Search found 844 matches

by TomHChappell
Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:54 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: The Innovative Usage Thread
Replies: 2452
Views: 413761

Re: The Innovative Usage Thread

I imagine many of us Americans have heard a "word" that might , as near as we could tell, be spelled "see'f": for instance, "I'll go see'f any iced tea is left.". Occasionally -- maybe only once, actually -- I've heard it re-analyzed as a verb: viz., "You watch the barbecue while I'm seefing the ice...
by TomHChappell
Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:57 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: ZBB member photos, part 5. (Something for the weekend, sir?)
Replies: 5496
Views: 765192

Re:

You don't look blond on any of the previous pictures I've seen, must be light, I don't think any of them was taken outside. I'm a model. This was from a Victorian shoot I did back in October. I didn't take these... credit to Paul Smith. I'm also wearing a wig: my hair is blonde (emphasis added -- t...
by TomHChappell
Wed Oct 12, 2011 7:35 pm
Forum: C&C Archive
Topic: Determiner Issues, Grammar & Lexical Suffixes
Replies: 11
Views: 6407

Re: Determiner Issues, Grammar & Lexical Suffixes

I read your last post and want to respond to it but I'm running out of time so it will have to be tomorrow afternoon at the earliest.
I will say I like a lot of it.
by TomHChappell
Sat Oct 08, 2011 2:03 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: The Innovative Usage Thread
Replies: 2452
Views: 413761

Re: The Innovative Usage Thread

Thursday (two days ago) I heard
"So what are your guys's ideas?"
meaning
so what are 2ndPl-GEN ideas?
by TomHChappell
Fri Oct 07, 2011 1:24 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Phrasal Reduplication
Replies: 13
Views: 2340

Re: Phrasal Reduplication

blank stare II wrote:There is no reduplication in English. At least, in English English.
I don't think everyone got it.
by TomHChappell
Fri Oct 07, 2011 1:22 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The Official ZBB Quote Thread
Replies: 2878
Views: 637201

Re: The Official ZBB Quote Thread

Eddy wrote:What is the big mouthed frog and what makes it infamous?
Google is your friend.
But maybe YouTube is better in this case.
by TomHChappell
Fri Oct 07, 2011 1:20 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: The humour of similar-sounding words
Replies: 104
Views: 18779

Re: The humour of similar-sounding words

Somebody needs to mention "un petit d'un petit, s'etonnent aux Halles" here.
by TomHChappell
Fri Oct 07, 2011 12:18 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The Official ZBB Quote Thread
Replies: 2878
Views: 637201

Re: The Official ZBB Quote Thread

sirred wrote:It looks like a surgeon with a mask on to me.
To me it looks like the infamous "Big-Mouthed Frog".
by TomHChappell
Fri Oct 07, 2011 12:15 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The dream thread
Replies: 1807
Views: 311631

Re: The dream thread

I was back at work. There were several things wrong with this. I could remember getting fired but couldn't remember getting re-hired. There weren't enough workstations because they'd given mine to some new hire. So he was in my cubicle in my chair, but he wasn't using his computer at the moment so I...
by TomHChappell
Thu Oct 06, 2011 11:28 am
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Here's the Simplified Alphabet that restarted my conlang
Replies: 21
Views: 6458

Re: Here's the Simplified Alphabet that restarted my conlang

y cn ndrstnd nglsh wtht th vwls

youcanalsounderstandenglishwithoutspaces

bttswfllyhrdtndrstndwthnthrvwlsnrspcs
by TomHChappell
Wed Oct 05, 2011 12:36 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The Official ZBB Quote Thread
Replies: 2878
Views: 637201

Re: The Official ZBB Quote Thread

Astraios wrote:
desmond wrote:horrific marker
Another addition to our nomative and accusatory and genetive cases?
and don't forget the aggulating morphology-type.
by TomHChappell
Tue Oct 04, 2011 7:02 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: What are you reading, watching and listening to?
Replies: 469
Views: 135737

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

"Un Lun Dun"'s for kids. Maybe that's why you didn't like it. [/size]Yes, exactly. I think "Un Lun Dun" might be unintentionally dangerously close to "Epic Pooh" for working-class Londoner kids. I loved Perdido, and enjoyed Scar and Iron. The latter (also later) two seemed less vibrant; perhaps it'...
by TomHChappell
Tue Oct 04, 2011 5:58 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: What are you reading, watching and listening to?
Replies: 469
Views: 135737

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Ooh, I stopped caring after seeing Un Lun Dun, thanks for reminding me he's still writing. "Un Lun Dun"'s for kids. Maybe that's why you didn't like it. "Perdido Street Station", "The Scar", and "The Iron Council" are all about New Crobuzon. I liked all of them but maybe three New Crobuzon novels (...
by TomHChappell
Tue Oct 04, 2011 1:01 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The dream thread
Replies: 1807
Views: 311631

Re: The dream thread

I dreamed that Michigan had a county shaped just like Texas.
by TomHChappell
Tue Oct 04, 2011 12:46 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: What are you reading, watching and listening to?
Replies: 469
Views: 135737

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

I just finished "Embassytown" by China Miéville . Very interesting from a conworlding and conculturing PoV (as are all of China Miéville's books). Also, very interesting to conlangers, IMO; though he doesn't actually develop the Language that's so crucial to the story, what he says about it is very ...
by TomHChappell
Tue Oct 04, 2011 12:33 pm
Forum: C&C Archive
Topic: Determiner Issues, Grammar & Lexical Suffixes
Replies: 11
Views: 6407

Re: Determiner Issues, Grammar & Lexical Suffixes

And I almost forgot to say thanks for giving me these examples. You're welcome! ... I don't think I can conceive a reason to incorporate an instrumental/comitative or an essive into that sort of a construction. Comitative, maybe not; but I can see putting an instrument in just as easily as an agent...
by TomHChappell
Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:53 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: Creativity of the day
Replies: 1704
Views: 323584

Re: Creativity of the day

I find it weird that your speed limits are all in multiples of 5. AFMCW Adpihi with its dozenal numeral-system, speed-limits are all multiples of 6; furthermore they're all 20 (dozenal; 24 decimal) apart. 16 (decimal 18) 36 (decimal 42) 56 (decimal 66) 76 (decimal 90) 96 (decimal 114) B6 (decimal 1...
by TomHChappell
Fri Sep 30, 2011 11:50 am
Forum: C&C Archive
Topic: Determiner Issues, Grammar & Lexical Suffixes
Replies: 11
Views: 6407

Re: Determiner Issues, Grammar & Lexical Suffixes

The above examples as far as I know only occur as passive participles. [/size] Yes. If you said "a snakebiting contest" it would a competition of people biting snakes, but "a snake biting contest" (where "snake" is not incorporated to the verb) it'd be a competition of snakes biting things. Good il...
by TomHChappell
Fri Sep 30, 2011 11:44 am
Forum: C&C Archive
Topic: Possession in Rawàng Ata
Replies: 8
Views: 5154

Re: Possession in Rawàng Ata

Now dealing with indirect possession. I really like it! I'd known about possessive classifiers for a while, but I'd not known details of either the Oceanic or the American systems. I imagine the variety and complexity would make it hard to memorize. The interaction with something like evidentiality...
by TomHChappell
Thu Sep 29, 2011 5:45 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: (Ejective consonants) Onsets and syllable weight
Replies: 12
Views: 3005

Re: (Ejective consonants) Onsets and syllable weight

My phonology 2 lecturer claimed that it is a language universal that the onset of a syllable never influence the prosodic weight of a syllable. If we take Dutch for example, taakstraf /'ta:kstrAf/ ('working punishment') gets stress on the first, long syllable, ignoring the prohibitively large onset...
by TomHChappell
Thu Sep 29, 2011 11:02 am
Forum: C&C Archive
Topic: Determiner Issues, Grammar & Lexical Suffixes
Replies: 11
Views: 6407

Re: Determiner Issues, Grammar & Lexical Suffixes

In most languages that very-productively incorporate specific/referential nouns into verbs, the incorporated noun is almost always a patient (an object) [/size] ... my thinking on noun incorporation was muddied mostly by my inability to consistently place the grammatical role of the noun in the inc...
by TomHChappell
Tue Sep 27, 2011 5:28 pm
Forum: C&C Archive
Topic: Determiner Issues, Grammar & Lexical Suffixes
Replies: 11
Views: 6407

Re: Determiner Issues, Grammar & Lexical Suffixes

Interesting! 8) And impressive! 8) Why thank you, those were my favorite parts too. You're very welcome! Yeah, the point about the "agreement markers", the point I mentioned earlier will be changed. As far as the deixis and determiner thing, they are agreement markers, for instance if I'm talking a...
by TomHChappell
Tue Sep 27, 2011 2:02 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Question on probability
Replies: 7
Views: 1422

Re: Question on probability

I'd just assume it's not too improbable to use in a conlang.
by TomHChappell
Tue Sep 27, 2011 12:14 pm
Forum: C&C Archive
Topic: Determiner Issues, Grammar & Lexical Suffixes
Replies: 11
Views: 6407

Re: Determiner Issues, Grammar & Lexical Suffixes

Leþwin is a polysynthetic language with a proclivity to have heavily inflected verbs and a more austere nominal system. So it's probably verb-initial. The structure is something like: [II][III]{IIa}{IIIa}[R0][R1] [VI] [V] [VI] .... IV: Lexical Suffixes You left out IV and put VI in twice. I'm betti...