(L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here [2010-2019]

[Frislander]

I don't know if this is the right section to ask... but can someone explain me why the letter "ɤ" (normally used as IPA sign for a close-mid back unrounded vowel) is called "Rams Horn" in Unicode?

Kind of an unimportant question, but it doesn't leave me alone atm.

You have seen an actual ram, haven't you, even if only in pictures?

[Salmoneus]

I'd go with "reveal" or "discover" or something, rather than "find out."

Yes, "it aims to discover".

[qwed117]

I don't know if this is the right section to ask... but can someone explain me why the letter "ɤ" (normally used as IPA sign for a close-mid back unrounded vowel) is called "Rams Horn" in Unicode?

Kind of an unimportant question, but it doesn't leave me alone atm.

You have seen an actual ram, haven't you, even if only in pictures?

Looks like a ram's horn, looks like the ram's horn. You have to remember the IPA didn't create these symbols, it just reappropriated them from their prior usage.

[Omzinesý]

What ways there are to derive intensifiers from adjectives?

Finnish uses the genitive
hirveän hyvä
horrible.GEN good
'horribly good'

Germanic languages use the adverb forms.

Are there other ways?

[clawgrip]

reduplication, e.g. Chinese:
小的 xiǎo de small
小小的 xiǎo xiǎo de tiny

augmentative affixes, e.g. Japanese:
寒い samui cold
寒過ぎる samusugiru too cold (colloq. really cold)

[Omzinesý]

reduplication, e.g. Chinese:
小的 xiǎo de small
小小的 xiǎo xiǎo de tiny

augmentative affixes, e.g. Japanese:
寒い samui cold
寒過ぎる samusugiru too cold (colloq. really cold)

That's not what I meant, but how an intensifier - am I using a wrong word, I mean a dependent of an adjective - is productively derived from another adjective.

[GrandPiano]

Intensifiers are exactly what clawgrip is describing - they intensify the meaning of a word or phrase. It sounds like you're simply asking about adverbs, specifically adverbs that modify adjectives.

[k1234567890y]

Does every human language have a way to describe phenomena from an objective, impersonal perspect of view?

[MrKrov]

So I have a new supervisor at work. He likes to ask, "What did you eat good?". What's up with this?
Probably unrelated, he'll call an 8 a.m. lunch "dinner".
Neither is exactly common locally.

[elemtilas]

Does every human language have a way to describe phenomena from an objective, impersonal perspect of view?

Can ánything truly be described from a completely objective perspective in any language? Is human language capable of this? Is the human person able to even think this way?

If you say the sky is blue -- I'd say, what exactly is "blue"? Is "blue" an objective description, or simply your perspective of it? If you say fish are wet -- I'd note that the salmon finds the water quite dry and comfortable.

I'd argue that every utterance we make and every thought we think is in squillions of tiny -/sub/unconscious ways highly subjective. Even when we try to be objective, small prejudices, preconceived notions, stereotypes, assumptions and bits of misinformation get thrown into the mix.

[elemtilas]

So I have a new supervisor at work. He likes to ask, "What did you eat good?". What's up with this?
Probably unrelated, he'll call an 8 a.m. lunch "dinner".
Neither is exactly common locally.

Me I'd call an 8 a.m. anything "second breakfast". Way too early for dinner.

I suspect his barrage of questioning your gastronomic habits is just a way of making small talk.

On the other hand, he could simply be looking for some killer diner or deli or new recipe to try. You could try suggesting that the haggis you had for breakfast was rather top rate.

[Axiem]

Can ánything truly be described from a completely objective perspective in any language? Is human language capable of this? Is the human person able to even think this way?

If any field could do it, I'd argue mathematics. "A square" in the platonic sense is about as unambiguous and objective as you can get.

[qwed117]

Can ánything truly be described from a completely objective perspective in any language? Is human language capable of this? Is the human person able to even think this way?

If any field could do it, I'd argue mathematics. "A square" in the platonic sense is about as unambiguous and objective as you can get.

But then you take the axiom of choice, a knife, and before you know it, you have two squares, with the same area as the original.

[MrKrov]

I suspect his barrage of questioning your gastronomic habits is just a way of making small talk.

On the other hand, he could simply be looking for some killer diner or deli or new recipe to try. You could try suggesting that the haggis you had for breakfast was rather top rate.

The SYNTAX. <

[Avo]

I know some Northeast Caucasian languages that switched consonants in certain roots, like C1VC2 > C2VC1. I also remember reading about a similar sound change in some Siouan languages, switching vowels: CV1CV2 > CV2CV1.
I'm guessing these sound changes are not unconditional, but I don't know any details.

So, does anyone know about languages that went through similar changes?

[Axiem]

In English, some verbs for sexual copulation are also used in to indicate being put into a bad position: "if I don't sell every box of cookies, I'm screwed!" "the car salesman really fucked him on that deal"

Do other languages also share this, where "He <something-past> me" could either mean "he had sexual intercourse with me" or "he put me in a bad position"?

[Creyeditor]

It works in German slang with "Er hat mich gefickt" (lit. "He fucked me"), but it's due to English influence, I guess.

[Iyionaku]

How do you gloss different conjugation patterns depending on other accompanying words within a noun phrase?

Like, for example, how do you gloss the difference between German "der kleine Stuhl" and "ein kleiner Stuhl", where the reason for the different forms is neither case, number or gender, but whether a noun is definite or indefinite? Do you just do something like small.INDEF.MASC.NOM || small.DEF.MASC.NOM?

It works in German slang with "Er hat mich gefickt" (lit. "He fucked me"), but it's due to English influence, I guess.

Well, where I live, the sentence you have provided would be taken quite literally almost all the time. It works, however, with sentences like "Wenn er das macht, bist du gefickt" (If he does that, you will be screwed).

[Creyeditor]

How do you gloss different conjugation patterns depending on other accompanying words within a noun phrase?

Like, for example, how do you gloss the difference between German "der kleine Stuhl" and "ein kleiner Stuhl", where the reason for the different forms is neither case, number or gender, but whether a noun is definite or indefinite? Do you just do something like small.INDEF.MASC.NOM || small.DEF.MASC.NOM?

A dot always works, so the above is definitely okay (though simplified, see here).
I think you could also use square brackets for non-overt elements, so small.MASC.NOM[INDEF] and small.MASC.NOM[DEF].

[Iyionaku]

Thanks, Crey.

Is there any natlang that uses a sound that is produced by emitting air through closed teeth? Like a dental fricative, just with closed teeth and the tongue away from them? If so, how is it actually called?