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his-dark-materials-trilogy · 1 month ago

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The Golden Compass of Our Linguistic Intuitions

From hakoret-harishona . com

October 30, 2018

One of Philip Pullman's loveliest ideas in his book The Golden Compass (1995) is an instrument called "an alethiometer". The alethiometer resembles a golden clock or compass, but instead of the hours in the clock, there are 36 little pictures – an anchor, an hourglass, a beehive and so on – around its rim. The instrument has three hands that can be arranged to point at any of the pictures, and a fourth, longer hand that can swing freely. The image above is a photo of the alethiometer from the film version of The Golden Compass.

The book's protagonist, a girl called Lyra, receives such an instrument, and later on hears an explanation regarding the origin of its name. The word alethiometer is derived from aletheia (ἀλήθεια), "truth" in Ancient Greek; an alethiometer is thus a "truth-meter".

"All these pictures round the rim … they're symbols, and each one stands for a whole series of things. Take the anchor, there. The first meaning of that is hope, because hope holds you fast like an anchor so you don't give way. The second meaning is steadfastness. The third meaning is snag, or prevention. The fourth meaning is the sea. And so on, down to ten, twelve, maybe a never-ending series of meanings … I know some, but to read it fully I'd need the book. I seen the book and I know where it is, but I en't got it. … You got three hands you can control … and you use them to ask a question. By pointing to three symbols you can ask any question you can imagine, because you've got so many levels of each one. Once you got your question framed, the other needle swings round and points to more symbols that give you the answer.'

'But how does it know what level you're a-thinking of when you set the question?'

'Ah, by itself it don't. It only works if the questioner holds the levels in their mind.'"

Choosing a Meaning

As a rule, then, the readers of the alethiometer use books to look up the relevant meanings of the symbols. Lyra doesn't have the books, and in any case, she's an uneducated child. However, as she plays around with the alethiometer, she soon realizes that without any books, she can read it, ask questions and understand the answers. The longer she uses the alethiometer, the better she gets at it. When asked "how do you know where these meanings are?" she answers "I kind of see 'em. Or feel 'em rather, like climbing down a ladder at night, you put your foot down and there's another rung. Well, I put my mind down and there's another meaning, and I kind of sense what it is. Then I put 'em all together."

I recently read Pullman's new book, a prequel to The Golden Compass. And as I read it, I realized that the alethiometer can be seen as a metaphor to the process of speaking, comprehending and even acquiring language.

Words, like the symbols in the alethiometer, have many meanings, often related. Some of them have dozens of meanings – as we can see by considering a few examples, or looking them up in a good dictionary. When we speak (or write), we must choose words that have meanings suitable to what we wish to say; when we decipher what has been said to us (or what we read), we must understand, like the readers of the alethiometer, which of a word's meanings is now relevant. Does since mean "from that time on" or "because"? Does wave indicate the rising of water, the movement of a hand, an oscillating electric field, or something that football fans do at a stadium? The relevant meaning of a word, like the relevant meaning of one of the alethiometer's symbols, is chosen or made clear by the complete message.

The process of choosing the relevant meaning happens when we phrase a message – speak, or ask a question of the alethiometer – as well as when we decipher one. In the quotation below, Lyra explains how she's asking the alethiometer "what's Mrs. Coulter doing now" (Mrs. Coulter is Lyra's mother).

"Well, the Madonna is Mrs. Coulter, and I think my mother when I put the hand there; and the ant is busy – that's easy, that's the top meaning; and the hourglass has got time in its meanings, and partway down there's now, and I just fix my mind on it."

Similarly, when we speak, we choose words that express the message we wish to deliver, i.e. words that one of their meanings suits what we wish to say. In the sentence "I called her but the line was busy", for example, there are several words with multiple meanings; if I say this sentence, I must have chosen called because one of its meanings is "phoned", and busy because one of its meanings is "currently in use". Once the message is created, we hope the person who receives it will decipher it correctly – will recognize, from among the different meanings of each word (or combination of words), the meaning we are trying to convey; that they, as Lyra put it, put their foot down and find another rung, put their mind down and find another meaning, and then put 'em all together.

So far it makes sense. Pullman's alethiometer can be seen as a metaphor, beautifully and poetically made, for symbolic communication. In the terms used by the linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, every sign is composed of a signifier and a signified; the alethiometer's symbols, like words in a language, are signifiers, and each one of them can, and indeed does, stand for several signified objects. Identifying the right meaning, in human communication as well as in reading the alethiometer, is a task that requires thought and an act of choosing.

How Many Levels? Perhaps a Never-Ending Series: Meanings, Register, Connotation, Context

Using words, however, entails much more than choosing one of several possible meanings. Words have not only meanings, but also a register: the words child and kid have a common meaning, but one is much less formal than the other. Words have not only a denotation, a primary and literal meaning, but also a connotation – the cultural and emotional associations that they carry with them; thin and slender have a similar meaning, but thin is basically neutral whereas slender has a positive connotation. Some words are commonly used in certain contexts, which can be very specific. Ginger is used to indicate a reddish color, but only for hair or fur (we wouldn't usually say "a ginger sunset"). Blonde is used even more specifically – only for hair: we say "a ginger cat", but we don't normally say "a blonde cat".

All these characteristics of words and their usage – the different meanings, the register, the connotations and the typical context – are somewhat similar to the "levels of meaning" in Pullman's alethiometer. There is the “first level” mentioned by Lyra, the level of the most common meaning, which will probably be the first meaning we learn as we acquire the language; but every word has multiple layers. This is most easily felt when someone uses a word in an unusual context or manner, or misinterprets a word when it is used to indicate a less common meaning. These kinds of mistakes are typical of non-native speakers – people who learned this particular language as second or third language, but have a different language as their native tongue.

The Alethiometer as a Mother Tongue

We thus reach another layer in Pullman's lovely metaphor. Most of the alethiometer's readers are scholars, meaning – adults. To them, using the alethiometer is a skill that requires learning, from books or from another scholar, and they need a book detailing the meanings of the symbols in order to phrase questions and comprehend the answers they receive. The child Lyra, on the other hand, acquires the ability to communicate with the alethiometer without requiring a book or a teacher. She toys with the alethiometer, looks at the pictures, moves the hands and follows the movement of the needle, and soon intuitively comprehends the meanings of the symbols: "I kind of see 'em. Or feel 'em rather". Her communication with the alethiometer is so fast and intuitive that this ability becomes a huge asset to her side in the war described in the book: by the time the enemy's adult reader has asked a question and deciphered the answer, her side has gained precious hours.

Does this difference remind you of something? I was reminded of the difference between mother-tongue and second-language acquisition. Children acquire their mother tongue easily and naturally, with no need for formal teaching or a dictionary. All it takes is for people to use it in their presence (and later – to talk to them). Adults, as a rule, require formal teaching. Even then, and after many years of practice, the second language is still a second language, and its deeper levels might still be missing, resulting in misunderstandings or peculiar phrasings.

Towards the conclusion of His Dark Materials trilogy, of which The Golden Compass is the first volume, Lyra has grown from a child to a young woman, and is horrified to realize that she has lost her ability to read the alethiometer. How did this happen? An angel explains to her that her ability to read the alethiometer has been given to her "by grace", and is now gone. Pullman does not explicitly indicate Lyra's growing up as the reason for this loss of grace, the ability to read the alethiometer intuitively; but she's told she can re-learn it "by work" – patiently, formally, with the use of books, and she decides to do so.

All of us, like Lyra, enjoy a period of grace in our childhood. One in which we can acquire a language effortlessly, just by hearing it. All of us, like Lyra, lose this ability as we grow up. Yet like Lyra, we can still learn a new language, and delve deeper and deeper into it, with hard work, patience and books.

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tennessoui · 2 months ago

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Kit, I found out that "flying a kite" means "to masturbate" in Thai. Now I imagine Anakin who learns all the dirty words and phrases in other languages to flirt and then you have Obi-wan who is a linguistic master and can't believe that this guy thinks his bad flirting would work. Thankfully he is super hot and Obi-wan will show him how to flirt. 😏

lmao i love this so im taking this dynamic and applying it to recent experiences and medias i have consumed via reading and watching tv

so fantasy au where obi-wan is an innkeeper at a busy traveling junction and anakin is a young explorer/hero who stops in incredibly frequently given how much of his time he spends off in foreign lands, battling dragons and finding treasure or whatever it is young heroes get up to these days

anakin's been visiting obi-wan's inn since before he could drink there and definitely since before he had enough gold to pay for a bed (it all started actually when obi-wan found a very pathetic baby!anakin out in the rain and let him stay in his room for free for a few nights until a traveling band of knights came through and obi-wan foisted the baby off onto them)

but it's only been recently that anakin's been...well. flirting with obi-wan. like. all the time. every time he stops in, he's picked up a new phrase or line to try on the bartender. obi-wan suffers through it genially, as it's perfectly natural for anakin to want to test out these ridiculous pick-up lines on someone he isn't really interested in before trying them out on a fair maiden or something. obi-wan even helpfully corrects anakin's pronunciation a few times, as before he was an innkeeper, he was a bit of a traveler himself. and to do this job, it's helpful to know a lot of languages. especially the dirty words as that's a bit of currency around this part of town in itself.

meanwhile anakin is going insane trying to get obi-wan, the distant but oh so dear and beautiful and kind innkeeper who rescued him from poverty and showed him compassion when he was just a child, to sleep with him lol he will keep finding new words and ways to flirt with the man until he gets it right and obi-wan falls in love with him back, etc etc

#asks #obikin #kit's silly lil aus #i imagine what finally works is that obi-wan is witness to some other patron at the bar in his inn flirting with anakin #and anakin out of boredom or desperation uses one of his lines on the maiden #and obi-wan is like. wait. i don't like that. in fact - i hate it.#and then he starts realizing how super hot anakin has become in the last few years #also anakin is still as intense and ridiculous as ever #desperately wants to look after and protect obi-wan who needs neither of these things #as he is an innkeeper now and his life is not ever in danger #and he can handle himself #anakin comes into town and finds out that another inn has set up business basically across the street from obi-wan #and he's like!!!#how awful!!! do you want me to burn it down. i will burn it down for you if youre worried about it stealing your business.#and obi-wan is like pls put away the fire spell #anyway kit wants to be an innkeeper rn so ofc theres an au involving innkeeping lmaooooo

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liubovricci · 3 months ago

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About Astarion, his trauma, why I relate to him so much, why he has become the most special character I know. But mostly this text is about my own trauma.

Please ensure you are an adult and prepared to engage with sensitive topic of abuse (sexual and otherwise).

I apologize for any linguistic errors — English is not my first language.

If you read my other posts or view my future art here, you will know that Yara (my Tav) also had a traumatic, devastating, crushing past. That's because I partially infused her backstory with events from my own life — adapted to the DnD universe, but the core truth remains. Astarion and Yara's shared story is my way of coping with my own trauma. Every dialog with Astarion in the game, every art I make, every text I write is my way of reliving my own traumatic past. When I started immersing myself in Astarion's story, it knocked the air out of me. My perception of the world and, well, of myself, changed forever. The pain, tears, grief, compassion, relief, love and healing that I feel every time I think about him made me realize that even if I, the victim of violence, am broken and ruined, I am still not a bad person. I am still have value. I am still myself. I'm not to blame for what happened, just as Astarion is not to blame for what happened to him. I saw a lot of opinions that he was a 'bad person', a 'corrupt magistrate', 'power-hungry' even before Cazador. To those people: Go to hell. You have no idea how much such an irreparable trauma changes people. No one is born cruel and cynical. We're molded that way – no, shattered – by those who harm us. I was 10 when it all started. I was a child and I was ruined. Just as Astarion couldn't defy Cazador, I couldn't resist my stepfather. Not because he had power over me, as a creator has power over his spawn, obviously. But because I was a child. And I was terrified of him. Of course, he didn't carve any scars on my body, but I suffered a lot of pain (in every sense) in those three years that I was enslaved. Yes, I call it 'enslavement' because at that time neither my body, nor my life, nor my childhood belonged to me. I still sometimes feel that even my soul does not belong to me, but I know that this is not true. I won't go into details, but you can probably guess what this monster did to me. I can still hear his voice and feel his hands. I still have nightmares about those times, even though almost 18 years have passed since then.

Years of therapy couldn't fix it, but Baldur's Gate 3 did. Astarion did. That's why you won't see Ascended Astarion here (perhaps only as an assumption or comparison). My love for the spawn is boundless and I have many different feelings for him (from myself as well, but mostly it is reflected through Yara's interaction with him). From aching tenderness and the urge to make him happy (and myself through it), to obsessive love and carnal desire. Because a). we are all adults; b). survivors reclaim their sexuality. My art, writing, and thoughts deal with all aspects of relationships, partnerships, and love between two broken, slightly twisted, but sincere souls.

#astarion #art #bg3 #trauma #spawn astarion

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spinningalbinoturtle · 1 year ago

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Social Media headcanons

Aragorn

Has an official Instagram and Facebook accounts as a head of state. He also has a private account that his friends follow him on: strideranger alternatively strangerranger or rangerdanger on tiktok. His insta consists solely of pictures of his horse, Arwen and occasionally videos of cool plants or wildlife. He captions thing like an old man. His Tiktok is tracking tutorials and again nature videos. He hates twitter and isn’t on it.

Legolas

All the social medias his names include princeofmirkwood, andmybow, and legolocks. Has over a million followers in insta, tiktok and twitter. He posts lots of glammy photos of himself in the woods and tutorials of how to keep your hair and makeup intact in the battlefield. He also edits slow mows of himself shooting orcs. Doesn’t have Facebook because he claims its “for old people” despite being the second oldest member of the fellowship Posts his random thoughts in twitter and gets like thousands of retweets every time

Gimli

anmyaxe, lordofglitteringcaves, gimlet, are some of his names. Posts angry rants on twitter and faceboo. Regularly gets into internet fights with trolls. Posts videos on tiktok of his various stone projects and his workout routine (the latter gets a lot of views) Everyone loses it when he and Legolas team up for a “elf braid vs dwarf braid” youtube video. Oh yes he also has a very popular youtube channel where he explains how to of various craft trades.

Pippin

Has made foolofatook his name for everything and also a hashtag. Huge on twitter and twitch, he also has insta and tiktok and a youtube channel with Merry. Said Youtube is very popular and involves pranks, media reviews, and him and Merry doing stupid shit

Merry

Does a lot of work on the channel with Pippin. Also has a twitch and twitter. Insta king people think he’s really cool. He is the kind of person who shares his progress on candy crush and duolingo. Tried to make merrychristmas his username but it was taken and so went with theweedprofessor. His tiktok is more popular than Pippin’s but Pippin’s twitter is more popular

Sam

Not huge on social media mostly got it because his friends peer pressured him into it. Has facebook and always says happy birthday to people on it but gets annoyed by all the politics. His instagram is samnotsowise alternatively gardeningamgee. Its super wholesome, lots of pictures of his plants and pets and him and Frodo. Sometimes he’ll post a poem

Frodo

Frodo would be on tumblr tho. Username is bagginit on insta and frodoninefingers on twitter which he never uses. His tumblr is ringringhello. He also has insta but rarely posts anything except occasionally a picture of Sam. He has a linguistics Youtube channel where he talks about elvish history and language. Actually the most political on social media this is because Frodo has a very strong moral compass and wants to get the word out about important issues.

Boromir

He’s a twitch streamer I’m sorry. He also has twitter at hornofgondor. Likes everyone of Merry and Pippin’s videos and posts and reposts them with captions like “love these guys!!!” Mostly shares memes on twitter and facebook very much dad vibes

Gandalf

Posts weird shit that no one understands on facebook and instagram at thegreywizard

Bilbo

He has facebook and likes to tag his relatives in things that he knows will annoy them. Other than that he just posts memories of Frodo like the proud parent he is Like every birthday he’ll post something really sweet and sappy like “so proud of the young man he’s become”

Elrond

He gets in trouble on twitter sometimes but not nearly as much as Thranduil

Faramir

Insta and tiktok at stewardstew. Mostly posts pics of his cats. Reposts everything Eowyn posts. Likes to uplift his friends. Answers citizen questions on official gondor accounts very warmly. Also shares memes

Eowyn

She has a podcast and everyone has been a guest at some point. She highlights inequalities in middle earth. Lots of reposts of feminist events and programs. Badass pics of her with her sword on her insta and tiktok. She does lots of tiktok challenges. Her username is iamnoman on tiktok and eowinner on instagram

Arwen

Like legolas is all over insta posts lots of glammy photos in the woods as well. But she also shares a lot of Eowyn’s posts. Posts lots of inspirational quotes and stuff. Is really into yoga and posts about that as well. Her name on all social medias is evenstarwen

#lotr #frodo baggins #sam gamgee #aragorn #eowyn #merry brandybuck #legolas #pippin took #boromir #gimli #gandalf #samfro #lotr headcanons #faramir #arwen undomiel #bilbo baggins

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synticity · 2 months ago

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any chance you have any recommendations for entry point resources for learning about early childhood developmental linguistics?

Sorry, I've been sitting on this ask for aaaaages. Work got busy lol. Anyways, this is far enough outside my field that I'm also going to give some general pointers on places to start finding information in linguistics on any given topic.

Language and Linguistics Compass is a journal that publishes a lot of fantastic review articles, which summarize previous research on a topic. Here's an LLC article on how hearing kids perceive and learn from phonetic input that they hear.

Academic presses like Oxford, Cambridge, and Wiley often publish what they call "handbooks" on topics where each chapter is written by a different expert in the field who reviews the previous research. For example, there's the Wiley Handbook of Child Language, and there's also the Cambridge Handbook of Child Language. I recommend not trying to sit and read a whole handbook, but approaching each chapter as if it was a standalone article.

Sometimes introductory textbooks can be a good place to start! I really like Essentials of Linguistics because it's free, open access, and online. Their chapter on Child Language Acquisition is a great overview of the research, and can help you choose where you want to go next to read more deeply.

If there's an article that's not open access, I recommend asking your nearest college student or grad student friend to see if they can get access through their university library's online sign-on.

You're also asking about a very big field with a lot of research, so don't feel like you have to get through everything I link here - just pick a couple things and start reading slowly. If you can get through an article or two every month, that's awesome! This can be a fun excuse to organize a reading club with friends/classmates/colleagues, and discussing stuff as you read will help you learn and retain stuff, too.

Hope that helps!

#3 papers to read #linguistics #language #child language #child development #language acquisition #language learning #langblr

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bad4amficideas · 7 months ago

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I think my (the) problem with The Jedi Order is the word "attachment", not the concept. Are they being politically correct? Or is it because I'm not English and I'm translating literally and losing a "sub"meaning (not invented exclusively for SW universe, I mean)?

In the movies, in my language, it is said by Anakin, no less, that Jedi are "encouraged to love." Kanan says that you have to connect with others and the world to use the force and be a good jedi. Kindness and compassion are ways to show love to strangers.

Also I'm a nurse, so everytime I think in attachment I think in the Grief Stages. The problem isn't the affection. It's letting it go (a sign of love according to many btw). Is there no other way to say this in English?

Possessiveness? Exclusivity? Patent?

Help me Star Wars fandom, you're my only hope...

I accept linguists too.

#jedi order #jedi culture #star wars #star wars fandom #kanan is the jedi everyone should aspire to be #kanan jarrus stan

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anunkindncss · 2 months ago

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🗺️ PERMANENT STARTER CALL 📚 for Milo Thatch (Kit Connor / Disney / Semi-Active) A study in: ancient languages, reluctant bravery, and the fire of quiet obsession.

By liking or commenting on this post, you’re giving me permission to:

➤ Tag you in starters — late-night translations, impromptu history lessons, or wild theories muttered over scattered scrolls and broken relics ➤ Send headcanons, linguistic rambles, half-mad scribbles from his journals, and metaphors pulled straight from Plato and the stars ➤ Build dynamics like: “I didn’t expect to like you,” academic rivalries turned camaraderie, the scholar and the skeptic, or “I never believed in magic until I met you” ➤ Tag you in things that feel like Milo: ink-stained fingertips, cracked glasses, book pages turned down at all the wrong (or right) places ➤ Explore themes of discovery, legacy, unspoken courage, and the cost of chasing what others call impossible ➤ Develop ships (romantic, platonic, beautifully complicated) that bloom slowly — in quiet moments between adventure and awe, truth and myth ➤ Let our muses dive into forgotten worlds, argue over ancient ethics, whisper secrets under foreign stars, or simply find meaning in the ruins

Milo Thatch won’t ever be the loudest voice in the room. But he will be the one still there when everyone else has given up — still searching, still hoping, still believing there's more to this world than we've dared to understand.

If your muse needs someone who listens, learns, and will follow the map even when it ends in blank space — he’s already packed the compass.

#permanent starter call;#muse: milo thatch;#adieu to the queue;

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askgildaseniors · 9 months ago

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youtube

Nikita Privalov reflects on his amazing path of overcoming linguistic and social acceptability barriers as a youngster. He describes his experience in primary school when he was placed in an ESL (English as a Second Language) program with other children who struggled with English. This atmosphere affected Nikita's early connections, as he connected with others who faced similar difficulties learning a new language. His early experiences with being taunted and mocked had an important part in his growth, establishing resilience that has lasted into adulthood and serves as a source of inspiration for him.

Nikita was ridiculed as a youngster, which, while tough, eventually contributed to his character strength. Nikita learned the hard reality of being different after being called "Mr. Toothpick" and "Mr. Sweet Scrambled Eggs" on several occasions. Instead of allowing these events to break him, Nikita turned them into a source of strength and drive. This struggle taught him the value of true relationships in which he was recognized rather than tolerated, and his tale has inspired others who have heard it.

Nikita's story emphasizes the significance of finding and keeping individuals who genuinely respect and encourage you. After being mistreated, Nikita values relationships with those who truly make him feel appreciated. This perspective has instilled in him a strong desire to make people happy, which is most likely a result of his craving for acceptance and compassion throughout his early years. His dedication to sharing joy is inspiring and motivating, reflecting his desire to foster great relationships.

Nikita's tale is one of change and resilience, focusing on how early language and social acceptability challenges influenced his attitude on life. His experiences in the ESL program and the mocking he received increased his determination and instilled in him a drive to convey joy and optimism to others. This narrative emphasizes the importance of early experiences in personal development and the lasting worth of supporting connections, offering inspiration and encouragement to people experiencing similar circumstances.

#Youtube

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tixdixl · 6 months ago

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I keep seeing folks talk about what Femme Vil would be like, and it really hammers home to me just how much people are missing out on because of the localization. And honestly, with absolutely 0 shade to the folks who love those headcanons- cause they are FASCINATING headcanons to me- it makes me genuinely heartbroken to see it. It makes me genuinely heartbroken to know how much of Vil's intersectionality is lost because the English localization erased her gender expression.

She... is.... femme. She's canonically trans in the Japanese. Whether she is transfemme or some form of gender neutral is unfortunately not explicitly stated. However, in the Japanese, her self-identifying language and her explicitly feminine mannerisms exemplify how she views herself. The way that other characters speak of her is also extremely telling about how the audience is supposed to see her.

Speaking from a language perspective, Vil uses the female only "I" pronoun あたし [atashi] whenever she speaks, would be approximated to "she/her" in the English.

Vil uses either feminine or strictly gender neutral connotated grammar patterns, which are commonly used in anime/manga to notate levels of formality, rudeness, as well as self identifying information about the character. You can also see these patterns used subtly in real life conversations in Japan, though often difficult to actually catch in conversation. (There is a whole conversation about this and how it is intertwined with formality and gender-roles/expectations but that's not the point of this ramble.)

Vil also uses predominantly feminine connotated intonation patterns, often stereotyped and used to identify alluring femme tropes in anime. Again, while sometimes heard in real conversations, you are more likely to hear the explicit feminitity in certain circumstances and/or in media.

Not to mention, most of the other characters refer to her only by name or strictly with gender neutrality. And because of the behind closed doors mentality that Japanese folks have, along with the sense of 建前 [tatemae] that is displayed between Vil and the other characters, it makes total sense why the other characters say nothing directly, but linguistically acknowledge that there is some form of discrepancy between Vil being at an all boys school, and Vil using the Japanese equivalent of "she/her". Because of their omoiyari [思いやり] - literally "compassion" but culturally is the deliberate action to notice and consider others, it makes sense that at the bare minimum, they would refer to her with that modicum of formality and respect.

We could also have a very real conversation as to why she wears a women's kimono in the New Year's event; why she wears a woman's cut suit in Tapis Rouge; why she deliberately uses makeup and hairstyles that in Japan read as feminine or "female"- especially in a society that accepts post-transitioned Transness as it conforms with the overarching collectivist society; in a society that accepts those changes so long as they are done behind closed doors and without disruption. And this is done in a society that believes heavily that the exterior is a direct reflection of the interior - the house/clothes are a representation of the person who inhabits them. So her choices in her appearance are a direct representation of who she wants to be, who she is becoming, and how she wants others to perceive her.

The audience is left to draw conclusions about Vil's sense of self and her incredibly strong connection to feminity, beyond strictly her connection to the Evil Queen. And as I've mentioned in a previous post, it really adds a layer of intersectionality to the multi-layered tension and cultural conflict between her and Epel.

Idk... I just think the English absolutely ignoring her joseiteki [女性的]- female-like gender expression, her rashii - specifically onnarashii [女らしい], or lady-like mannerisms, and her sociolinguistic choices, as well as how they impact her dynamics with the other characters results in a loss of understanding of her as a character and a loss of depth to the story in my opinion.

For those of you who are genuinely interested in the conversation of Transness in Japanese media, how it's presented, and how its been deliberately and historically erased in Western localizations, this extremely well-informed video essay is a phenomenal place to start:

youtube

This is a topic that is very near and dear to my heart as someone who studied Japanese Anthropolgy and taught various courses on Gender and Language in higher education. The cross-cultural divide here is something that I am so so passionate about, and anyone who knows me knows that I could absolutely rabbit hole on the topic for hours with credible resources and citations. It's also something that I first-hand experienced a bit of while I was in Japan. And because of that, as much as I know its a risk to share these thoughts publically, I do feel like it is an important discussion to have.

#seris talks #vil schoenheit #media analysis #linguistic analysis #sociolinguistics #lavender linguistics #lavender linguistics in media #L2 Japanese learning #do i know better than to post my opinions online? sure #but i also know my friends are tired of hearing me rant in their dms #my heart breaks for what is lost in translation #because Vil isnt just a queen. she's a trans goddess #and i genuinely wonder how different fans understandings would be about her if they saw her joseiteki #i wonder how it would be different if they saw her rashii for what the authors intended it to be #twst book 5 #twst tapis rouge #twst new years #Youtube

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yersina · 2 years ago

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a linguist plays chants of sennaar (pt 3)

[pt 1] [pt 2] [x] [pt 4] [pt 5]

onwards and upwards!

disclaimer: can't promise that i'll have any insights that a layperson wouldn't have, this is kinda just me thinking through the grammar of the language out loud haha.

this post covers the third language and will contain spoilers! it also assumes that you know what all of the symbols mean already.

have a huge soft spot for this language the most out of all of them haha. again, missed part of the gameplay for the dictionary—i couldn’t find the last fruit to feed the monkey lmao. also, i had the game open while writing this post this time, so more screenshots, yay!

visually, i'd say that this compares to arabic script or devanagari, especially with the line that runs through all of the characters, but it's still a logographic language. culturally/artistically, i think it's meant to represent how flow-y and artistic the bards are haha. i also remember seeing something once about the thai script (which this is not entirely dissimilar to) and how it was originally written on organic matter (eg leaves, bark, etc idk) and needed to have loops in order to work against the grain of the leaves. i haven’t done my due diligence and confirmed that in any historical or anthropological context yet, but it seems plausible to me?? the bards do seem to have a more tropical environment, tho again it’s likely just an artistic decision haha

once again, in terms of visual patterns in the words, we can see that a verb is indicated by a dot in the top right hand corner. the people words ("warrior", "bard", "you", "i/me") seem to all have a swoopy symbol that crosses the horizontal line, which is interesting. the only exception is "idiot", which might be because it's primarily functions as an adjective. locative nouns, including the cardinal directions, have a dot below the line. the only noun that includes a dot is “compass”, which might be a reflection of its connection to location? as in it contains locations, or navigates to locations? i’m uncertain. interestingly, the only non-person nouns that touch the horizontal line are “monster” and “greeting”, which might also be indicative of the senses of those words—if we recategorize “monster” with the people-words and “greeting” with the verbs, then we don’t have any outliers. however, this would include a word without a dot in the verb category. perhaps at some point in the evolution of the bard’s language, “greeting” lost its verb features? again, i’m unsure and possibly reading too far into it lmao.

this is our first OSV (object subject verb) language! ngl, i was annoyed by the way the game chose to translate the meaning into english—there are plenty of verb-final languages out there irl, no need to be so literal with the translation lol. amusingly, we see this being the most apparent when translating between the bards’ language (which is OSV and has plural marker suffixes) and the warriors’ language (which is SVO and has plural marker prefixes). absolutely none of the characters line up w each other lmao

(we can also see from this exchange that there’s no distinction between “go/pass” (i.e, from here to there) and “come” (from there to here), which is not something that i specifically noted before. interesting! again, i assume this is due to the capacity of these languages being limited.)

this is also our first possible (possible) indication of punctuation, with “question”. i’ve seen some people directly translate the “question” word as <¿?> (the punctuation marks), which i’m hesitant to do, especially considering that there’s no other evidence of punctuation in any of the languages. irl, japanese (and other languages) has a question word <か>, which indicates orally that something is a question—the bards’ language could easily have something similar.

we also see this mirrored in “not” in terms of grammatical structure, which probably indicates something about how auxiliary verbs are used/placed in this language (even tho “not” isn’t a verb—i’m sure there’s a linguistic category that includes the both of them but it escapes me rn). someone else on tumblr called this negative concord, and julia on an sss stream likened it to the french “ne pas”, and yes that is what this is, but it’s also… a little different?? my academic interest in linguistics when i was in school lay more in socio-cultural contexts than syntax so this is definitely NOT my area of expertise at all, so take what i say here with a large hunk of salt:

after some very brief research, it seems that negation can either take place at the sentence-level (e.g., through verbs like “can’t” or “won’t”) or through negative words (e.g., “nobody”, “nowhere��). so, a sentence like “i don’t go nowhere” (meaning “i don’t go anywhere”) achieves double negation through negating once at the sentence-level and once at the word-level. standard english doesn’t have negative concord, but some dialects do. different languages treat multiple negation differently; sometimes it conveys a slightly different meaning (from wikipedia: “you’re not unattractive” vs “you’re attractive”) and sometimes it intensifies the negation (also from wikipedia: “i haven’t never owed nothing to no one”).

the thing that i’m struggling with in the bard’s language is that the negation isn’t… attached to anything??? it’s not affixed to a verb or a noun, so really it’s not conveying negation of a particular thing, it’s negation of the whole sentence….???? which (in my mind) isn’t… really… negative concord. if that makes sense. like sure, there’s two symbols of it at both ends of the sentence, but it’s more indicative of the meaning of the sentence as a whole, rather than conveying smth abt a specific word. like it's not as if both of them mean "no" or each of them are adding meaning in a particular way. so. that’s why i’m more inclined to take it as a general grammatical feature of the language, along with “question”, and say that this is just how the language treats auxiliary/modal/whatever words??? it’s not as if we have other evidence. 😐

another option could be that negation w a noun takes places as a prefix (e.g., "not-warrior") and negation w a verb takes place as a suffix (e.g., "be-not"), so because of the OSV word order, you end up with something like ("not-warrior you be-not" or "a warrior, you're not").

HOWEVER. we do see some instances of the game's internal translation of some sentences conveying a slightly different meaning than a pure ('pure') negation, which makes figuring out the syntactic structure of this language kinda difficult.

if we take each of the "not" words as a negation, we'd end up with "not-hammer i carry-not", which is not "a hammer, i miss" lol. (to demonstrate w an english equivalent example: "i ain't no warrior" vs "i don't carry no hammer"). if you're a speaker of a negative concord language/dialect, pls pls feel free to correct me here; my intuition's going to be slightly off because i haven't studied any languages where this would be relevant. I think it could work, probably, but again, it's really difficult to say anything concrete without more examples. given its congruence with the "can you get a hammer" example, though, i really am inclined to say that this is just a grammar thing, not a negative concord thing (even tho negative concord IS a grammar thing—you get my drift).

questions that remain unanswered: - does the fact that "question" is two dots relate to the presence of dots in the verbs and locative nouns?

#sina rambles #sina plays chants of sennaar #chants of sennaar #linguistics #language #aka sina goes on a tangent about negation for five paragraphs

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veal-exe · 1 month ago

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people were nitpicking your language in a server I'm in where we discuss trans rights and I was sitting on my hands trying not to lash out because you were using the language correctly they were just uncomfortable because it wasn't perfect or how they would have used it!!! I did point out that there was nothing actually wrong with what you were saying and that got them to back off but like. AUGH. I just want you to know that as someone who has been ripped to shreds for simple miswordings due to autism and related difficulties, even though english is my first language, you have people in your corner!!!!!!!!

I genuinely appreciate this message, more than I think I can fully express. I try to operate under the assumption that no one online has my back (not even my friends, because they are not my attack dogs), not because I think people are cruel, but because I know I can’t and shouldn’t rely on others to defend me. My words and actions are my own, and in the end, it’s on me to stand by them or stand up for them.

But.

It does not feel good.

It never feels good. And in a space where I’m already weighing every word, trying to make myself as clear as I can across cultural and linguistic gaps, it does carry real weight when someone takes the time to say, “I saw what they were doing, and I stood up for you.”

That matters.

That stays with me.

Thank you.

Because this kind of language policing, especially in conversations about lived oppression, rarely comes from a place of curiosity or care. More often, it’s a performance of correctness, a desire to be seen as more precise, more aligned, more ideologically clean. And that instinct can lead people to treat the language of others as suspect or even dangerous simply because it’s not exactly what they would have said. Which becomes even more frustrating when the language in question isn’t incorrect, it’s just not theirs.

It’s exhausting. Especially when, as you pointed out, this kind of behavior disproportionately targets people with language processing differences, or people for whom English is not a first language (or a second or a third). That scrutiny isn’t neutral. It’s not just about "clarity." It’s about power, about who is allowed to speak messily, passionately, imperfectly, and still be treated as worthy of being listened to.

And Anon, I hope your friends can eventually take a step back and ask themselves: Why are they comfortable talking behind the back of someone who was speaking about their own oppression? Why are they comfortable nitpicking the phrasing of someone they know does not come from an English-speaking background?

(I know I mention this constantly, but it's relevant here: English is my fourth language. That’s not a side note, it’s the context.)

I hope they ask themselves whether this is what they believe solidarity, praxis, and compassion look like. Or whether, in truth, they’re using the idea of ideological purity as a justification for exclusionary behavior, gatekeeping cloaked in progressive language. Oppression disguised as “precision.” Xenophobia in the shape of a grammar lesson.

I’m not always going to say everything perfectly. I probably never will. Sometimes it's so exhausting that frankly I don't even try because I have to choose between silence or saying something important imperfectly. But if people choose to treat my imperfect English as more important than the actual content of what I’m saying, I have to wonder, did they ever agree with the core point at all?

Thank you again, truly. You didn’t have to say anything. But you did. And it means the world.

#Ask

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superlinguo · 2 years ago

Text

New Open Access Publication: Communicating about linguistics using lingcomm-driven evidence: Lingthusiasm podcast as a case study

Films have behind-the-scenes commentary tracks, Lingthusiasm now has a behind-the-scenes research article (a DOI rather than a DVD).

This new Open Access article in Language and Linguistics Compass is an introduction to a variety of evidence-based practice from linguistics, education, and psychology we have drawn upon and further developed in the first seven years of creating Lingthusiasm. We introduce you to a lot of the ways we think about framing, jargon, metaphor and putting feeling into our favourite linguistics topics. We argue that this is not just the basis of our work on the podcast, but a way of formalising the contribution that lingcomm (linguistics communication) can make to the larger field of scicomm (science communication). We also share some results from our 2022 listener survey that illustrate how our audience is receptive to the work we're doing.

We hope that it provides a bit of an insight into how we do what we do, but also inspires other linguists to communication their research - whether that's in a 3 minute thesis competition, a blog post for your institution, or "trying out [lingcomm] explanations during relevant, natural occasions in local communities" (i.e., chatting with friends and family, which is where we come up with some of our best episode ideas!).

Abstract

Communicating linguistics to broader audiences (lingcomm) can be achieved most effectively by drawing on insights from across the fields of linguistics, science communication (scicomm), pedagogy and psychology. In this article we provide an overview of work that examines lingcomm as a specific practice. We also give an overview of the Lingthusiasm podcast, and discuss four major ways that we incorporate effective communications methodologies from a range of literature in the production of episodes. First, we discuss how we frame topics and take a particular stance towards linguistic attitudes, second, we discuss how we introduce linguistic terminology and manage audience cognitive load, third, we discuss the role of metaphor in effective communication of abstract concepts, and fourth, we discuss the affective tools of humour and awe in connecting audiences with linguistic concepts. We also discuss a 2022 survey of Lingthusiasm listeners, which highlights how the audience responds to our design choices. In providing this summary, we also advocate for lingcomm as a theoretically-driven area of linguistic expertise, and a particularly effective forum for the application of linguistics.

Citation

Gawne, L., & McCulloch, G. (2023). ‘Communicating about linguistics using lingcomm-driven evidence: Lingthusiasm podcast as a case study’, Language and Linguistics Compass, 17/5: e12499. DOI: 10.1111/lnc3.12499 [OA publication]