつ

to touch someone's heart

strike someone's chest

胸を借りる

むねをかりる

to train with a superior

in sumo, to borrow someone's chest is to have the honor of training with them

胸を撫で下ろす

むねをなでおろす

to let out a sigh of relief

rub down your chest and let go of worries

胸を膨らませる

むねをふくらませる

to be wide-eyed and full of hope

inflate your chest with hope or joy

目から鱗が落ちる

めからうろこがおちる

to have the scales fall from your eyes

to have the scales fall from your eyes

目から鼻へ抜ける

めからはなへぬける

sharp as a tack

from a story where a craftsman enters the eye of a Buddha statue to affix the eye from inside. since he’s trapped he has the brilliant idea to escape through the nose of the statue.

目から火が出る

めからひがでる

to see stars

sparks coming out of your eyes

目が利く

めがきく

to be discerning

effective eyes

目が肥える

めがこえる

to be discerning

eyes grown fat with experience and knowledge

目頭が熱くなる

めがしらがあつくなる

to tear up with emotion

eyes and head warm with emotion

目が高い

めがたかい

to be highly discerning

so learned, it's as if your eyes are surveying from high above

目が無い

めがない

① to have no eye for something; ② to lose objectivity

① have no eye for something; ② no eye for, or blind to, reality

目が回る

めがまわる

to be extremely busy

so busy your eyes are spinning

目くじらを立てる

めくじらをたてる

to needlessly nitpick

raise up the speck in the corner of someone's eye for all to see

目糞鼻糞を笑う

めくそはなくそをわらう

the pot calling the kettle black

eye crud laughing at snot

目と鼻の先

めとはなのさき

extremely close together

as close as the space before your eye and nose

目に余る

めにあまる

to be unforgivable, unable to be overlooked

too much for your eyes to handle

目に物見せる

めにものみせる

to teach someone a lesson; to show someone what's what

show something before someone's eyes

目の色を変える

めのいろをかえる

to put on your game face

change the color of your eyes to indicate seriousness or anger

目の上の瘤

めのうえのこぶ

a thorn in your side; a pain in the butt

a person whose existence is like a lump above your eye

目の黒いうち

めのくろいうち

while you still live; while you still draw breath

while your eyes are still black (grey/white pupils indicate death)

目の毒

めのどく

something you really don't need to see right now

poison for the eyes because it will trigger craving/desire or cause discomfort

目も当てられない

めもあてられない

a sight that is too much to bear

so horrible, eyes can't hold witness to it

目もくれない

めもくれない

to completely ignore

not give an eye (attention) to something

目を疑う

めをうたがう

to not be able to believe your own eyes

doubt your eyes

目を奪われる

めをうばわれる

to be captivated

have your sight stolen and held captive by something

目を覆う

めをおおう

to cover your eyes

cover your eyes in fear

目を掛ける

めをかける

to show favoritism

place eyes upon, watch over someone

目を配る

めをくばる

to keep an eye on

distribute your gaze around the area

目を皿のようにする

めをさらのようにする

to widen one’s eyes in shock

make your eyes like plates

目を白黒させる

めをしろくろさせる

to be shocked and flustered

eyes darting so fast they look white and black

目を付ける

めをつける

to fix your gaze upon something

attach your eyes

目を盗む

めをぬすむ

to do something in secret

steal someone's eyes, act outside their vision

目を光らせる

めをひからせる

to keep careful watch

shine your gaze upon someone/something

目を引く

めをひく

to draw attention; to create a distraction

pull someone's gaze

目を細める

めをほそめる

to smile warmly

smile so that your eyes narrow

目を丸くする

めをまるくする

to open your eyes wide in shock

make your eyes round

目を見張る

めをみはる

to be impressed or moved emotionally

eyes open wide in pleasant surprise

目を剥く

めをむく

to have eyes wide in shock or anger

eyes peeled wide open

#japanese #japanese idioms

[langfafflr]

Sentence Structure {3} Clause Elements & Clause Types

Subject (S):

In declarative sentences, the subject is in front of the predicate. Usually realized by noun phrases. 

e.g. He is a boy., This apple tastes weird.

Predicate (V): 

In declarative sentences, the predicate comes after the subject. Always realized by verb phrases. (predicate = verb)

e.g. They always wear their seatbelts., It rained today. 

Object (O): 

In declarative sentences, the object comes after the predicate. The object can become the subject of corresponding passive sentences. Usually realized by noun phrases. 

e.g. He likes her., This is the newest product.

Complement ( C ):

The complement has an “is”-relation with other clause elements. Usually realized by adjective phrases or noun phrases.

e.g. Tim is a teacher., He seems busy (= He seems to be busy), He considers him stupid (= He considers him to be stupid), They made him chairman (They made him be a chairman)

Adverbial (A): 

Mainly expresses time, place, and manner. Usually realized by prepositional phrases, adverb phrases, and noun phrases. 

e.g. John is in the kitchen., Last summer, I bought a new car. 

Clause types: 

Every sentence can be sorted into one of 7 clause types. (Only the obligatory elements are relevant for the sorting). 

SV: She swims.

SVO: He caught the ball. 

SVC: It tastes sweet. 

SVA: Elena is in London. 

SVOO: A man offers me a cookie. (O1 = me, O2 = a cookie)

SVOC: McAlister keeps the house clean. 

SVOA: He puts the phone down. 

#linguistics

[langfafflr]

Sentence Structure {2} - Phrases

Phrases are syntactic units that consist of one word or more. The “head” of a phrase (here written in italics) describes the word class of the “most important” word in that phrase.

Noun phrase: (NP)

noun/pronoun as head

–> The nice present from Santa arrived. 

Verb phrase: (VP)

head: lexical / full verb

last element is always the lexical verb

–> The ship sinks, The ship was sinking, The ship may have sunk

Adjective phrase: (AdjP)

head: adjective

–> The present was nice, The chair was very small indeed

Adverb phrase: (AdvP)

head: adverb

–> I spoke to him yesterday, I went to them as quickly as I could. 

Prepositional phrase: (PrepP)

phrase that usually consists of a preposition in a noun phrase

NO HEAD!

–> We met for lunch, I found her by a strange coincidence, He lives at the corner

=> So one sentence can be analyzed towards its phrases like this: 

“I went to Lucas today for his birthday.”

I = NP

went = VP

to Lucas = PrepP

today = AdvP

for his birthday = PrepP

#linguistics

[langfafflr]

Sentence Structure {1} - Word Classes

Open word classes: 

= lexical words

Open word classes are expandable by word formation or by neologism. They are:

Nouns:

plural formation (a chair - chairs)

used with determiners (the, a)

Full/lexical verbs:

e.g. walk, come, play, cook, see

Adjectives:

attributive –> describe an attribute of another word (a happy person)

predicative –> describe how something is (the person is happy)

can be modified by the word “very” (very good, very stylish, very sad)

comparisons –> comparative & superlative forms (happy - happier - happiest)

Adverbs:

used alone

modification of an adjective or verb (She is absolutely stunning, He talked calmly)

Closed word classes: 

= function words / grammatical words

Closed word classes have a limited number of elements and are not expandable. They are: 

Determiners:

stand before nouns

define the reference of nouns

subclasses: identifiers –> define something further, e.g. a, the, my, this; quantifiers –> express a certain amount of something, e.g. a lot, few, many

Auxiliary verbs:

Auxiliary verbs are always used together with a full verb and precede it.

Primary auxiliaries –> be, have, do (when in front of another verb)

Modal auxiliaries –> can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must (no infinitive, no participle, no 3rd person -s)

Pronouns:

personal pronouns: I you, we, they, etc.

possessive pronouns: mine, yours, his, etc.

reflexive pronouns: myself, herself, ourselves, etc.

reciprocal pronouns: each other, one another, etc.

relative pronouns: which, who, whom, that, etc.

interrogative pronouns: who, whose, what, etc.

demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, etc.

indefinite pronouns: some, any much, etc.

Prepositions:

completed by nouns

express temporal, logical or local relationship –> after breakfast, in the car, with him, etc.

Conjunctions:

connect clauses

coordinating conjunction –> and, or, but (paratactical relation)

subordinating conjunction –> because, if, since, although (hypotactical relation) 

#linguistics