Search found 84 matches

by Khvaragh
Sat Jul 26, 2014 4:28 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Triconsonantal roots and allophony
Replies: 23
Views: 5106

Re: Triconsonantal roots and allophony

Generally, I think there are different interpretations of what triconsonantal roots are, either as convenient fictions (basically invented by the Arab grammarians/lexicographers as a way to organize dictionaries and, later, analyze derivational morphology - note also that grammatical traditions in ...
by Khvaragh
Sat Jul 26, 2014 12:03 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Triconsonantal roots and allophony
Replies: 23
Views: 5106

Re: Triconsonantal roots and allophony

Generally, I think there are different interpretations of what triconsonantal roots are, either as convenient fictions (basically invented by the Arab grammarians/lexicographers as a way to organize dictionaries and, later, analyze derivational morphology - note also that grammatical traditions in H...
by Khvaragh
Tue Jul 09, 2013 6:48 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: How to stop fucking up triconsonantal languages for novices
Replies: 21
Views: 7966

Re: How to stop fucking up triconsonantal languages for novi

You will even find in grammars of Hebrew the warning that the meaning of a given word is not always predictable from its root and pattern. I'll grant you the rest but this one is surely true of Arabic too. Like وقع 'happen' in form I which is وقع 'to sign' in II, how is that predictable? Unless it'...
by Khvaragh
Mon Jul 08, 2013 5:00 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: How to stop fucking up triconsonantal languages for novices
Replies: 21
Views: 7966

Re: How to stop fucking up triconsonantal languages for novi

All Semitic languages make considerable use of discontinuous morphology - Arabic in particular, but Hebrew and Aramaic too. How do Hebrew and Aramaic make less use of it than Arabic? The Arabic grammatical tradition, or naḥw, is a massive one, directly comparable in pre-modern times to perhaps vyāk...
by Khvaragh
Sat Mar 16, 2013 4:07 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Classical Persian translation
Replies: 3
Views: 1870

Re: Classical Persian translation

Wow, I wasn't ever expecting a response to this. Well, first of all, the thesis project that this translation/analysis was for was shelved (the subject ended up being too controversial at my uni in Cairo), so I ended up doing something else and didn't finish this translation. I'm planning to revive ...
by Khvaragh
Tue Feb 26, 2013 12:13 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Lessons in Palestinian Arabic: Now on Lesson 2
Replies: 26
Views: 5605

Re: Lessons in Palestinian Arabic: Please review transcripti

mutreb “one singer” --> mutrebîn “singers” muTreb, from مطرب. مترب means "dusty." SAgîr (ᵉZgîr) – small; young (people) kabîr – big; old (people) Are you sure? The reason I ask is that in Lebanese and Syrian, these are respectively /zGi:r/ and /kbi:r~k@bi:r/, since short vowels in these dialects te...
by Khvaragh
Fri Nov 02, 2012 7:48 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: How do languages deal with distinctions like watch/see?
Replies: 41
Views: 8762

Re: How do languages deal with distinctions like watch/see?

Actually, for a very significant number of my students, it is. A lot of my students speak their language at home and at work, and even when going shopping here. I had a Thai student who asked me why he wasn't improving. He was living with other Thais, worked in a Thai restaurant and, when he came t...
by Khvaragh
Mon Oct 22, 2012 6:31 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: How do languages deal with distinctions like watch/see?
Replies: 41
Views: 8762

Re: How do languages deal with distinctions like watch/see?

Arabic can use سَمَع samaʿa for both 'listen' and 'hear' and the same may apply to other form I verbs of sense, but a derived form with -t- (استمع istamaʿa) only has a volitive meaning. Often the prefix ista- can give a volitive sense, too - استنظر istanẓara means 'look out for, look forward to, wa...
by Khvaragh
Sun Sep 09, 2012 6:12 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Moroccan Arabic and deshi basara
Replies: 2
Views: 3491

Re: Moroccan Arabic and deshi basara

The verb and adverb phrase are both AFAIK used in Moroccan, at least based on what I've heard of my Moroccan co-worker saying. I would assume it's /tajʒi bsrʕa/~/tsajʒi bsrʕa for "he rises" ( /ta-/ is a progressive marker similar to /b-/ in Egyptian). However, the pronunciation in the film is so hor...
by Khvaragh
Thu Jan 05, 2012 12:46 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Looking for a natlang word for arts+technique
Replies: 12
Views: 2140

Re: Looking for a natlang word for arts+technique

In Arabic, this is covered by فنّ /fan:/. Nowadays, it's usually used in the sense of aesthetic arts, like painting, cinema, etc. However, classically, it covers a wide range of semantic fields, and can mean "art (aesthetic), discipline, craft, technique, science, etc." علم /?\ilm/ has a similar ran...
by Khvaragh
Tue Dec 27, 2011 1:14 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Terrible attempts by English speakers at foreign tongues
Replies: 144
Views: 20125

Re: Terrible attempts by English speakers at foreign tongues

I agree. Hebrew phonology got all the fun sucked out of it, but I guess that's just a side-effect of the language revival process. Too bad it's rather late in the process to make a statement and reintroduce all the lost consonants. I wonder, though, if the process of losing pharyngeals and pharynge...
by Khvaragh
Fri Dec 09, 2011 9:26 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Terrible attempts by English speakers at foreign tongues
Replies: 144
Views: 20125

Re: Terrible attempts by English speakers at foreign tongues

Do you speak Hebrew? "Speak" is a overstatement; I can read/understand it decently, albeit as I said before, I can barely understand spoken Modern Hebrew because of all the mergers; I learned Arabic first, which makes recognizing cognates easier to the least in writing. In speech though, it's extre...
by Khvaragh
Fri Dec 09, 2011 9:19 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Terrible attempts by English speakers at foreign tongues
Replies: 144
Views: 20125

Re: Terrible attempts by English speakers at foreign tongues

The way I see it, if I have learned after much struggle to pronounce ح and‎ ع and ط,and ق, I'm certainly going to pronounce their Hebrew counterparts that way (ח and ע and ט and ק) no matter how antique and rural I may sound. If I'm reading something to myself, I use a Mizrahi accent. Not if I'm ac...
by Khvaragh
Thu Dec 08, 2011 9:15 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Terrible attempts by English speakers at foreign tongues
Replies: 144
Views: 20125

Re: Terrible attempts by English speakers at foreign tongues

What’s wrong with using a Mizrahi pronunciation? AFAIK, most Israelis seem to find it rustic or rural, so yes, I'd say the comparison with a Texas accent for Americans is spot-on. Sad though, because I despise the Ashkenazi/Sephari hybrid thing that is Israeli Hebrew standard pronunciation, but it'...
by Khvaragh
Sun Dec 04, 2011 12:26 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Rain (n) Rain (vb) ~ Different Languages...?
Replies: 71
Views: 11549

Re: Rain (n) Rain (vb) ~ Different Languages...?

Would the Arabic sh-t-y root be a cognate of Hebrew sh-t-h drink ? I tend to think not. Hebrew שׁ /S/ is generally cognate to Arabic س /s/ (which is a merging of PS */s/~/ts/ and /S/~/s/). Arabic ش /S/ results from PS */K/, which gives Hebrew שׂ /s/</K/, i.e. Arabic شعر /Sa?\r/ "hair," Biblical Heb...
by Khvaragh
Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:47 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Rain (n) Rain (vb) ~ Different Languages...?
Replies: 71
Views: 11549

Re: Rain (n) Rain (vb) ~ Different Languages...?

In Arabic you also get a verb and a noun from the same root: أمطرت ʔamṭarat (I've no idea why it's always in the feminine) 'to rain', مطر maṭar 'rain' (masculine gender, plural أمطار ʔamṭār). Most likely because there's an omitted pleonastic subject which is feminine i.e. this shows up in Egyptian ...
by Khvaragh
Wed Oct 26, 2011 10:45 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Question about Arabic
Replies: 8
Views: 2279

Re: Question about Arabic

transforming the biconsonantal into the triconsonantal by analyzing /u:/ as /w/; i.e. probably something like /su:d/ But here you're contradicting Mecislau in that you're saying the root was indeed reanalyzed as a triconsonantal root s-w-d- :wink: Not at all; I think you're misunderstanding my post...
by Khvaragh
Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:19 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Question about Arabic
Replies: 8
Views: 2279

Re: Question about Arabic

It seems reasonable to assume that Saudi , Aswad , and Sudan are all formed from the same triliteral S-W-D. But if that is indeed the case, what is the pattern for Sudan ? The first two are clearly CaCCi and aCCaC, but Sudan requires CCCan, and I don't think Arabic permits three consonants in a row...
by Khvaragh
Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:55 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Rain (n) Rain (vb) ~ Different Languages...?
Replies: 71
Views: 11549

Re: Rain (n) Rain (vb) ~ Different Languages...?

Now, obviously English has no problem using the same word as either a noun or a verb. Likewise, I know Spanish does this (albeit with the relevant verby or noun changes: llover vs. lluvia, rained raining etc. But what other options are commonly used? What relevant "verby or noun changes"? There's n...
by Khvaragh
Wed Oct 05, 2011 9:08 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: ZBB member photos, part 5. (Something for the weekend, sir?)
Replies: 5496
Views: 765039

Re: ZBB member photos, part 5. (save the exhibitionism threa

Anyway, if I feel like telling someone I think they look good, then I will. It's just really hypocritical of you to get bitchy with jal when you have done more to sexualize this thread than anyone else. God, what is it with all the threads on this board lately being either about sexual harassment o...
by Khvaragh
Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:37 am
Forum: Almea
Topic: "When the Master governs, the people are hardly aware ..."
Replies: 7
Views: 4845

Re: "When the Master governs, the people are hardly aware ..

It's hard to know what Laozi thought about things - in large part because he's a mythical figure with little or no relevence to actual Taoism: he probably didn't exist (except perhaps as the teacher of Confucius), if he did exist he certainly didn't write the Daodejing or directly influence its wri...
by Khvaragh
Fri Sep 23, 2011 10:44 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: French and Arabic indefinites
Replies: 12
Views: 2327

Re: French and Arabic indefinites

Our Arabic teacher today said he once attended a talk by a linguist (?) claiming that Arabic indefinite "nunated" endings have had an influence on the development of un/une in French. Is there any evidence for it either way? I'd instinctively distrust any such claims, but maybe there's some proper ...
by Khvaragh
Tue Sep 06, 2011 12:01 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: What are you listening to? -- Non-English Edition
Replies: 1735
Views: 352252

Re: What are you listening to? -- Non-English Edition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3cpFCJpuxM ويلي (wayli - "my pain/trouble") from Mohamed Mounir. The words are very simple, but nice, and I love his voice! אמא, אבא וכל השאר - Ima, Aba Vechol Hash'ar Written by fallen Israeli soldier Reuven Politi and composed by Idan Raichel. I really like Idan Ra...
by Khvaragh
Tue Aug 30, 2011 5:58 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: What are you listening to? -- Non-English Edition
Replies: 1735
Views: 352252

Re: What are you listening to? -- Non-English Edition

Rose - Zazie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX75XpaQHcE

This is the song that introduced me to Zazie; the film the song's from is really good too IMO.
by Khvaragh
Sat Aug 27, 2011 8:30 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: to teach vs. to learn
Replies: 42
Views: 8598

Re: to teach vs. to learn

/ʕal:ama/ is an "intensive" derivational form, loosely, "make [s.o.] known," Analyzing it as a causative works better: "to make sb know sth" (علّم فلانا شيئا), and from there "to make sth known" (علّم شيئا). I don't think it's intensive in the same way that كسّر 'to smash sth to little pieces' is i...