#linguistic geekery

[stellaluna33]

Wait. If "sot" was an old term for a drunkard, does "besotted" literally mean "drunk with Love?" 🥺

Hang on, I gotta look this up...

#Linguistic geekery #Love

[datasoong47]

Several names in the LOTR are derived from Old English words, either directly taken from Old English, or applying regular sound changes to Old English words, or taking Old Norse words

I wonder if any translators have taken the same route by using older forms of the language being translated into (or related languages as with the use of Old Norse) in the same way

I would guess probably not. Because for one, that would be a lot of extra work, and for another, most readers would probably be confused about why names were changed

Still, it would be a Tolkien-worthy level of linguistic geekery

[parsleysagerosemarytimemachine]

'Heterogenia Linguistico vol 4' by Salt Seno

Look, this is a very specific sort of fantasy manga, which is to say that it's all about language and trying to figure it out (and occasionally cultural miscommunication) -- there's not really much more of an ongoing story, so if you like linguistics and extremely focused geekery, you're going to really like it, and if not, this just isn't for you. I wouldn't want everything to be like this, but I'm extremely glad it exists for me.

#manga #reading #linguistics #reviews in brief #Heterogenia Linguistico #Salt Seno

[motleystitches]

Elven Appearances: in which I have new frivolous headcanon after 20 years

Once upon a time, elves were the fairest of Iluvatar's children and the most beautiful folk in all of fanfiction.net aka Pit of Voles (possibly with exception to vampires pre-sparkle days).

In that lost time when the Elven Linguistic page was just one giant html and elven words for sex organs were still secret, speculations driven by teenage hormones and rather hidebound and bookish geekery covered such topics as 1)whether elves tan 2)whether elves scar 3)whether elves have body-hair (where and how much are corollaries). 4)how did elven hair "color" genetics work, a work as laborious and as dangerously unscientific as anything in Game of Thrones 5) did the mullet curtain match the drapes etc 6) what counts as elven adolescent/early marriage 7)Elven age of Consent REeally 50? (New fics apparently no longer ascribe to this...but once upon a time, we adhered religiously to Laws and Customs of the Eldar of HoME12).

Which brings us to Rings of Power, where an international audience (aka This Topic Internet-Trended in China) have commented, discussed, and despaired at length over what's perceived as the "degradation" of elven aesthetics compared to its Big Screen adaptions.

I confess, I too had been taken aback and slightly appalled as any one of them who regarded the casting disrespectful to the canon. However, my generation survived Hugo Weaving as Elrond in the height of his Mr. Smith days. Also, I'm much older now and after the initial shock, have adapted my thinking. So here's this: whatever accusations of "uncanonical" plot/characterization criticism against Rings of Power, the facial appearances should be of the LEAST concern.

True, there's no Figwit this time, but consider this: we *know* elven appearances can change. The hroa can be damaged just as the fea and the soul can influence the body. And then there's this: the Second Age was not a good time for anyone, spiritually speaking. The First Age ended with the sinking of Beleriand. Families were lost. Wars were won at great cost. The "gods" came and went. Second Age began as a Pyrrhic victory elves. It would be perfectly conceivable that these tragedies left their mark on elven bodies. The "fading" of the elves was a poetic description not a description of a ghost, the reality is that the fading must've been *seen*. Becoming "less fair" would've been part of the process.

Of course, elven aesthetic being least concern is my advice for canon purists, not necessarily for enjoyment. After all, who wouldn't enjoy a prettier cast? But I recognize that this desire may be shallow and desperate. I want the fantasy of beautiful people survive tragedies while remaining beautiful because TV show is a visual media and we subscribe to the most part that the good is beautiful. And, aren't elves good?

But that, too, was a fantasy. A fantasy of imperialism bringing civilization, survival made as an excuse for conquest, a fantasy of the mighty and the good, a fantasy which did not connect with the nuances of the tragedy of physical and cultural dominance, and the prejudices and damaged by ignorance even by the cleverest and supposed wisest who were only wise in comparison, but not in absolute.

Perhaps this is what Rings of Power is showing us in this revisionist fanfic of Middle-earth. Time to grow up and face the tragedy: this is how history works.

#tolkien #rings of power #elves #canon vs fanon #i still can't get past the first episode

[butyouvealwaysbeenthecaretaker]

I’ve never found a better language learning resource than the Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata course.

It is a full immersion Latin course, so the book has *no* English in it. Instead, it throws you in with language so contextually easy & repetitive so anyone can read it. The first paragraph:

“Roma in Italia est. Italia in Europa est. Graecia in Europa est. Italia et Graecia in Europa sunt. Hispania quoque in Europa est. Hispania et Italia et Graecia in Europa sunt. Aegyptus in Europa non est, Aegyptus in Africa est. Estne Gallia in Europa? Gallia in Europa est. Ubi est Gallia et Hispania? Gallia et Hispania in Europa sunt.”

And so on for five pages.

It even does the grammar explanations in Latin: “

Singularis et pluralis.

Nilus fluvius magnus est. Nilus et Rhenus fluvii magni sunt.

“Fluvius” singularis est. “Fluvii” pluralis est.

Singularius: “-us”. Plualis: “-i”

The way language courses usually go is start you off with things that are easy then move on to things that are hard. No. LLPSI gets it right, because if you teach like that you kinda create the phenomenon that hard things are hard. The verb “to be” is one of the most used, and most irregular, in any language, so LLPSI throws you in with it from page one.

Similarly, in Latin there are 5 noun declensions - but 3 main ones, of which the 3rd is completely wacky. Most Latin books take you through them in order. LLPSI introduces the 3rd decl in the second chapter. Because it’s a huge part of the language! Similarly, words like rem. Rem is an extremely irregular (5th decl?) noun which means “thing”, but it’s used constantly in real Latin to mean “the thing we are currently discussing”, and in phases like res pubulica - the republic, or, “the public thing”. So many Roman idioms include rem.

So I’m doing Welsh duolingo and ugh, they don’t get you going with things like “the verb to be” or “personal pronouns” until you’re really deep into the course, and when they do it they do it all-in-one-go, like you’ve got a single lesson to internalise a complex, irregular “to be” verb before it’s on to other vocab. It’s such a damn mess, and I hate it. 

Also, if you want to learn Latin, this is the first and only book you should consider, supplimented with a dictionary and a Kennedy’s grammar (or other grammar reference text).

#linguistic geekery #classicsblr #tagamenmnon #lingua latina

[books-are-bigger-on-the-inside]

Secular Winter Playlist

Or an attempt thereof.

The base was my preexisting wintry mix playlist where my criteria were basically 1. winter or winter-adjacent songs that 2. do not specifically reference Christmas in the lyrics.

I started by eliminating the obvious: references to miracles, churches, snowman clergy, etc.

Then things got trickier:

I don’t personally think that “halo of evergreen” is meant as religious imagery (halo has some downright science-y definitions), but the word ‘halo’ still has Connotations.

Similarly, are concepts like that of the soul inherently religious? Souls show up in Greek Philosophy as well as being ubiquitous across multiple religions. What about sacrifice? Magic?

What if the word ‘hymn’ is used in the title, but the lyrics of the actual song don’t appear to follow through on the religious reference?

Sleigh bells were originally used to warn other travelers of an oncoming sleigh and prevent a collision, but now that we no longer use sleigh bells, their primary association is with Christmas. Does that make sleigh bells a religious item/sound?

I cannot find written lyrics to Winter Swell Blues, and I am notoriously terrible at correctly hearing lyrics, so how do I know for sure?

I ended up with 25 songs that fall into two main categories: Love Songs and Seasonal Depression Songs. Why Is This Woman Such A Frigid Bitch Songs* show up more often than I’d like, but you gotta break up all the romance and winter blues somehow, right?

*They’re not quite that extreme, but when you listen to a bunch of them in a row it really jumps out.

#this is your brain on music #playlist #winter #linguistic geekery #winter music

[firefly124]

Grace and Love

So, I’ve been taking a class in American Sign Language (ASL).  We had our second-to-last class tonight and watched the first half of the movie Love Is Never Silent.  It’s a Depression-era movie that gives insight into Deaf culture through the eyes of a Deaf couple’s hearing daughter. 

At one point, there’s a scene in a church where the song “Amazing Grace” is being sung by some and signed by others.  My jaw nearly hit the floor when I saw that the sign being used for “grace” was the sign for “love.”  (Because, of course, there’s no way I could see that and not make it about Destiel.  Various plot bunnies started attempting to spawn.)

I did finally get home and hit up Lifeprint to see if that was the standard sign, and what I found was this discussion.  Short answer: no, that’s not the standard sign for grace in a religious context (which is closer to the sign for “sunlight”), but in the context of that particular song... it does make a kind of sense.  (Plus, it may have been the standard sign at the time, for all I know.)  (The aforementioned plot bunnies dissolved into mist.)

So now that whole discussion has me wondering how Eileen would sign “grace” as it’s used in the context of Supernatural. Would it look like strength or power?  Sunlight?  Probably not the kindness, compassion, or help variations.  How do fans who speak ASL sign it?  If you’re a Supernatural fan and you speak ASL, how do you sign it?

Most importantly, why the hell is this where my brain goes?

#linguistic geekery #asl #spn #destiel #of course #eileen leahy #these plot bunnies may have dissolved but they still want to spawn #even if they'd look very different than i initially thought #also i'm exhausted and this may make zero sense to anyone not currently sleep-deprived

[nursinggeek]

This post is prompted by this week’s episode of the podcast above, even though it’s not exactly responding to it.  By the way, if you’re not listening to the Wayward Podcast, what even are you doing with your life?  These women take on an extremely wide range of topics, and even when it starts out seemingly silly or superficial, they end up getting deep and philosophical and reflective.  And yet it’s also loads of fun.  I have yet to come up with an “elevator speech” to explain to people why they should listen, but you there?  You reading this?  Go check it out!  I think you’ll be glad you did.

This is not a pitch, I swear.

This week, they had a guest on, and part of the conversation became about self care and the importance of allowing oneself time, particularly alone time, when that is needed to recover from something (e.g. some of the intense emotions that can come up when at a con).  Great reminder.  I seriously need to do that.  Whenever I can pencil that kind of time in.  (Note to self: first, learn to say “no” to things, because time is, in fact, a limited resource.)

Later in the episode, they ended up using a very common colloquialism for “doing something that isn’t actually helpful” aka “slap a band-aid on it.”  I found myself bristling at that, which is a bit odd.  It’s a super-common expression, after all.  Why, today, was it rubbing me the wrong way?  And so, in true Wayward fashion, I had to poke that bristling with a stick to figure out why.

Part of it is just the fact that I’m a nurse, I think, so I look at band-aids a little differently.  A band-aid has a job, and it’s an important one: protect a wound so it has time to heal.  That’s... kind of exactly what they had just been talking about as an important thing to do.  But I don’t think anyone who hasn’t had to assess a wound and decide what kind of dressing it needs would make that connection.  That pairing, though, the phrase with the earlier conversation, is I think why I was reacting so strongly.

Now, you need to have cleaned the wound first, or it’ll get infected anyway.  It’s also only appropriate for certain wounds.  If the wound needs stitches, then a band-aid isn’t going to do the job.  If it’s a broken bone, a bandaid is completely useless.  And yes, TSwift, band-aids don’t fix bullet holes.  They’re for relatively small lacerations and abrasions (aka cuts and scrapes).  When it is the appropriate dressing, though, a band-aid is a much-needed layer of insulation and protection from the outside world while that wound heals.

And there is a point where band-aids need to come off, when they become the opposite of helpful, because the wound has reached the stage where what it needs is more oxygen.  The more I thought about this on my drive in to work, the more I realized a band-aid is actually an awesome metaphor for giving oneself alone time to recover from stuff that might not be devastating (in need of stitches, cast, therapy) but does need some time and space to let you get back to baseline.  And then getting back to your regular day-to-day (e.g. not isolating to the point of causing yourself harm or leaving the band-aid on too long so that the skin gets all macerated and gross).

So, with thanks and credit to Kim, Briana, and Scout, I’m going to be more mindful when I find myself wanting to say that some inadequate response is the equivalent of “slapping a band-aid on” something.  All it really needs is an object, in grammatical terms.  Now that I have that song stuck in my head, I’m thinking extending the phrase to “slapping a band-aid on a bullet hole” may be my new go-to.  And I may even push back a bit when I hear others (particularly nursing students or fellow nursing instructors) use the phrase without clarifying whether the thing getting a band-aid slapped on it would benefit from that or not.  Because sometimes, a band-aid is exactly what you need.

Thanks for making me think, ladies!

#linguistic geekery #nurblr #wayward podcast

[mariana-oconnor]

Things I love about the English Language

There are two words: Biannual and Biennial. They come from the same root, they look like they mean the same thing. But they do not. They mean similar things, but getting them mixed up could be confusing.

Biannual: twice a year

Biennial: every other year

#the English language is a hot mess #Linguistics geekery #Qd

[studyingforpsych]

Reference Guide to Tags

#mine - original posts, anything I’ve added to, etc

#tips - useful info to reference

#bujoinspo - does what it says on the tin!

#film - anything to do with film. Once you’re in this tag you can find specific ones to search, eg Italian cinema.

#research ideas - interesting threads to follow, or topics to practice being a pretentious academic with.

#essay topics - some crossover with research ideas, but specific to essay ideas.

#playlists - study music

#dark academia - aesthetic da delights

#languages - anything to do with learning foreign languages

#reading list - books to read!

#productivity - tips on how to be productive

#motivation - how to motivate myself, motivational quotes etc

#cv - everything to do with cvs, resumes, personal statements

#how to study - tips on study and revision methods

#linguistics - word geekery incl. me fawning over etymology

#illustration - illustrated pics and gifs

#onmydesk - the realm of extra beautiful desk setups

#notespo - all things notetaking - how to do it, layout examples, + more

#study space - my favourite pics of study spaces

#help I’m overwhelmed - how to get your shit together

#organisation - how to stay organised and on top of things

#this is mostly for my own use #because I save a ton of stuff in here and then can never find it! #mine #tips #bujoinspo #film #research ideas #essay topics #playlists #dark academia #languages #reading list #productivity #motivation #cv #how to study #linguistics #illustration #onmydesk #notespo #study space #help I’m overwhelmed #organisation

[stellaluna33]

A note on word usage:

"Whoa" = "hold on" "wait a minute," what you say to a horse when you want it to slow down or stop.

"Woe" = an archaic word for sorrow, sadness, despair.

So, the phrase "Woe is me!" is a dramatically old-timey way of saying that you're sad, distressed, and upset. You're not just upset... you're so full of despair that you ARE Despair! Nowadays it's usually used a bit sarcastically, when someone is feeling sorry for themselves.

But I say this because I've occasionally seen people using "Whoa is me" instead, but I think that would be something else, haha.

#Writing #Linguistic geekery

[linndechir]

I was lucky enough to get to rewatch Inglourious Basterds at a cinema yesterday (ohgod, on the one hand, yay Tarantino week, on the other hand, what is sleep, I am so tired) and it continues to be my single favourite movie ever. It's utterly perfect. And while I love every single scene in it and literally every single character, if you put a knife (you know what kinda knife) to my throat and forced me to pick one favourite thing ...  I'd probably still pick Hellstrom. I mean, I adore Landa as much as anyone, but jfc, Hellstrom. That smarmy, arrogant, smug piece of shit with the biggest balls of steel whose main joy in life seems to be being an evil, trolling bastard.

Dude has lunch with Goebbels, is relaxed like it's nothing, completely unflappable, just sips his champagne and doesn't even take his cigarette out of his mouth to talk. Walks into an obvious ambush, proceeds to pettily piss off the guy who's already killed a bunch of Gestapo officers before him, then amuses himself for the next twenty minutes with his own cleverness because, well, if you're gonna die, might as well make everyone uncomfortable for a while first, right? He must have known he was going to die the moment he saw Stiglitz's face, never mind Hicox's fuckup, and he's just so unfazed.

And the same guy jumps to his feet like a schoolboy the moment Landa walks in. Military discipline and all, but that's more than just that. Which is possibly the best indicator of just how fucking terrifying Landa is even to people who are on the same side as him. (Although I do still enjoy that one fic I wrote in which Hellstrom was fucking with Landa all along instead of the other way around. I mean, he's as good as getting people to underestimate him as he is at scaring the fuck out of them for the lulz.)

Basically I was just hit be a wave of nostalgia, don't mind my rambling, unless you want to talk to me about the movie. :D (Also, lol, can you imagine the fit present-day purity wankers would have about IB fandom?)

#gonna reblog some stuff in a sec if I find anything fun #also everything this movie does with language and multilingualism is just so glorious (haha) #but seriously #the language-switching #the choice of which scenes are subtitled and which aren't #the way various characters deliberately use language as an instrument of power #as an instrument to exclude or include #how different various scenes come across depending on which languages the audience speaks #how even within one language the movie plays with accents #while simultaneously playing around with so many linguistic movie stereotypes #(the wicked cultured Nazi - the multilingual British spy - the Americans who don't speak other languages) #I'd love this movie for its language geekery even if I didn't love it for everything else #IB

[kiralamouse]

Rereading Over Sea, Under Stone for the first time in decades (and I retain almost nothing from blowing through The Dark Is Rising books the first time, so it’s almost a first time read), and it’s interesting how my various geekeries disagree about the quality.

The linguistic and Arthurian and historical stuff seems to be absolutely stellar. The stellar - sorry, astronomical- stuff is abysmal. How can you use shadows as pointers if you don’t know the date you’re supposed to use them??? Heavenly bodies move, and shadows cast by them move right alongside, and that’s a big part of why stone circles were arranged that way in the first place. Argh.

#over sea under stone #nitpick #why

[butyouvealwaysbeenthecaretaker]

For the princely sum of one English pound, I got a 1970s briefcase filled with cassette tapes and books on how to speak Welsh and OH, dear reader, they are glorious!

The second page of the book is a series of pictures, with captions like:

Oes ci gennych chi? Oes, ci gan i.

Do you have a dog? Yes, I have a dog.

Now, as I’ve complained before, language tuition tends to delay introducing “hard” bits as long as possible, even though irregular morphology and syntax is typically the most commonly used part of any language (”to be”, for example); it means you have less experience with the more difficult bits, while reifying the fact these bits are “hard”.

Now, celtic languages typically do this funky thing with "possession”. Gennych and gan mean “with”, so the phrase literally translates as “There is a dog with me”. (My husband points out that this sort of phrasing might lead a community to feel very differently about ownership as an entire concept, the idea that the dog, the wife, the house isn’t “yours” but “with you”; but that’s a tangent.)

Anyway, this excellent course introduces you to this on page 2.

Additionally, in Welsh, prepositions (”with, on, to, by, for, under” etc) change their form depending on what person they are affecting:

With you - gennych chi

With me - gan i

Which as a linguist, is delicious.

Additionally, in Welsh, there isn’t a word for “yes”. You repeat the verb to confirm things:

Oes? Oes.

Is it? It is.

Additionally, Welsh doesn’t only have one way to say “it is”, but it depends on the context. I still haven’t wrapped my head around this but:

Branwen ydy hi

She is Branwen

(ydy, not oes)

And so, page two, the course is introducing you to this form “oes” that shows up in questions of this kind. Brill. Bendigedig!

& so many language learning guides get this wrong. So many. They start you off with easy rules, easy patterns, so that when you encounter these things they feel hard; and keep you away from the bits and bobs you need most urgently to master to begin doing anything with the language.

#good news feed #draig dw i #linguistic geekery #langblr

[liskantope]

“Journey through languages” project: the Uralic and Turkic families

I’m continuing on the “study one language a day” project I described here. Now to plot out my way through the Uralic family. (EDIT: I’m going to put the Turkic family in this document as well; they of course are separate families but in some ways I think they have a similar flavor.) Here is my preliminary map.

Uralic (Proto-Uralic)

   Finnic (Proto-Finnic)       Finnish*       Estonian*

   Samic (Proto-Samic)       Northern Sami (”Lappish”*)

   Mordvinic       Erzya*       Moksha

   Mari*

   Permic       Komi*       Udmurt*

   Ugric       Hungarian       Khanty (”Ostyak”*)       Mansi (Vogul)

   Samoyed       Nganasan       Nenets*

Turkic (Proto-Turkic)

   Oghuz (Southwestern)       Old Anatolian Turkish          Ottoman Turkish       Old Turkish          Turkish*       Azerbaijani*       Turkmen*

   Kipchak (Northwestern)       Kazakh*       Bashkir*       Tatar*

   Karluk (Southeastern)       Uzbek*       Uyghur       Salar       Äynu

   Siberian (Northeastern)       Yakut*       Tuvan       Khakas       Altai

   Khalaj

   Oghur       Chuvash*

#journey through the world's languages #linguistics #geekery #writing this down mainly for my own use

[walkmeblowbyblow]

I just got back from seeing the Tolkien movie (spoilers)

Honestly, I wasn’t all that enthusiastic about this film when I first heard about it, but I went to see it because of Tom GC. I think I was expecting a totally different type of film, but what I got was a lot better than that. It definitely exceeded my expectations.

This was kind of a perfect trifecta for me because I’ve been a Tolkien fan since I was 14 (so... more than half my life lol), I majored in linguistics in the uni (I think my choice to study languages was partly influenced by LOTR) and this film has quite a bit of language geekery going on. I’m also studying film at the moment and this was a pretty aesthetically pleasing movie, so there was a lot for me to enjoy.

Spoilery bits below

Tom hasn’t aged a day lmao, he looks exactly the same as in Dunkirk, so that was cool. He’s also got a decent amount of screentime, so yay!

I also think he’s in a navy uniform at one point in the film, and I just couldn’t help but think about all the headcanons in the Dunkirk fandom about Peter enlisting in the navy instead of RAF.

I expected them to be a lot more heavy-handed with the LOTR references, but I preferred this more subtle way they had done it.

Don’t know if anyone else picks up on this, but I thought they were hinting that Geoffrey was in love with Tolkien? I may have read too much into these couple of scenes. I asked my friend if she saw the scenes the same way and she said it was pretty obvious lol, so idk, maybe I just need everything spelled out for me 😂

#tom glynn carney #tolkien movie