Search found 132 matches

by Hakaku
Tue Jun 19, 2018 12:01 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Japanese N
Replies: 1
Views: 3660

Re: Japanese N

"The moraic nasal existed in Old Japanese only in words borrowed from Chinese." ( Japanese: A Linguistic Introduction , Yoko Hasegawa) Japanese A simple example would be 天. It was pronounced something like /tʰen/ or /tʰien/ in Middle Chinese and would've been borrowed into Old Japanese most likely ...
by Hakaku
Tue May 29, 2018 3:06 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Population numbers for languages
Replies: 16
Views: 11600

Re: Population numbers for languages

I ran into a similar issue a few years back when looking at population numbers for (Central) Okinawan. The Ethnologue gave a figure of 980,000 speakers in 2000, which doesn't make sense given that the total population was roughly 1 million around that time and it's well-known that the islanders prim...
by Hakaku
Sat Oct 29, 2016 3:48 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Numbers from 1 to 10 updated
Replies: 98
Views: 29111

Re: Numbers from 1 to 10 updated

Okinawan: Slight correction for native numbers: Number 1 should be "tīchi" (with the macron on the first vowel). Okinawan also has Sino-Okinawan numbers, not sure if you wanted to add them: 1 ichi 2 nī 3 san 4 shī 5 gū 6 ruku 7 shichi 8 hachi 9 kū 10 jū Source: Utsukushii Okinawa no Hougen , by Yos...
by Hakaku
Mon Oct 24, 2016 11:31 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Archaisms and curiosities in well-known language families
Replies: 31
Views: 9302

Re: Archaisms and curiosities in well-known language familie

Belgian French retains the distinction between /œ̃/ as in brun and /bʁɛ̃/ as in brin. In Parisian French and often elsewhere in France these two vowels have merged completely. If you learn standard French you will likely never learn to distinguish them because the market is almost entirely dominate...
by Hakaku
Sun Oct 23, 2016 10:33 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: any language families with kh/S correspondence
Replies: 23
Views: 6390

Re: any language families with kh/S correspondence

These are the closest examples I could find in the Japonic languages: k_h (or just k) - S "today" Japanese /kjoo/ Shodon /kʰjuu/ Yoron /ɕuu/ Shuri: /t͡ɕuu/ Itoman /kɯɯ/ Yonaguni /su/ In this scenario, you could match Shodon /kʰj/ or Itoman /k/ to Yoron /ɕ/ (which is similar to /ʃ/). k_h - ts In the ...
by Hakaku
Sat Oct 01, 2016 11:37 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Basic distinctions: No word for "eat"
Replies: 11
Views: 4289

Re: Basic distinctions: No word for "eat"

I wonder what they would use if they were eating, say, both rice and meat in a meal. Would they use a more generic verb to say "eat rice and meat", or would they say "eat1 rice and eat2 meat"? Kind of like how we have "eat rice and drink water" vs "consume rice and water".
by Hakaku
Tue Apr 12, 2016 11:06 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Final glottal stop in Japanese
Replies: 7
Views: 2423

Re: Final glottal stop in Japanese

See The Phonetics of sokuon, or geminate obstruents , by Shigeto Kawahara, and specifically sections 5.3 & 5.4 The summary is that a some have argued in the past that geminates in Japanese involve some form of glottal or laryngeal constriction. But a few others recently found no evidence for any suc...
by Hakaku
Tue Nov 25, 2014 11:58 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: "Behind" versus "In back of"
Replies: 10
Views: 3884

Re: "Behind" versus "In back of"

I use both, though I wouldn't use "in back of" in a paper. "In back of" also doesn't fully overlap with "at the back of" and not at all with "in the back of", as "in back of the car" specifically means behind the car, while "at the back of the car" and "in the back of the car" both refer to the insi...
by Hakaku
Wed Sep 10, 2014 4:14 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Idiolectal pronunciations
Replies: 50
Views: 9697

Re: Idiolectal pronunciations

I can't help but pronounce "vague" as [væːg], so that it rhymes with "bag" [bæːg].
by Hakaku
Wed May 07, 2014 10:20 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: On French grave accents
Replies: 8
Views: 2152

Re: On French grave accents

voilà / voila (< voiler)
revoilà / revoila (< revoiler)
lès / les
florès / flores

Close:
holà / (Spanish) hola
après / âpres
guère / guerre
ère / erre
près / prés
by Hakaku
Thu Jan 02, 2014 1:14 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: whenever and wherever in other languages
Replies: 37
Views: 9817

Re: whenever and wherever in other languages

The translation of these two terms really depends on the context. To provide some French examples: For "wherever": Wherever he goes , he always has an English breakfast. = Peu importe où il va / Partout où il va / Où qu'il aille , il prend toujours un petit-déjeuner anglais. Wherever possible , .......
by Hakaku
Sun Dec 01, 2013 12:38 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Unintelligible dialects of your language - post examples ITT
Replies: 39
Views: 9226

Re: Unintelligible dialects of your language - post examples

In French, I agree with Cajun being a tad difficult to understand without subtitles, though it's not incomprehensible to me in comparison to Louisiana Creole . I also tend to have a little more difficulty with dialects from France, seeing as I'm from Canada. In Japanese, there would be quite a few i...
by Hakaku
Tue Nov 12, 2013 1:54 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: "Imagination" Etymology in Different Languages
Replies: 20
Views: 5768

Re: "Imagination" Etymology in Different Languages

Okinawan has: かんげー【考げー】 kangee "thought; idea; conception; hope; resolution; imagination; etc." [nominal form of the verb kangeein "to think; to consider; etc."] ちむうみー【肝思みー・心思みー】 chimu'umii "imagination; fancy" [compound of liver/heart + thought] Which I suppose are relatively close to Japanese かんがえ...
by Hakaku
Sun Nov 03, 2013 4:01 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: "Book" Etymology in Different Languages
Replies: 21
Views: 4109

Re: "Book" Etymology in Different Languages

書物 "book" is used in various southern Japanese dialects and Ryukyuan languages (e.g. Kagoshima [ɕomoʔ]~[somoʔ]; Amami [-mut h u]; Okinawan [sumut͡ɕi]; Miyako [-mutu]; Ogami [simuks]). It stems from a compound of 書 "writing" and 物 "thing" and takes on a Sinitic reading, though I don't think it was ev...
by Hakaku
Wed Oct 23, 2013 4:18 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Multiple-choice question about nasal vowels in French
Replies: 5
Views: 2016

Re: Multiple-choice question about nasal vowels in French

Could it be possible that the French you heard spoken was in a dialect that you're not used to hearing? Because there's a pretty big difference in vowels between North American French varieties and those of France.
by Hakaku
Fri May 31, 2013 2:56 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: The Innovative Usage Thread
Replies: 2452
Views: 413791

Re: The Innovative Usage Thread

Not so much an English word, but a French one:

It seems that in my region, the word cabanot is used to mean "closet". Although the word is already a regionalism, other French Canadian speakers seem to interpret it as some sort of shed or cabin.
by Hakaku
Wed Apr 24, 2013 6:21 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Let's test sound symbolism.
Replies: 35
Views: 7131

Re: Let's test sound symbolism.

1b, 2a, 3c, 4c
by Hakaku
Tue Feb 19, 2013 11:53 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Genitive Marker to Subject Marker.
Replies: 23
Views: 5069

Re: Genitive Marker to Subject Marker.

In Old Japanese, the particles ga and no had overlapping functions as both genitive and nominative markers, and were ultimately distinguished by their degree of politeness. Such a contrast still exists in many Kyushu dialects and Ryukyuan languages, though the exact usage varies. Often, ga is less p...
by Hakaku
Tue Jan 29, 2013 7:53 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: How Do You Sound Fancy in French?
Replies: 45
Views: 9673

Re: How Do You Sound Fancy in French?

The pattern for pompous language generally seems to rely on the following: Avoiding perceived colloquialisms and reductions Using words, spellings, expressions and forms once common in the language's past Using words and expressions borrowed from a language of prestige Using poetic devices, allusion...
by Hakaku
Wed Jan 09, 2013 6:53 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: The Innovative Usage Thread
Replies: 2452
Views: 413791

Re: The Innovative Usage Thread

a) It's thawing - weird b) It's unthawing - acceptable c) It's thawing out - acceptable Realistically, I think I would use "unthawing" when talking, but "thawing out" is perfectly fine otherwise. However, to me, you can talk about the soil of a muskeg as "thawing", but you can only talk about an ite...
by Hakaku
Fri Nov 09, 2012 7:42 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Is "like" becoming a topic/object marker in English?
Replies: 17
Views: 4567

Re: Is "like" becoming a topic/object marker in English?

Comparing to Japanese, the usage feels a lot more similar to its so-called quoting particle って -tte . 彼って背が高いんだよね~ kare tte se ga takain da yo ne~ "He's like, incredibly tall!" 俺って最低だ。 ore tte saitei da. "I'm like, the worse." 海を食べたって感じです umi o tabeta tte kanji desu "I feel like I ate the entire sea...
by Hakaku
Sat Sep 01, 2012 8:44 pm
Forum: L&L Museum
Topic: The Correspondence Library
Replies: 568
Views: 284702

Re: The Correspondence Library

Yes, it is rendaku. The question is simply what decides whether rendaku of /ɴ/ + /h/ will result in a /p/ or a /b/. For example: /h/ → /p/: 担 /taɴ/ 'bear' + 保 /ho/ 'safeguard' becomes 担保 /taɴpo/ 'collateral' /h/ → /b/: 田 /taɴ/ 'rice paddy' + 圃 /ho/ 'cultivated field' becomes 田圃 /taɴbo/ 'cultivated ...
by Hakaku
Tue Jul 31, 2012 3:58 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Newest Addition to the Indo-European Family: Burushaski
Replies: 72
Views: 15394

Re: Newest Addition to the Indo-European Family: Burushaski

I have access, but the paper is a little overwhelming since it feels a little everywhere. A lot of the comments against Časule's work also seem quite bare and don't really address much besides dismissing everything altogether as chance, coincidence, loans and whatnot. Not really sure what to think.
by Hakaku
Thu Jul 26, 2012 1:40 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: What Do You Call It
Replies: 56
Views: 11542

Re: What Do You Call It

I'd be most interested to know what Canadians call it. Well, as noted on Wikipedia, "road/street allowance" are officially used in Ontario (but most people wouldn't know this name since it's technical), and "(roadside) boulevard" seems common too (though it sounds weird to me, since a boulevard is ...