#online linguist

[meddwlyngymraeg]

If anyone wants any listening practise or to just appreciate some cool Welsh rap, Sage Todz is on IG dropping bars (with transcripts) so have fun! Also Todz is so cool.

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[solradguy]

Do you think one could attain decent-ish ability to read Japanese just by studying kanji? Specifically asking because the kanji learnin' service "wanikani" is the single Japanese resource that works best with my brain, but then there are separate resources for grammar and vocab and and and.....

You will get REAAAALLLLLYYY far knowing only the kanji but you're going to have to know hiragana and katakana at some point too. Tofugu, the company that did Wanikani, has two mnemonics-based guides for the kana that are basically Wanikani Lite. They're how I learned the kana and I swear by them.

Here's hiragana: https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-hiragana/

And katakana: https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-katakana/

Hiragana are especially vital to learning kanji; you won't be able to use 99% of Japanese-English dictionaries without them. BUT they're pretty easy and the rules for using them are consistent. You won't have to remember any irregular exceptions for any of them.

I haven't tried it yet, but I've heard really good things about the Crystal Hunters manga series as a fun/low stress way to learning Japanese vocab and grammar. It eases the reader into new concepts and then repeats them throughout the chapter so you remember them. There are free vocab and study guides/lists for each chapter too. Might be worth checking out once you get some kanji and the kana under your belt? The first book is also free.

Official site: https://crystalhuntersmanga.com/

Good luck!!

[touchlikethesun]

one fun little thing about linguistics is that the stages speakers go through during their lives and the stages internet users go thru when integrating a new online community are actually quite similar.

so like, the first stage, broadly, when talking about language acquisition, a speaker starts with having no competence, but a huge receptiveness to the linguistic data around them. this is why babies learn to speak so fast. in online communities, a new comer won't have all the right vocab, they won't have learned/assimilated to the ways of "speaking"/communicating in the community, and can kinda easily be identified as like, not being from here (think of the way tumblr users can sometimes spot twitter migrants)

after learning the norms, and the basics of communication in a community, the speaker enters an adolescent phase. in irl speech communities, this is when someone's most receptive to new slang or linguistic innovations, but as these speakers grow up, the innovations become the standard. in online communities there's a very very similar adolescent phase (that has nothing to do with age, and just time spent in the community), where someone is fully integrated into the community and is in the centre of linguistic innovation for the community (often means coming up with new vocab, and sometimes can mean changes in other conventions like typing style, punctuation usages, etc.).

after the adolescent phase, in the adult phase, a speaker has a lot of linguistic competence (they can... speak... well... idk how else to describe it), but they are much more resistant to innovation, and hold on to the way that they spoke as a young person as being the objectively correct way to speak, looking down on the younger generation for their slang and their innovations. think of how boomers and gen x make fun of gen z slang. in online communities, i don't see this as being so much of conflictual relationship, but what is similar is that people that have been in online communities for extended periods of time will hold on to the way of communicating that was popular when they were in their adolescent phase, and won't be able to as easily adapt to the new ways of communicating, and this marks them as being an "elder", or long-time member, of the community.

the comparisons aren't always completely spot on, but there are enough parallels that i can have a lot of fun paying attention to this in the online communities that i'm a part of lol

[virromanus]

Where Can I Learn Latin Online?

Here are the various avenues you can go to learn Latin online.

Latin Derivatives. Find over 1750 Latin derivatives, along with definitions and usage in sentences.

Conjuguemos. Teachers and students can use this site to learn Latin (among other languages) through games and activities, which are automatically graded. They request a small payment, but will waive the fee if you cannot afford it.

Linney's Latin Class.com. William E. Linney literally wrote the book on teaching Latin and shares lessons for self-learners and homeschoolers here that include pages from his text, lectures, and homework.

Latin Language Builds Powerful English Vocabulary. Get an overview of Latin and tips for learning it easily along with links to helpful resources.

Latin: The Language of Rome Fun Worksheet #1. For $1 you can download this Latin worksheet to use personally or in the classroom. This teacher also has other versions of Latin worksheets available for the same price.

Learn Latin Quickly. This website is run by an individual as a hobby, but provides tons of information on Latin and learning Latin.

KET Distance Learning – Latin 1. Go through the lessons here in your own time, then move up to Latin 2 and Latin 3 after completing this class.

Beginners' Latin. This online tutorial doesn't require you know any Latin and steps you through the basics with twelve lessons, reference material, activities, and more.

Latin Grammar. A great resource for learning Latin, this site provides information on the five noun declensions and the four verb conjugations as well as several irregularities.

Latinitium. An online website to start learning Latin with a free e‑mail course from Latin teacher and speaker Daniel Pettersson, M.A.

Polymathy/ScorpioMartianus. A Youtube channel by Latin speaker Luke Ranieri, who teaches Latin for beginners hosted live on his YouTube Channel.

[sagechan]

Kageyama comes back from Italy and the first thing he says to Hinata when they step onto the court is "in te c'è già un'aria di frociaggine" and Hinata thinks he's saying "I love you" and he just goes "aw you too"

[mist-the-wannabe-linguist]

Saw someone in youtube comments say something like "on the map Czechia and Slovakia are two separate countries, but Czechoslovakia is in our hearts" and yeah. yeah that's what it's like

[valzer-col-diavolo]

i need to learn every language. let me learn every language. why can’t i learn every language. LET ME ABSORB THE LANGUAGES

[plumberrypudding]

anyone else feel like “they got that dog in them” is just the most recent appropriation of aa(v)e into ‘internet slang’.

maybe i’m just in more linguistically focused circles than most but this phenomenon seems to me like it’s talked about frequently in the black community online, but it’s completely ignored by people who are otherwise, at least vocally, antiracist.

just take a moment to consider “internet phrases” you use. my brother in christ. got that dog in em. be fucking for real. even just single words. fam. slay. simp. based. bet. blud. bussin. cap. drip. goated. where did these words and phrases come from? do you only use them to be funny, or when you’re obviously not trying to be taken seriously? what does your usage of these words and phrases reflect about (how we view) the sources we take them from?

if you really want to unlearn your racial biases you have to take the time and effort to unpack these kinds of things. just make an effort to be more aware of the language you use and why you use it, day to day.

[adhd-languages]

Just learned about “-zuelo”. Can’t believe Spanish had an “-ito (derogatory)” this whole time and I didn’t even know about it.

I can finally call someone a pathetic little man in Spanish.

[meddwlyngymraeg]

Vocabulary - to want

A few different ways (that I know) to express wishes and desires.

eisiau - to want. One of the standard ways of saying you want something, all across Wales. In truth, it’s not actually a verbnoun like many others, it’s really a noun. That’s why you don’t need the ‘yn’ before it ad you would for any other verbnoun: ‘yn mynd’, ‘Dwi’n mynd’. ‘Dyn ni’n aros.’ Etc.

‘Dwi eisiau cysgu.’ I want to sleep.

I believe the reason for this is an older construction that is used in literary Welsh, but that got shortened and dropped off over time in colloquial Welsh. ‘bod ... ar [rhywun]’ was the construction used, roughly meaning to have ‘a want upon you’ (very roughly).

Double checking this with Wiktionary (beloved), they do have a credible literary source demonstrating this: the Welsh bible (which thanks to a frenzied linguistics and orthography-fuelled spiral down Wikipedia, and oddly enough, the Welsh comedian and radio broadcaster Elis James (unrelatedly), I know was first translated in the 1500s and directly led to the loss of the letter ‘k’ from the Welsh alphabet).

‘Yr Arglwydd yw fy Mugail; ni bydd eisiau arnaf.’ The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Close enough to colloquial Welsh to understand, that's using ‘eisiau arna (i)’. Over time, colloquial Welsh has dropped the ‘ar’. The example sentence above could've been 'Dwi eisiau cysgu [arna i]'.

A note. Some people have a misconception that eisiau should cause a soft mutation in the word following it, because it is an exceptional case of an action (of sorts) that doesn’t need an ‘yn’, and so must follow a pattern similar to a few other conjugations out there like ‘dylu’ (should).

‘Dylet ti ddweud rhywbeth’ (You should say something), ‘Galla i wneud rhywbeth amdano fe’ (I can do something about it), ‘Ga i rywbeth?’ (Can I have something?), the past tenses of gwneud, ‘wnaethon ni ddysgu Cymraeg’, ‘Mae rhaid iddyn nhw dduhino’n gynnar!’ (They must wake up early!)

And so on. This isn’t the case, as eisiau is not a conjugated verb. It’s just a noun for desire! (*not exactly. I’m trying to explain this as best I can)

There is a south Walian usage of ‘eisiau’ that makes this idea clearer.

In some southern dialects, the construction ‘mae eisiau i…’ is used to mean that someone needs something. E.g. ‘Mae eisiau i ti fwyta’ means ‘you need to eat’. What it literally means is ‘there is a need for you to eat’, and so you can see the noun eisiau (a need) in use.

North Walian Welsh uses the same structure, but with the noun angen instead. ‘Mae angen i ti fwyta.’ ‘Mae angen iddyn nhw sosban’, literally, ‘they are in need of a saucepan’.

Speaking of dialect differences, especially in north Wales Welsh, you might come across spelling variants of eisiau: ‘isio’, ‘isia’, (N) ‘isie’ (S), ‘isho’, etc. Perks of a phonetic language are that nothing’s a misspelling really if it sounds alright when said out loud. I did raise an eyebrow at the last one a little, ‘sh’ isn’t the English ‘sh’ in Welsh, is it? (Is that Wenglish?)

Other forms!

moyn - to want. Used pretty much only in the south and valleys, but this one is a regular verbnoun. ‘Dwi’n moyn cwpla fy ngwaith gytre’n fuan’ (I want to finish my homework soon)

(Just realised there are a Lot of dialect words in that sentence! Cwpla -> gorffen, gytre -> cartef)

It seems simpler than the exceptional eisiau construction, why isn’t it more widely accepted?, you ask. (Most people I’ve said it to say it immediately places you geographically to them because they never hear anyone else say it.) It derives from an older verb, ymofyn, which itself comes from the word gofyn (to ask), ‘ym’ + ‘gofyn’ = ‘ymofyn’, which sort of goes away from the original idea of wanting, and into one of asking. Still, language evolves, and so you will still hear moyn in South Wales. In fact, the Say Something In Welsh course teaches it (which is how I know it. Probably worth giving a disclaimer that I’m simply mad about linguistics and Welsh alternative bands, before anyone starts to think I live in Wales just because I occasionally write long grammar posts!)

Awydd - a desire. Used similarly to eisiau, no ‘yn’ precedes it. The whole point of making this post was that I just came across this sentence: ‘Ti awydd mynd i Gastell Caerfili?’ Meaning, do you want to go to Caerphilly Castle?

And those are the ones I know!

[adamsvanrhijn]

i truly do not know why people feel so strongly about "american" as a multi continent demonym when communicating in english.... like if you want to specify us-american because american as a demonym should apply to everyone from all continents you can and you're not hurting anybody but like. it is literally derived from the name of an Italian colonizer why is this the hill you want to die on

[keithtse]

Chinese dialectal parameterisation: Mandarin vs Cantonese (and more)

I presented a Lightning Talk on Chinese dialects at the Ronin Institute Lightning Talk event on 21st September 2023. Here are the recordings on YouTube and Vimeo. Please check them out and let me know what you think!

[brethilach]

blessed with an unyielding obsession with linguistics but cursed with monolingualism into adulthood because my family and schools never bothered to teach me anything other than English so learning a second language is So Difficult

if anyone has advice for how to make learning a second language easier please let me know. thank you <3

[thinksandthings]

Elysium is a lovely sounding word which in English means "a place or state of ideal happiness," but its primary original definition comes lifted straight from Greek mythology, where Elysium was the name of the home of the blessed souls after death. This word in Ancient Greek was Hλύσιον, Ēlúsion. This same mythical location was also referred to as the Isles of the Blessed.

In older writings, it was specifically reserved for those singled out and favored by the gods. Heroes and other immortals would be rewarded with a place here to pass the rest of their eternity in bliss. As time went on, the concepts of punishment and reward in the afterlife became more widespread, which eventually merged Elysium more deeply into the concept of afterlife for all people. It became one of several possible levels of Hades which departed souls might find themselves in, depending on a favorable judgement passed on their conduct by the Underworld judges Minos, Rhadamanthys and Aeacus.

Importantly though, Ancient Greek religion was hugely varied and constantly evolving, so this wasn't the only theory or iteration.

There doesn't seem to be any agreement on the etymology of the word beyond the Ancient Greek, but one source I found suggested that it might have something to do with another Greek word, which is the verb meaning "to relieve or release." In that interpretation, Elysium might have been the paradise which promised relief from the pain and burdens of living.

[arcanewebs]

does. anyone else experience the language learning pipeline of like

yeah why not seems kinda fun -> (optional step) the writing system is crazy bro -> damn theres no WAY im gonna remember any of this shit -> genuine interest and fascination with the differences between languages and needing to Know more

and its because of the stupidest reason for starting learning it in the first place

[mist-the-wannabe-linguist]

Sincerely, a struggling student