I’ma take this one step further and say I love when people sing in their “native” language—not everyone has the advantage of having their native tongue recognized as a language worthy of “National” status. So here’s to all those who sing in Kaqchikel, and Cebuano, and other poorly recognized tongues!
(Source: eurovision-confessions)
View Larger ALL of this. Encourage people to try new words, to mess them up, to experiment with vocabulary, to learn complicated adjectives and verbs and nouns, because words are fun.
Also, don’t be a jerk.
i still don’t believe that segue is pronounced the same as segway
like fuck you it ends the same way as vague and vogue and plague and there is literally no reason it should be pronounced segway i call bullshit
Those words are French origin, segue is Italian origin.
English is a terrible language let’s pick a new lingua franca
You can’t expect native speakers of a language who learned a word via reading to be able to pronounce it “correctly”—especially in a language whose orthography is highly resistant to change. Take Spanish for instance, which usually will change the loan word to match Spanish pronunciation conventions—if you know the basic rules of Spanish orthography, you can pronounce with confidence any word you come across in reading. With English, this is impossible. Not to mention the irregularities that abound—if a younger person came across the word “bough” how on earth would he be expected to know how it’s pronounced? Buff? Boff? Bauw? Bouw?
I. have. found. my. husband. and. soulmate. He is interested in linguistic, like syntax, grammar, and word formation. He starts learning a language by doing an in-depth study of the grammar, the structure of the language, which was how I learnt my Japanese; when I got so…
Am I in the minority as a linguist who doesn’t like learning languages through hard linguistics? (other than Phonology?)
I like to conceptualize language-learning as top-down versus bottom-up, where my top-down skills would be linguistic analysis, grammatical awareness, etc., basically skills that are “slow” and revisionary, whereas bottom-up skills would be the automation of language production and comprehension through drilling & rehearsal.
I’m more of the Krashen school of heavy input based language-learning. Little study/drilling/rehearsal and lots of dubbed Doctor Who/original shows/music/podcasts/media immersion. Also anki, but with sentence cards—no isolated words, and with audio provided by wonderful native speakers from RhinoSpike. All this, all day, erryday. :D
But I have no clue what I’m doing lololololol
Actually, Americans still have the original British accent. We kept it over time and Britain didn’t. What we currently coin as a British accent developed in England during the 19th century among the upper class as a symbol of status. Historians often claim that Shakespeare sounds better in an American accent.
No. Not much above is actually true. Let me try to explain in the most simplistic way how language change happens when one language gets exported to a far-away politically-separated land. (This is not meant to be a strict lesson in history, although there are some parallels)
Let’s say we have a group of people who live on Circle Island that speak dialect A of Circlish. They live uncontroversially under the reign of King Circulo III.
But after some time, King Circulo starts getting a big head, and acting tyrannical, and a group of persecuted Circlians escape, setting sail for Square Island, the land of freedom and easily-purchased fire-arms.
These renegade Circlians settle down, and establish the debatably ineffective Democratic Republic of Square Island. They are no longer Circlian Pawns of the King, but liberated Squarites led by George Pentagonian. However, they still speak the same dialect A of their separated Circlian brethren.
Over the centuries, the two far-removed peoples continue on their separate paths, interacting every now and then, but for the most part minding their own business. The speech of the Circlians changes little by little, as languages always have. Certain sounds become dropped in speech. Others are added. The popular slang of one year is replaced the next year by the hippest words this side of the Triangle River. Before you know it, a distinct dialect B has emerged, replacing the now obsolete dialect A.
Meanwhile, the same thing has been happening to the speech of the good polygon-fearing citizens of Square Island. But their dialect has changed in different ways. Where some sounds have been dropped over in Circle Island, they have been retained on the other side of the Oval Sea. Different expressions fall out of fashion, and some things said on Square Island, in what can now be labeled as dialect C sound downright strange to the subjects of reigning monarch, Her Circulosity Queen Cerclea IV. And vice versa.
Of course students on both sides of the pond are still required to read literature from good ol’ King Circulo’s time, and they recognize most of what is said, but other things are less clear, and some passages understandably confuse the most intelligent speakers of dialect B and C. Critically no one speaks the “original Circlish.” In fact, it is hard to pin down exactly what would be the original language—because it had been changing since before writing was invented all those years ago in the small hamlet of Elliptico.
However, all these good folks can still communicate with each other, which is very helpful for Circle-citizens who watch Squarish movies (which dominate the market), and for Square-citizens who watch Circlish sci-fi shows involving evil salt shaker aliens that are intent on eliminating the mysterious Professor What.
More centuries pass, and the two dialects of this language have both continued to change. They’ve changed SO MUCH that now the people of these two Isles can no longer talk to each other in what used to be their native dialect. Only the most well-studied professors of dead languages can still read the old tongue of King Circulo. In Circle Island, phrase books are sold to potential tourists to Square Island, so they can talk to the local Squarites in their own language, Squarish. On Square Island, they continue watching Circlish television and cinema, but only with subtitles.
The two peoples of these islands now speak different languages, that are not mutually intelligible.
So there you have it.
Now back to the real world.
Neither Americans nor the British speak with the “original British accent”, whatever the hell that is. While the accents in Great Britain did indeed ‘develop’ in the 19th century (and the 18th, and the 20th, and the 15th-17th… etc.), so did the accents in North America after colonization. They changed in both places, and WITHIN both places (The Deep South, New England, Scotland, Wales, South England, etc all have distinct accents/dialects).With regards to the great Bard, no one speaks his dialect of English today, but if you listen to clips of what his pronunciation may sounded like, honestly, it sounds a lot like Scottish English (to my ears at least), which still doesn’t mean that they or anyone else has the “original British accent.”
Good day! :)
Thanks to Daniel for this MS Paint explanation of how it really truly works.
It was actually Paintbrush for Mac OS X! Minor detail..
Actually, Americans still have the original British accent. We kept it over time and Britain didn’t. What we currently coin as a British accent developed in England during the 19th century among the upper class as a symbol of status. Historians often claim that Shakespeare sounds better in an American accent.
No. Not much above is actually true. Let me try to explain in the most simplistic way how language change happens when one language gets exported to a far-away politically-separated land. (This is not meant to be a strict lesson in history, although there are some parallels)
Let’s say we have a group of people who live on Circle Island that speak dialect A of Circlish. They live uncontroversially under the reign of King Circulo III.
But after some time, King Circulo starts getting a big head, and acting tyrannical, and a group of persecuted Circlians escape, setting sail for Square Island, the land of freedom and easily-purchased fire-arms.
These renegade Circlians settle down, and establish the debatably ineffective Democratic Republic of Square Island. They are no longer Circlian Pawns of the King, but liberated Squarites led by George Pentagonian. However, they still speak the same dialect A of their separated Circlian brethren.
Over the centuries, the two far-removed peoples continue on their separate paths, interacting every now and then, but for the most part minding their own business. The speech of the Circlians changes little by little, as languages always have. Certain sounds become dropped in speech. Others are added. The popular slang of one year is replaced the next year by the hippest words this side of the Triangle River. Before you know it, a distinct dialect B has emerged, replacing the now obsolete dialect A.
Meanwhile, the same thing has been happening to the speech of the good polygon-fearing citizens of Square Island. But their dialect has changed in different ways. Where some sounds have been dropped over in Circle Island, they have been retained on the other side of the Oval Sea. Different expressions fall out of fashion, and some things said on Square Island, in what can now be labeled as dialect C sound downright strange to the subjects of reigning monarch, Her Circulosity Queen Cerclea IV. And vice versa.
Of course students on both sides of the pond are still required to read literature from good ol’ King Circulo’s time, and they recognize most of what is said, but other things are less clear, and some passages understandably confuse the most intelligent speakers of dialect B and C. Critically no one speaks the “original Circlish.” In fact, it is hard to pin down exactly what would be the original language—because it had been changing since before writing was invented all those years ago in the small hamlet of Elliptico.
However, all these good folks can still communicate with each other, which is very helpful for Circle-citizens who watch Squarish movies (which dominate the market), and for Square-citizens who watch Circlish sci-fi shows involving evil salt shaker aliens that are intent on eliminating the mysterious Professor What.
More centuries pass, and the two dialects of this language have both continued to change. They’ve changed SO MUCH that now the people of these two Isles can no longer talk to each other in what used to be their native dialect. Only the most well-studied professors of dead languages can still read the old tongue of King Circulo. In Circle Island, phrase books are sold to potential tourists to Square Island, so they can talk to the local Squarites in their own language, Squarish. On Square Island, they continue watching Circlish television and cinema, but only with subtitles.
The two peoples of these islands now speak different languages, that are not mutually intelligible.
So there you have it.
Now back to the real world.
Neither Americans nor the British speak with the “original British accent”, whatever the hell that is. While the accents in Great Britain did indeed ‘develop’ in the 19th century (and the 18th, and the 20th, and the 15th-17th… etc.), so did the accents in North America after colonization. They changed in both places, and WITHIN both places (The Deep South, New England, Scotland, Wales, South England, etc all have distinct accents/dialects).With regards to the great Bard, no one speaks his dialect of English today, but if you listen to clips of what his pronunciation may sounded like, honestly, it sounds a lot like Scottish English (to my ears at least), which still doesn’t mean that they or anyone else has the “original British accent.”
Good day! :)
SOMEDAY THE LANGUAGE WE SPEAK TODAY WILL JUST BE ANOTHER STAGE OF HISTORICAL ENGLISH!!
THEN IT WILL BECOME EITHER 100% MORE BORING OR 100% MORE INTERESTING DEPENDING ON WHO YOU ASK
AS FOR ME, I’LL JUST BE SITTING IN THE CORNER CACKLING AND SAYING “YES. YES.”
okay I’m gonna reblog this post to my main blog because it I truly feel that it expresses some sort of Deep Truth about me
And someone will say “Are you going to the store?” and Pedant Pete will say “um, excuse me, it is improper and ungrammatical to include ‘are,’ in a question like that, you ignorant fool. You know anything about grammar? Wow. The proper way to say it is ‘You going to the store?’”
Go and hunt, for the bounty of Tumblr is great, and the spoils many. But be wary of the Spanish tag, for you will find nothing but the most vile canker blossomery there. And my most dear of progeny, you should find equal fear and loathing in the Linguistics tag, for there lies, not talk of language, but rather sorrow, woe and gnashing of teeth. Lastly, t’would be wise to stay away from the hipster blogs, for no glory is to be found in depictions of ugly sweaters and coffee mugs.
Ah! but not all is lost, there are many to help you on your journey, such as the social justice blogs, and the gays. Oh! rejoice! and be steadfast, fruit of these loins, that you are embarking on this most special of outings. Do not forget your dear mother and father, we who cherish you, nor the home from whence you came, but for now, leave these worries aside, and away!
Go.
Tumbl!
scandalousdan reblogged your post: a thing that has bothered me recently: the…
I realize of course, that the post is referring to writing, but even then, does it really matter if you understand the meaning? It’s obvious why people get them mixed up. Spelling systems tend to be based on pronunciation, and logically people tend to spell these words in the same way. The only difference between people who misspell them and people who spell them correctly is that the first group hasn’t come across a guide and memorized the arbitrary forms.
ACTUALLY FOR ME it is not just being picky about spelling
correct word usage for me has a lot of connotations about being well-read, intelligent, versatile, and so on. it’s something I particularly value in my own writing, when I do write, and in the writing of others. I enjoy the fact that each word, no matter how much it may sound like another word, has its own distinct origin, history, and connotation.
to take away all of that and declare the nuances between words as “arbitrary forms” is to begin to deconstruct language. and I’m pretty sure language is already pretty deconstructed on its own.
If you study linguistics, you’ll find that language is not “desconstructing”—whatever that means, and it’s still going pretty strong ;)
My point was that people can understand the distinctions between “peak” and “peek” without knowing the spelling of either form, and in speech you can’t tell what “spelling” they are using (because they aren’t using a spelling). And just because people misspell the word (because they might not be as good at arbitrary memorization as you) does not make them unintelligent. And even if English spelling were changed so that those three (relatively uncommon) words were spelled the same, it doesn’t mean the history of those words (and their pronunciations, spellings over the years, etc) would change. It would be another step in the history of those words! There are people called etymologists who, with lexicographers, historical linguists, and other professionals, document words, and study their history and development.
I myself, as an amateur linguist, do like English orthography because a lot of times word origens are transparent in the spelling. But spelling has never been difficult for me, and I think that the benefits of a simpler spelling system for those who don’t have our arbitrary memorization abilities would outweigh the historical transparency of English orthography. After all, like I said, if you want to know the history, there are books and people to go to. We don’t need to spend years teaching kids to spell just because we’re used to a frankly archaic spelling system.
people who say “I could care less” make me want to rip my face off because that means the coMPLETE FUCKING OPPOSITE OF WHAT YOU’RE TRYING TO SAY
I don’t wish to rain on the parade of grammar pedantry, but as a speaker of American English, and a proud user of this disputed phrase, let me offer up a quick defense. The objection is that “I could care less” is not logical, and it not only means something other than what the speaker intends to say, but indeed, the opposite. This, however, is not the case.
The renowned Harvard psycho-linguist Steven Pinker argued, analyzing intonation patterns in the mouths of American and British speakers (Brits tend to say “I couldn’t care less,” while the disputed phrase is characteristically American) that the American pattern was sarcastic, and so uttering it makes perfect sense, and means, more or less, the same as the British phrase.
Others have posited that the American phrase originated from something like “I don’t think I could care less,” but that eventually people stopped saying the first part, but retaining the meaning (namely, “I couldn’t care less”) in their heads. In this way, it’s become somewhat of an idiom, which don’t always follow the same patterns as other constructions in a language. For instance, there may have been a time when I beg your pardon actually meant “I’m asking you, please, to pardon me”—and it is still used this way by some speakers, but the majority of the time, when someone says this, they mean WHAT DA FUQ YOU JUST SAY? I don’t think anyone would argue that they are wrong in saying it.
That’s the cool thing about language, meanings change, word orders change, ERRYTING CHANGES. Let’s celebrate that, and not make others feel bad about their usage, or stress ourselves out over the speech of other people.
In short: I could care less and I couldn’t care less about whether or not you could or couldn’t care less.
(Source: jarobinson)
