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Q&A

General Q&A about specific languages, language in general, and linguistics.

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How can "lemma" be translated as "rede-ship" with merely Germanic etymons?

Attempts to fashion a purer form of literary English can be seen in the poetry of Edmund Spenser in the 16th century and William Barnes in the 19th century. Barnes’ arguments against borrowing ...

0 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by PSTH‭  ·  edited 3y ago by PSTH‭

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+3 −0
Vietnamese lệnh and Thai เลย

If I understand correctly both Vietnamese lệnh ("ley") and Thai เลย ("l'ey") are vague in both languages in the sense that they can have various meanings which depend on context but generally used ...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by deleted user  ·  last activity 3y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

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What did the etymons of “on by + out, over, up” mean?

What did the etymons of "on by out", "on by up", "on by over" mean? Why did Old English tack and jam these different prepositions together? E.g. didn't ufan alone mean "above"? Why prefix...

0 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by PSTH‭

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Expound and simplify the "semantic progression" behind "must"?

I don't understand the "semantic progression" that I emboldened. The steps in the "semantic progression" feel farfetched and unconnected to me. Can someone please fill in, and elaborate, the steps...

0 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by PSTH‭  ·  edited 3y ago by Moshi‭

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Does al-Asma'i's poem "صوت صفير البلبل" (the sound of the whistle of the bulbul) has a story to tell?

There's this famous story about al-Asma'i الأصمعي challenging the caliph abu Ja'afar al-Mansur أبو جعفر المنصور by composing a poem that is difficult to memorize, as the caliph himself used to memo...

0 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Medi1saif‭  ·  edited 3y ago by Medi1saif‭

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How do Latin etymons that end in English in *-tion* nearly always name a process?

I don't think the emboldening is correct, because -ing gerunds name a process. See https://english.stackexchange.com/a/444498. -tion just names a result of that process. What do you think?      ...

0 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by PSTH‭

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Why past tense in imaginative play in Finnish?

When playing house with a child, they say things like "Nyt se meni nukkumaan." when they mean that I should have the toy I am playing with go to bed. Similar use of the simple past / imperfect tens...

2 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by tommi‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by viäränlaenen‭

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What is the origin of the missing "to be" in sentences like "the car needs washed"?

I grew up in western Pennsylvania (US), where constructs like "the car needs washed" are common. I was taught (yes, in schools in that region) that correct formal grammar requires "to be" in this ...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by Monica Cellio‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

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'Caution' and 'cautious' with ʃ or ʒ?

I know some people pronounce caution with an /ʃ/ and others with a /ʒ/, and the same is true of cautious. I wonder if anyone can provide information on who says each (by region, time, etc.).

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by msh210‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

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How does backwardation semantically relate to "backward"?

What semantic notions underlie any sense of 'backwardness' (like "backward" or "backwards"), with the meaning of 'backwardation' below? Etymonline overlooked this term. OED is too brusque and doesn...

0 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by PSTH‭  ·  edited 3y ago by tommi‭

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"Us neither" - Is it valid?

Recently, I read the phrase "Us neither", and for some reason it irked me. I don't know why though, since I can't immediately say what exactly is wrong with it. Logically, "Me neither" and "Neither...

0 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Moshi‭

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What is a good translation for "waypoint" into Catalan?

I am reading some texts about routes for running. They explain interesting routes and allow getting the GPS track. Also, there is the option to modify the GPS track by adding waypoints. Now I wan...

2 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by fedorqui‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Peter Taylor‭

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What explains Arabic "Greater Etymology"?

This article discusses "Greater Etymology" (الاشتقاق الكبير) in Arabic, which "recognizes the common meanings words with different base letters share," as opposed to "Lesser Etymology" (or morpholo...

0 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by user53100‭  ·  edited 3y ago by user53100‭

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Why does the dollar sign precede the number in English?

In English, at least in USA, people write $3 and mean three dollars (rather than dollars three), while other units are written after the number; no c99, h13, min22, '5, etc. to be seen. Why is it $...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by tommi‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

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Order of pronouns

In an examination in my country (India) I had a multiple choice question on the order of pronouns. Q: Please try to remember when I, you and my wife were talking there. Options: A. you, I and ...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by Severus Snape‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Severus Snape‭

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Why was Spanish the only Romance language to lose the initial "F" in Latin words?

Going through the History of the Spanish language article in Wikipedia, I read the section Latin f- to Spanish h- to null some interesting insight: F was almost always initial in Latin words, an...

0 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by fedorqui‭  ·  edited 3y ago by ArtOfCode‭

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Difference between Hindi verbs that ends with "a", "e" and "i"

I can speak/understand/write/read many Indian languages but my grammar is not good in all those languages which I have learnt later. I have typed using English text here for brevity. Let's say I h...

0 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Severus Snape‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Severus Snape‭

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Etymology of "ohyra"?

I'm wondering about the origin of the Swedish word ohyra (vermin). Someone humorously suggested that this would be because vermin are unwanted guests not paying rent (hyra), though they had no sour...

2 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Lundin‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by tommi‭

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Should we use "por que" or "porque" in "las autoridades se sentían estafadas *por que* se escaparan"?

I read this sentence in a book ("La Guerra Civil española", by Paul Preston): La tortura explicaba el gran número de suicidios que se registraban en las cárceles, y las autoridades, que se sentí...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by fedorqui‭

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How can a problem or puzzle be analogized as a knot?

An ESL student was asking about the quotation below at my school, but I don't know how to expound or simplify to her that "A problem or puzzle can be thought of as a knot." Any ideas? She knows wha...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by PSTH‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Jordan‭

42%
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Why is my Danglish pronunciation much better than Danish?

For background, there exists a stereotypical Danish pronunciation of English. "Danglish" can also mean other things, but this is what I am referring to, here. I lived one year in Denmark and can r...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by tommi‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Jordan‭

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Why word future events in the present?

If you're around tomorrow, stop by. I'll eat when I'm hungry. She'll be coming around the mountain when she comes. You're around tomorrow, I'm hungry, and she comes are describing fu...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by msh210‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

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What semantic notions underlie "gasket" with "little gird, maidservant"?

I see that Etymonline warns of gasket's uncertain origin, but I still pine to understand this possible etymology. I know little about sailing, and Wikipedia annunciates: gaskets are lengths of r...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by PSTH‭  ·  edited 3y ago by PSTH‭

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What is the difference between 'u heeft' and 'u hebt'?

When conjugating 'hebben' I can see both forms, are they the same, or is only one of them correct? Is there a regional difference between the two?

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by Peter‭  ·  edited 3y ago by msh210‭

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What semantic notions underlie 'privity' with 'privity of contract'?

The OED 3 ed, June 2007 defines b. privity of contract n. the limitation of a contractual relationship to the two parties making the contract, which prevents any action at law by an interested...

0 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by PSTH‭  ·  edited 3y ago by Moshi‭

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How did 'equity' semantically shift to mean 'Assets — Liabilities'?

I ask about Equity = Assets — Liabilities here, not its meaning as stock. See Personal Finance For Canadians For Dummies (2018), p 468. equity: In the real-estate world, this term refers to the...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by PSTH‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

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Etymology of "son of a gun"

What's the origin of the expression "son of a gun"? This comic explains a possible origin: British Navy used to allow women on naval ships, and any child born on board who had uncertain paternity ...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by hkotsubo‭  ·  edited 3y ago by hkotsubo‭

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What does "se" mean in Micah 6:8, "Ya se te ha declarado..."?

What is the purpose of "se" in the following text from Micah 6:8 (Nueva Versión Internacional)? ¡Ya se te ha declarado lo que es bueno! Ya se te ha dicho lo que de ti espera el Señor It doesn't s...

2 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Nathaniel‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by DonielF‭

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Are there any examples of neopronouns for non-binary or third gender people being fully incorporated into a language's grammar?

Many non-binary people now request that new third person pronouns (neopronouns) be used to refer to them, for example xe or ze. These have not been widely used by English speakers yet, but it's sti...

2 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by curiousdannii‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Conrado‭

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Why are kinship terms typical examples of inalienablity but not meronomy?

According to Chappell & McGregor (1996: 4) there are four typical types of inalienably possessed nouns: spatial relationships such as the ’top’ or ’front’ of something physical parts, espec...

0 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by curiousdannii‭  ·  edited 3y ago by curiousdannii‭

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+7 −1
What drives the complexity of a language?

Looking at English, its complexity seems to have been in constant decrease. For example, in the past, there were conjugations and a separate informal form of “you” (”thou”); all in all, the languag...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by celtschk‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

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~ません versus ~ないです

As far as my knowledge of Japanese goes, there are two ways to form polite negative forms of verbs, the direct conjugation ~ません and the plain negative conjugation ~ない with です added. Take for insta...

2 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Moshi‭  ·  edited 3y ago by Moshi‭

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Why is the ـً in "شُكْرًا" and others pronounced?

Why is the -an in "شُكْرًا" (shukran) pronounced? I've heard it pronounced this way in Modern Standard Arabic and in colloquial. In both, I'd usually expect the -an to not be pronounced, especiall...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by user53100‭  ·  edited 3y ago by user53100‭

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+3 −0
Why do certain Hebrew letters have alternate final forms?

Five Hebrew letters -- כ‎, מ‎, נ‎, צ‎, and פ‎ -- have different forms when at the end of a word. I have heard that this is true for certain letters in Arabic too, though I don't know if they're th...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by Monica Cellio‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Moshi‭

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How did 'the better to —' semantically shift to mean 'So as to — better'?

I screenshot Collins and Lexico. Let's treat this like a math problem. How exactly does "the better to —" = 'So as to — better'? Please show all steps between these two expressions.

0 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by PSTH‭  ·  edited 3y ago by Moshi‭

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+4 −0
Is Swedish more conservative than Danish and Norwegians?

I have read somewhere that Swedish is more conservative than the other continental North Germanic languages, Norwegian and Danish. Clearly Icelandic is more conservative then these all. But is the ...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by tommi‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

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+6 −0
Why are there different suffixes for people of different countries in English?

I never thought about it too much until now, but in Hebrew, the only suffix, if I'm not mistaken, to refer to a person from a country is to add the letter Yod to the end of the name of the country ...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by Harel13‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Moshi‭

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What does "unused root" mean?

Often when I search for the origins and meanings of certain words in Tanach, I'll come across something like Strong's saying that it's from or probably from an "unused root". For example: What e...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by Harel13‭  ·  edited 3y ago by msh210‭

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Is "estar de buenas" a widespread way to say "to be in a good mood"?

Recently I read in Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish that the phrase "estar de buenas" is a common way to say something like "to be in a good mood." I've found a bit of evidence of this online in...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by Nathaniel‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by fedorqui‭

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Why no "to"-infinitive in pual and huf'al?

One of the infinitives in Hebrew is translated "to [verb]" and starts with ל, l. For example, ללמוד, lilmod, "to learn", and להשאר, l'hishaer, "to remain"; it's used often. But two of the verb cons...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by msh210‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

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+2 −0
Icelandic patronymic pronunciation

I find the pronunciation of Icelandic highly regular and predictable on the whole, but male patronymics continue to puzzle me. The suffix "-son" is consistently pronounced with an initial /ʃ/ rath...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by Jirka Hanika‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Lundin‭

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+4 −0
What is the Thai word for plurally numerical answer expectancy?

I know that in Thai language, if someone asks a numeric question and expects an answer which is plurally numerical (two or more objects), it is common to add some special word to the question. I wo...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by deleted user  ·  last activity 3y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

80%
+6 −0
Using adjectives that are related to taste for describing emotions

You might have seen that most of the adjectives that are related to taste are used to describe emotions. It is very common. Salty, sour, sweet, bitter etc. We use these adjectives to describe peopl...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by Melancholy‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

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What is the origin (etymology) of the word مسدس (pistol)?

In Arabic the word مُسَدَّس refers to pistol when an arm is meant (see here on wikipedia). But it also refers to a hexagon (see here on wikipedia) -also سداسي أضلاع or سداسي- as it is a description...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by Medi1saif‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Moshi‭

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Why is linguistics limited in how much it can look back in time?

I've often seen that "we can only look back in time a short distance in linguistics". What prevents linguistics from deducing information far in the past? Is this limit something that can be pushed...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by user53100‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

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What is "these gentry" in Marxist writing?

In George Orwell's essay "Politics and the English Language", he refers to "[t]he jargon peculiar to Marxist writing (hyena, hangman, cannibal, petty bourgeois, these gentry, lackey, flunkey, mad d...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by msh210‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

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Has Japanese always had the polite "masu" form?

Japanese has what is known as the "polite form"/"masu form" and the "plain form". Notably, the two forms have completely different conjugations despite having the same meaning, differing only in po...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by Moshi‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Jirka Hanika‭

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How do linguists determine historical pronunciation?

There were two recent questions (here and here) about historical pronunications. I know that languages evolve in sound over time, but how do linguists determine what the original phonology was seve...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by Sigma‭  ·  edited 3y ago by Moshi‭

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Primary clause uses singular, subordinate co-reference is plural, what verb to use in English?

I sometimes find myself writing sentences with subordinate clauses where there is number mismatch between the primary and subordinate clauses. For example: The oath he swore, those words about se...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by Monica Cellio‭  ·  edited 3y ago by Moshi‭

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Why is “timbre” pronounced “tamber”?

One thing that’s always bothered me about the musical term timbre is its pronunciation. The word begs to be pronounced “timber,” yet it’s widely pronounced “tamber” instead. I understand the etymol...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by DonielF‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by user8078‭