Linguistic Quackery Thread, take 2

[sangi39]

http://students.washington.edu/cbsf/cool/Chinese.swf

Wow... just wow... interesting spin on Chinese characters, but I heard a duck call the entire time I was reading it... QUACK

Tienzen's PreBabel was better :p

[alice]

http://students.washington.edu/cbsf/cool/Chinese.swf

Wow... just wow... interesting spin on Chinese characters, but I heard a duck call the entire time I was reading it... QUACK

It's clearly bollocks, so it must be true...

Verdict:

[Arzena]

http://students.washington.edu/cbsf/cool/Chinese.swf

Wow... just wow... interesting spin on Chinese characters, but I heard a duck call the entire time I was reading it... QUACK

So...many...sparkles and moving circles..

[Bedelato]

I have heard lots of people claiming that English is descended from Latin. That would make it a Romance language. [r̼̊:] ENGLISH IS WEST GERMANIC, PEOPLE! It drives me insane how ignorant people are.

[Viktor77]

I have heard lots of people claiming that English is descended from Latin. That would make it a Romance language. [r̼:] ENGLISH IS WEST GERMANIC, PEOPLE! It drives me insane how ignorant people are.

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. People do this all the time. "My teacher said German is from Latin." "All languages come from the great and powerful Greek." Etc. You can even show them the Indo-European tree and they refuse to believe you (especially the Greeks ).

[Mecislau]

I have heard lots of people claiming that English is descended from Latin. That would make it a Romance language. [r̼:] ENGLISH IS WEST GERMANIC, PEOPLE! It drives me insane how ignorant people are.

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. People do this all the time. "My teacher said German is from Latin." "All languages come from the great and powerful Greek." Etc. You can even show them the Indo-European tree and they refuse to believe you (especially the Greeks ).

I tend to run into that issue more with Indians and Sanskrit.

[jmcd]

Personally, I heard what Bedelato's talking but not what Viktor or Mecislau said.

In any case, this guy on wikianswers thinks Viktor's guy has got it the wrong way round: Latin's based on German.

Also:
This loaded question on wikianswers: "Why is Latin a perfect language?"
Reagan said Russians have no word for freedom

[Viktor77]

This just in! Victorians actually did have a sense of humour when it came to wordplay!

[Bedelato]

I was a Catastrophist once, when I was a teenager. It seemed right to me to believe that those old gods actually did exist, or else there wouldnt have been such a strong temptation for humans to worship them. I was actually Creationist and evolutionist at the same time, not that I had any unique explanation that harmonizes the two; I just hadnt really thought about the question long enough to realize the contradictions. I grew out of all of that, and now I believe in God but am skeptical of much of the Bible. Anyway my contribution to this thread is Edenics, the original language spoken in the Garden of Eden:

http://www.edenics.net/

It describes itself as a game, but some people are taking it seriously and trying to put Edenics etymologies onto Wikipedia now.

I checked that one out just for the sake of humor. It's crazy.

Check out their entry on "is":

[E]TSeM is translated as “self-same” (Genesis 7:13) or “substance” (see OSTEOMA) – a better etymon for ESSENCE. SHahM, there is (Genesis 2:8), is a better, frictative-nasal etymon for the S-N words like PRESENT or ABSENCE. Better than the hypothetical root es (to be).

They actually have the gall to try and trace an "etymology" ACROSS MORPHEMES!?
They don't even use regular sound correspondences!
This is linguistic quackery at its finest.

And the sad part is that people are taking it seriously because they don't know any better

[Viktor77]

This is the Michigan State Department of Education's ideas of linguistics and English instruction and one of many benchmarks they give to teachers.

"The student will identify and use subjects and verbs that are in agreement; past verb tenses; nouns and possessives, commas in a series, and begin use of quotation marks and capitalization in dialogue."

My question to you, what the hell does this mean!? What are "subjects" and "possessives?" Are they pronouns, nouns? Where are object pronouns? What "past tenses?" The preterite and perfect and pluperfect?

This was more or less a rhetorical question to show you the government's wonderful understanding of linguistics that they demand teachers follow.

[Pthagnar]

My question to you, what the hell does this mean!? What are "subjects" and "possessives?" Are they pronouns, nouns?

Yes, both.

Where are object pronouns? What "past tenses?" The preterite and perfect and pluperfect?

Yes, those are the ones. Are there any other?

This was more or less a rhetorical question to show you the government's wonderful understanding of linguistics that they demand teachers follow.

Seems fair. Even you, a stupid person, are capable of identifying the linguistic features that are intended to be taught by reading and interpreting the summary appropriately. You should have more trust in yourself that you don't need to be handheld every step of the way.

[Bedelato]

This is the Michigan State Department of Education's ideas of linguistics and English instruction and one of many benchmarks they give to teachers.

"The student will identify and use subjects and verbs that are in agreement; past verb tenses; nouns and possessives, commas in a series, and begin use of quotation marks and capitalization in dialogue."

My question to you, what the hell does this mean!? What are "subjects" and "possessives?" Are they pronouns, nouns? Where are object pronouns? What "past tenses?" The preterite and perfect and pluperfect?

This was more or less a rhetorical question to show you the government's wonderful understanding of linguistics that they demand teachers follow.

Exactly my number one complaint. Linguistics is one of the most undervalued fields in the modern world. It's really sad.

If they would introduce people to even basic linguistic theory in school, most language-related myths and misconceptions would be debunked quickly. Probably learning foreign languages would be easier for people. And lots of other benefits.

But no, instead English teachers are busy drilling kids over how to use commas. They're invoking the same hot spots that peeved the prescriptivists 300 years ago. Some teachers don't even know what the passive voice is.

I'll admit that before I got into linguistics I was as much a grammar Nazi as anyone else. But now that I've seen everything, it feels like I've been lied to somehow

[Legion]

This is the Michigan State Department of Education's ideas of linguistics and English instruction and one of many benchmarks they give to teachers.

"The student will identify and use subjects and verbs that are in agreement; past verb tenses; nouns and possessives, commas in a series, and begin use of quotation marks and capitalization in dialogue."

My question to you, what the hell does this mean!? What are "subjects" and "possessives?" Are they pronouns, nouns? Where are object pronouns? What "past tenses?" The preterite and perfect and pluperfect?

This was more or less a rhetorical question to show you the government's wonderful understanding of linguistics that they demand teachers follow.

:|

[Bedelato]

Language Log has a separate category for this stuff.

In case the link's changed by the time you read this (the Internet is a chaotic place; all sites are subject to change without notice) the category title is "Ignorance of Linguistics."

[chris_notts]

I just found this:

http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/gc_dunn/ ... nesian.doc

Apparently Maori is a Bantu language

[TomHChappell]

.

[Astraios]

may be due to the ancient central African practice (eg Tlingit) of mutilating the lips of women

*is speechless*

[rickardspaghetti]

I thought Tlingit was spoken in Canada. -_-

[Astraios]

Hence my speechlossity.

[Cockroach]

Actually mostly in the Alaskan Panhandle

[Delthayre]

Rush Limbaugh has made his mark as a major contributor to east asian linguistics with his revolutionary new theory about Chinese and Japanese. To wit...

"When I hear Chinese or Japanese, it sounds like all the same word. And I can't comprehend anybody understanding it."

[Bristel]

Rush Limbaugh has made his mark as a major contributor to east asian linguistics with his revolutionary new theory about Chinese and Japanese. To wit...

"When I hear Chinese or Japanese, it sounds like all the same word. And I can't comprehend anybody understanding it."

That's not quite linguistic quackery, but I've heard people say something similar.

[Shm Jay]

I think only a very stupid person would make fun of the people who hold his debts.

[linguoboy]

The letter shapes of the Greek alphabet are derived from the phases of the moon: http://www.omniglot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=558.

[finlay]

The letter shapes of the Greek alphabet are derived from the phases of the moon: http://www.omniglot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=558.

I got a fright justnow when I glanced at the username and saw fin---y - i thought i'd gone mental and posted a crackpot theory in my sleep or something.

It's similar to how I changed my avatar because suddenly faiuwle looked too much like me on here.