Search found 249 matches

by Niedokonany
Thu Sep 05, 2013 12:03 pm
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Wenetic Scratchpad- NP: Gods above.
Replies: 82
Views: 34559

Re: Wenetic Scratchpad- Now Playing: "Too Many Pronouns?"

Why is the length retained in padḗ? I'm not sure what you're getting at here: to my knowledge there's nothing in my sound changes that would indicate it wouldn't be? Osthoff's Law: long vowels become short in closed syllables where the coda consonant is a sonorant. *gʰḗr > *kʰér Though having looke...
by Niedokonany
Thu Sep 05, 2013 6:10 am
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Wenetic Scratchpad- NP: Gods above.
Replies: 82
Views: 34559

Re: Wenetic Scratchpad- Now Playing: "Too Many Pronouns?"

Why is the length retained in padḗ? Why does dûma have initial accent in the nom/acc/loc sg, but final in the dat/gen sg? Didn't Hirt's law operate there? *yo- also functions as a personal pronoun in Slavic (intermixing with *so-/*h₁eno-): OCS acc. masc. sg и, Pl. acc. neut. sg / acc nonvir. pl je.
by Niedokonany
Thu Aug 29, 2013 7:59 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Lil' or no irrealis marking
Replies: 11
Views: 2586

Re: Lil' or no irrealis marking

I believe Esperanto counts as (3). But you're probably more interested in natlangs... Hungarian uses the (overtly marked) subjunctive mood as an imperative. Esperanto does indeed distinguish between parolus vs parolu . However the latter one seems to be described as more generic "volitive mood", so...
by Niedokonany
Thu Aug 29, 2013 4:11 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Lil' or no irrealis marking
Replies: 11
Views: 2586

Re: Lil' or no irrealis marking

I believe Esperanto counts as (3). But you're probably more interested in natlangs... Hungarian uses the (overtly marked) subjunctive mood as an imperative.
by Niedokonany
Tue Jul 09, 2013 3:33 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: sources for person & number agreement
Replies: 62
Views: 11145

Re: sources for person & number agreement

In English I've only seen this when one is going for a 'retarded' effect ( u mad?) or in this special 'adjoined' clause type (she rushed at him, her hair dishevelled.) In normal spoken English this actually isn't uncommon at all with questions. "You mad?" is very natural (in fact, I'm sure I say it...
by Niedokonany
Tue Jul 09, 2013 6:34 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: sources for person & number agreement
Replies: 62
Views: 11145

Re: sources for person & number agreement

In colloquial Polish it's very common to drop the copula in case of adjectival predicates having nouns as subjects, e.g. dzień już krótki "day [is] already short" (while in case of nominal predicates it's marginal at best*). In English I've only seen this when one is going for a 'retarded' effect ( ...
by Niedokonany
Sat Jun 22, 2013 3:15 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Slavic /x/
Replies: 5
Views: 1815

Re: Slavic /x/

There are words with #x- which seem to include an s-mobile, tho’, for instance Pl. chropawy, dial. chropa (vs. Lith. karpa; also cf. an OPl. deadjectival noun: skorpawość); Pl. szydzić < Common Sl. *šuditi (vs *kuditi); maybe *xoldъ (cf. Germanic kalt, cold); *xromъ (vs *kroma). So three of these ex...
by Niedokonany
Thu Jun 13, 2013 12:02 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: [r]
Replies: 24
Views: 5066

Re: [r]

That numa numa song has so many slavic borrowings it's not even funny. Dragostea < Dragost' Iubi- < Ljubi- Haiduc < Hajduk Voinic < Vojnik Ochii < Oko's plural reanalyzed I wish we had kept Wallachia as a fief, and more thoroughly Bulgarized it. Or at least that the Vlachs themselves hadn't gone so...
by Niedokonany
Sat Jun 08, 2013 8:10 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Middle English q
Replies: 1
Views: 1133

Middle English q

The sporadic <au> for Modern English <a> before /n/ (straunge, Caunterbury), what did it indicate? Was there a diphthong in those words or maybe a back rounded vowel? I've been toying with an alternative orthography dating back to that period and I'm not sure how to transcribe the mentioned words.
by Niedokonany
Sun Jun 02, 2013 8:22 am
Forum: None of the above
Topic: What are you listening to? -- Non-English Edition
Replies: 1735
Views: 352002

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

Гайдамаки — Про Андрія Asonance - Alasdair syn Collův I don't know why the Slavic peoples have such a fascination with the Celts, but the upshot is that there's a band singing Alasdair Mhic Cholla Ghasda. In Czech. This is awesome. P.S. They also have a Czech version of Canan nan Gàidheal, which is ...
by Niedokonany
Sun Jun 02, 2013 5:31 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: [r]
Replies: 24
Views: 5066

Re: [r]

Personally I've known or met quite a few Polish speakers who substituted something non-standard for the /r/. Now I am usually able to say [r] when I want to... IMO the hardest part is combining it with various other consonants and sequences like rVr, rCr — they can be a bitch to pronounce especially...
by Niedokonany
Thu May 16, 2013 3:55 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Re: Help me with semantic examples! (from Zomp's blog)
Replies: 218
Views: 39971

Re: Help me with semantic examples! (from Zomp's blog)

linguoboy wrote: This reminds me of the (somewhat different) vel vs aut distinction in Latin and the corresponding albo vs lub distinction in Polish.
An albo vs lub distinction?
by Niedokonany
Tue Apr 02, 2013 4:02 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Are there any languages that have both /ts/ & /tɕ/ phonemes?
Replies: 107
Views: 22015

Re: Are there any languages that have both /ts/ & /tɕ/ phone

/ʃ/ seems more familiar because it fits western European (=normal, civilized, Christian etc.) languages. When you check how it's defined in the IPA chart you realize the symbol is just unsuited for Polish and its use is misleading, you could easily get a wrong idea about the actual pronunciation. /ʂ...
by Niedokonany
Tue Apr 02, 2013 1:47 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Are there any languages that have both /ts/ & /tɕ/ phonemes?
Replies: 107
Views: 22015

Re: Are there any languages that have both /ts/ & /tɕ/ phone

Polish: ... /t͡s̠/ is (5) from the first regressive palatalization of *k, also from (6) *stj ( → ʃt͡ʃ → s̠t͡s̠). I assume you mean <cz> and <szcz>? (I've never seen them described like that ... only as either tʃ ʃtʃ or tʂ ʂtʂ.) FWIW, from what I've heard, both in person (immigrants tho, so it's pos...
by Niedokonany
Mon Apr 01, 2013 1:54 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Are there any languages that have both /ts/ & /tɕ/ phonemes?
Replies: 107
Views: 22015

Re: Are there any languages that have both /ts/ & /tɕ/ phone

Polish: /t͡s/ is (1) from the Slavic second regressive palatalization and (2) from the progressive palatalization (of *k in both instances), (3) also from Common Slavic *tj (an instance of iotation), /t͡ɕ/ is (4) from *t before a Common Slavic front vowel, /t͡s̠/ is (5) from the first regressive pal...
by Niedokonany
Wed Feb 20, 2013 4:13 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Genitive Marker to Subject Marker.
Replies: 23
Views: 5065

Re: Genitive Marker to Subject Marker.

As for the (perceived) genitive > ergative development, I can see at least two hypothetical scenarios: 1) both genitive and ergative derive from a sort of ablative case: Y verb-INTR from X > X-erg verb Y Y from X > X's Y 2) the language's basic simple clause structure derives from an action nominal ...
by Niedokonany
Tue Jan 22, 2013 6:46 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Slavic phonology question
Replies: 3
Views: 1478

Re: Slavic phonology question

Well, the Common Slavic *č, š, ž, ǯ were most likely palatoalveolar. In some of the daughter languages a part of them later depalatalized, becoming pure postalveolars devoid of any palatal element. This change would also project to a following /i/, which was backed (in Polish this is reflected ortho...
by Niedokonany
Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:40 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Very quick question about IE mediopassive cause I am lazy
Replies: 11
Views: 2765

Re: Very quick question about IE mediopassive cause I am laz

I'm curious what's the origin of the Common Slavic *-tъ ending. The other variant *-tь apparently continues *-ti, the former one looks as if it's descended from -tu or maybe -to (the final o > ъ in Slavic appears to be quite selective, though, if it's a real sound change in this position). Another p...
by Niedokonany
Tue Sep 18, 2012 2:14 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Polysemy in function/non-lexical words.
Replies: 37
Views: 7120

Re: Polysemy in function/non-lexical words.

It's not some kind of crazy amazing coincidence that we use "that" in English, and "que" in French, for both types of embedding. Languages don't have to use the same mechanisms for both (again, off the top of my head, Russian and Mandarin don't), but it's no great surprise that some do. In colloqui...
by Niedokonany
Sun Sep 02, 2012 1:40 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Motion verbs and deictic distinctions
Replies: 18
Views: 3450

Re: Motion verbs and deictic distinctions

Moanaka, Salmoneus, thanks for your responses. So English come seems to differ from German kommen in this respect - at least, to me the German equivalent seems natural: A: "Ich habe gehört, dass Jim zu Bills Party gehen wollte." B: "Soweit ich weiß, ist er nicht dorthin gekommen, aber ich war nicht...
by Niedokonany
Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:07 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Spanish Questions
Replies: 44
Views: 7612

Re: Spanish Questions

To me it's mostly a boring, typical perfective-imperfective distinction. There's probably this and that other special case, but for the most part estuvo is a past tense perfective aspect, seeing the time frame where something was something as a finished, bounded event; and era a past tense imperfec...
by Niedokonany
Wed Aug 22, 2012 5:30 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Spanish Questions
Replies: 44
Views: 7612

Re: Spanish Questions

¿Cuándo estuvo el doctor? ¿Cuándo está el doctor generalmente? What's the difference between fue and era ( estaba/estuvo )?The perfectivization of stative verbs in Spanish can be rather tricky but mostly comprehensible, however the 'be'-verbs seem to be the trickiest of all. I thought that 'estuvo'...
by Niedokonany
Wed Aug 22, 2012 3:54 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Diachronics of clicks?
Replies: 12
Views: 4000

Re: Diachronics of clicks?

Ladefoged wrote in his course in phonetics that the Western African labial-velar coarticulates (e.g. in Yoruba) tended to have a bit of the lingual (velaric) airstream mechanism. "During the labial and velar closures, the back of the tongue sometimes moves slightly farther back, creating a slight su...
by Niedokonany
Thu Aug 02, 2012 9:03 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Wicked kinship terminology
Replies: 15
Views: 3416

Re: Wicked kinship terminology

Unsurprisingly Serbian terminology is pretty much the same, however WTF: grandmother - baba grandgrandmother - prababa gggmother - čukunbaba ggggmother - navrnbaba granddaughter - unuka ggdaughter - praunuka gggdaughter - čukununuka ggggdaughter (see ggggson) grandfather - deda ggfather - pradeda g...