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04:30
What is the function of the adjectives stiff and soft in these sentences?
> the rope they tied it with was frayed soft by weather
> The crib's iron strap hinges were rusted stiff
I was under the impression that they are called subject complements (analogous to object complements like new in I bought this new), but that term is apparently reserved for linking verbs.
I would be fine with calling those subject complements.
The verbs fray and rust might be said to function like copulae in those sentences.
Although the first term that comes to mind is praedicative adjectives.
Adjectives that are connected both to the verb and to the subject (or other complement).
Cf. she came first, he arrived late, the house was painted white.
Would you say that came and arrived function like copulae there?
I guess white is an object complement in painted white.
@Færd Yes.
Although they're not usually called that.
I like that analysis.
What about free and wild in run wild and do something free (of cost)?
But subject complements in copular sentences are, I believe, generally considered a kind of praedicative adjunct/modifier.
@Færd You could analyse those in a similar way.
04:43
Some dictionaries consider them adverbs.
Although the do something free one is a bit iffy.
Well, praedicative adjuncts have something in common with adverbs.
They modify the verb semantically.
Not always. Shut in rusted shut doesn't explain the rusting process at all.
Why not?
I mean not directly.
It describes what it results in.
A result can tell you something about the process.
04:45
So not directly.
I kind of understand why you say that, but I think it's semantically good enough.
I painted the house white.
It doesn't "directly" tell you something about the manner of painting, but mainly about the result, it could be argued.
Yeah, it's absurd to call that one an adverb.
Why?
It semantically resembles the function of many adverbs to some degree.
I don't know. Feels absurd.
> - How did you paint it?
> - White.
But you can also connect it to a complement of the verb (subject or object, usually), and its form doesn't look like an adverb, which makes it praedicative.
@Færd How did you come? On Monday.
And yet on Monday is as adverbial as it gets.
04:51
That's not a how. That's a when.
So the "how" question proves little.
I'm most comfortable with predicative adjective.
Good.
without the a. ;)
In Dutch we have an alternative name, doubly connected.
@Færd But that's not traditional!
04:53
I don't know why I should care about tradition per se.
@Cerberus Why doubly?
Connected to both verb and noun phrase (subject/object).
Huh.
In some other languages too consider lots of stuff connected to the verb, even if they directly describe the subject/object/etc.
Maybe not accurate semantically, but no strong objection.
Thanks @Cerberus.
Also found this answer, with some useful links within:
23
A: "waterway ... flowed sombre" - Should Joseph Conrad have used an adverb, not an adjective?

CowperKettleI've just been reading on "depictive constructions" and it seems to be the term used by some lingusts to describe such constructions. The waterway flowed sombre. The construction depicts the state of the waterway, not the manner of its flowing. Compare: John shouted at them angrily....

In linguistics, a resultative (abbreviated RES) is a form that expresses that something or someone has undergone a change in state as the result of the completion of an event. Resultatives appear as predicates of sentences, and are generally composed of a verb (denoting the event) a postverbal noun phrase (denoting the entity that has undergone a change) and a so-called resultative phrase (denoting the state achieved as the result of the action named by the verb) which may be represented by an adjective, a prepositional phrase, or a particle, among others. For example, in the English sentence The...
A secondary predicate is a (mostly adjectival) predicative expression that conveys information about the subject or the object but is not the main predicate of the clause. This structure may be analysed in many different ways. These may be resultative, as in (1) and (2) or descriptive (also called "depictive") as in (3). (1) She painted the town red (2) The film left me cold (3) Susan walked around naked. (Depictive over the subject, or "subject-oriented depictive") (4) John ate the meat raw. (Depictive over the object, or "object-oriented depictive") (5) All men are created equal. == Alt...
 
1 hour later…
06:08
@Færd Good finds.
Linguistics abounds in terminology!
It's sort of a social science, no? @Cerberus
@skillpatrol Yes, sort of, but also humanities.
And hello.
And goodbye, for it is bedtime.
Cya pal.
Ciao!
 
8 hours later…
14:32
@Tonepoet I came across this picture and I thought of you:
Russian version of Alice in Wonderland.
@Cerberus What time zone are you pretending to live in these days? yeesh
Can I use the word anxiety here twice? And is is correct here? "Speaking of anxiety tea and coffee is bad for anxiety".
Or maybe "Speaking of anxiety tea and coffee are bad for anxiety". but still I'm using the word "anxiety" twice here.
it should be are
using anxiety twice is fine
okay, thanks a lot.
also, I'd put a comma after the first anxiety for clarification of the reader. i.e. you're not speaking about "anxiety tea and coffee"
14:43
Ah yes, that makes sense.
 
1 hour later…
16:03
@MattE.Эллен but increases the level of pleonastic anxiety considerably.
all anxiety is pleonastic. I don't need it at all
You _can_ but stylistically it sounds repetitive. Preferred wording:
"Speaking of anxiety, tea and coffee are bad for it."
@MattE.Эллен You don't want to get any in your tea is all. It be OK in coffee.
Peeve of the day:
it should be "another thing coming".
What kind of weirdo uses 'think' as a noun'?
Wait...don't answer that.
it should be thing. it has always been thing. it will always be thing
I'll delete anyone who says different
@Mitch That one is good too. Thanks.
@Mitch I thought about it but it was coming across as stilted and puffy to me, I don't know why. But now I can use that phrasing too because you said so.
@MattE.Эллен Thang you.
@englishstudent repeating 'anxiety' sounds weird, like you what is this new anxiety? It's making me anxious!
about anxiety.
@englishstudent considers making up stuff to troll you
16:12
@Mitch haha exactly, that's why I asked.
remembers that that's all I ever do
@Mitch Please do. :)
attempts reverse puh sychology
You are a well reputed troll.
;)
@Mitch That's all linguists usually do. O.O
16:14
@M.A.R. I tend to agree with them when they give examples that are comparing gramatical, nongrammatical (or ungrammatical if you will), and various degrees of questionably grammatical.
Except when I don't.
OK...what's the temp where you are right now?
I want to feel good about not feeling so good.
@Mitch Linguistics are also all idiots. Except the ones that aren't.
@Mitch 20-something degrees
sort of the contra-inverse of schadenfreude, the feeling you get when you're worse off than others because that means they have to feel sorry for you.
Room is cozy and warm.
@Mitch I feel sorry for you 10-something degree peasants :P
@M.A.R. that's way too pleasant to be bearable.
How cold is where you're sitting on right now?
16:17
@Mitch Why "contra-inverse"? Why not just "contra" or "inverse"?
outside it's 0
inside it's as comfortable as a cat's tummy
@Mitch IKR, I'm looking for some modifications to make this armchair less comfy
I have a podcast going that's just purring noises.
@Mitch How large is the cat that ate you?
16:18
@M.A.R. Oh that's easy. tennis balls
@Mitch Hard to find where my hand can reach
@M.A.R. Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside it's too dark to read
What do I care about the purring of one who cannot love, like the cat? #Nietzsche
@Mitch Are you on twitter? I never find that site appealing. Good for news and gossip I guess.
Also there is a limit to how much you can put in a comment there, which sucks.
16:40
@englishstudent News and gossip is why our brain functions properly
17:13
OK, back to 'you have another think coming'.
It sounds ridiculous. It sounds like Dr. Seuss made it up. He can do that. But the rest of the world... pfft.
"How many thinks can you think?" That's what Dr Seuss does
Which makes it not an actual think
Thang kyou.
maybe dr. suess went back in time and invented it
@englishstudent I look at it but I don't 'do' it.
I never understood what the point was.
there was a Genie near by and he heard him wish "I wish I'd made up 'there's another think coming'"
But then other people mentioned they go on twitter (without explanation) so I thought I'd give it a try, and...
and you can think of it as another news source. 'follow' things you like, llike actual news outlets or people in your field who give news local to that field.
@MattE.Эллен He is timeless like those aliens in ... that movie... the one that starts with 'A'.
but is not 'Alien'
or 'Aliens'
or that other one.
Amy Adams is the main character, a linguist.
Alienz
17:19
@MattE.Эллен and changed all instances for all time so that we don't know if we're in this universe or that universe.
@Mitch contact
Big green aliens
(hint: it's always 'this' one)
@MattE.Эллен did your plane start OK?
@M.A.R. Nope. 'Addiction'?
@Mitch Independence Day
'Alliance'?
@MattE.Эллен which one? the old one or the remake?
'Allianz'?
17:21
The one with Amy Addamms?
Yes! That one!
'Arriance'?
'A Levels'?
'O Levels'?
'Oleomargarine?'
'Ovaltine'?
'Departures'? She gets on the alien spaceship and they're about to take off.
writes notes for sequel
@Mitch There are Youtube videos where cats are meowing for 10 hours. I always wondered who watched that shit. Apparently people are into it.
@MattE.Эллен What flight number, time and gate?
@Mitch HR1234, gate 42, 25am
17:26
@englishstudent Huh. That's weird. And presumably it's pretty common to think that's weird. Or am I weird to think it's weird.
not totally unexpected.
I have tagged a clip of 'the song that never ends' that repeats for 10 hrs.
I'm not totally crazy, I don't listen too it.
I'm just impressed that someone went to the trouble to make it.
And I think about the process.
Amy Adams is pretty. I will marry a woman just like her. :)
Like, why did they decide to stop at 10 hrs?
@englishstudent Maybe but she can't go out in the sun for very long
No, it is in loop. So unlimited. Just replay the whole thing.
Just sayin
@Mitch there is a thing with Bee Movie where people edit it to do something everytime they say the word "bee"
17:28
@englishstudent Oh
@MattE.Эллен An Alexa task?
or whateer weird thing they lke to call that
@Mitch Oh, I didn't know that. You are talking like her stalker. :P
Is it a me'morial ˌservice or a meˌmorial 'service?
@MattE.Эллен They should have called that 'How to make a 'Bee Movie' movie'
so that I could then wonder how they made the ' 'Bee Movie' movie' movie.
17:32
@Mitch Do you ever listen to a song in loops?
the only time I watch all of the Bee Movie, I watch "The Bee Movies but every time they say 'bee' the speed doubles"
@englishstudent I think all you need to do is look. red hair, light skin. needs to live entire life in a cloudy place
@Mitch maybe they'll rename it, just for you
@MattE.Эллен that should end quickly
17:33
@Mitch Hah, I see.
Nice observation.
Red skin, light hair: they must be from Mars
Her and Emma Stone.
@MattE.Эллен Maybe. Doubtful. There's probably a form for it, but Im just not in the mood.
Also, the 'Bee movie' isn't exactly the best movie.
you should write a script to fill out the form for you
and not particularly remarkable.
is it the beest?
17:37
@MattE.Эллен get's on it
@MattE.Эллен ha. no.
there's a movie that's beer?
'Hit export and ... wait.'
'hypersignify'
hm
wait... that's eleven hours long.
hm
Is the necessary here: "We are just shooting (the) shit here." I mean to talk casually. I know the original phrase has "the" in it but can I erase it in that sentence?
17:40
cheese and rice
@englishstudent yes. necessary.
Ah okay.
@Mitch Do you ever use that phrase in real life? Or is it not sophisticated for you? Just curious you know.
I mean I thought I'd ask since you are a native speaker and all.
1) it's an idiom and so unchangeable 2) meaningwise .. hm there's no #2, could be 'shooting shit' other one, you just don't say it that way
Because kids often use the idiom on the forums. Sometimes I see "the" there, sometimes don't.
But people don't care about grammar in casual speech I know.
@englishstudent It's very familiar to me, but I've had rare need to use it. But I don't think I would avoid it totally. I don't speak normally in a sophisticated (I'm guess you mean formal?) manner, unless talking to doctors or trying to relay information.
@englishstudent Kids, being people, are idiots.
haha
@Mitch Ah yes "formal".
@Mitch Why are you "formal" with doctors? The more casual and open we are with them the better I reckon. Because that way they know what's wrong. Also we are paying them lel.
You are talking about medical doctors right? I hope I didn't misread.
If it's the PhD doctors like in a workplace, then yeah, sure, I understand completely.
17:51
@englishstudent What? WHAT!? You should treat people with PhDs with the utmost respect. Anyone with a PhD is by definition a genius, a good person and better than non-PhD holders in bed.
That's what my PhD adviser told me anyway and I believe him.
@terdon Haha. OK. Fair enough. =)
Sure, sure. A doctor of philosophy is great. But a Master of Science is clearly better.
@terdon I didn't know PhDs were great in bed though. I have yet to experiment that. Where do I find a nice girl who has a PhD degree and who likes me?
If I could answer that, I'd be rich from my dating site.
@MattE.Эллен There's a scary thought.
oh sweet.
Anyway, I never considered having a PhD a sex symbol. I could be wrong I know. Time will tell.
It really, really isn't.
Maybe I will get one degree myself in the future. Just to hit on girls. ;)
18:01
In my experience, there is no correlation.
It is not an easy task I know.
@KitZ.Fox If there is, it's an inverse one.
I hope by the time you get a PhD, you will be hitting on women instead.
@terdon Eh. Maybe. I know some cool PhDs, some total jackasses.
18:02
@KitZ.Fox lel.
@KitZ.Fox True. I was just thinking of the relatively high representation of obsessive loners in high academia.
A lot of PhDs seem to think that because they are one, that makes them an authority at everything.
I don't think that's their fault though. Probably the by-product of a society that treats them that way.
I was thinking of Ben Carson, but he's actually an MD.
Same sort of thing though.
I've never understood that. Having gotten one myself I well know that all it really takes is effort. I've seen too many idiots get one to put any weight on the title.
I knew a woman who literally had sex with her whole committee. Even if her dissertation was meritorious, no one is ever going to believe that she earned it because she put the work in. Of course, no one outside that small group will probably ever know.
so. shrugs
So you have both a PhD and an MD @terdon?
18:09
Wow. That's several kinds of academic misconduct there.
@skullpetrol Eeek! No! No MD, I'm an actual scientist, not a bloody mechanic :P
It's funny in particular because you spend years focused on one very narrow small thing that you become an expert at, so it's the opposite of being an expert at everything and yet...
@terdon omg med students were the worst.
When I was in a doctoral program, I had to teach med students. I also lived in a basement apartment with med students in the house upstairs. I almost got pissed on or vomited on almost every weekend.
They were barely above poo-flinging in class too. Actually, if we'd had poo in class, they probably would have flung it.
Yeah. In their defense, they are put under tremendous pressure, so I can see why they'd need to let off steam. Not much fun for the rest of us though.
So many of them were so dumb too. Or just in it for "the prestige". ick.
@KitZ.Fox Oh. So she slept around to get her degree basically? If I'm understanding it correctly. (Btw is this sentence of mine punctuated correctly? I wrote "If I am understanding..." after a question mark.)
@englishstudent Yes.
18:13
Ok. Thanks.
Your punctuation is casual. Sounds like speaking. Intelligible.
I remember chatting with a med student a few years ago and I asked her what she was thinking of specializing in. She said "Either plastic surgery or Oncology" (or two other equally unrelated but lucrative fields). When I asked her why those two, she just said "because I want to be loaded".
@englishstudent you want to be precise and accurate with docs so they respond properly. It's easier to do that in formal language. If the only words I have a colloquial ones, I have to say a lot more to remove vagueness.
hell of a reason to become a healer that.
18:16
Also, since I think you are leaning towards understanding the social aspects, even though it is the 21st century, docs are still people and will show more respect and then treat you better if you talk like them, which is usually more formal
@KitZ.Fox docs usually ain't that .... bright. They have to know a lot and pattern recognize quick, but not necessarily ... thinkers.
But on the whole smarter than average
@Mitch Yeah, okay, I don't know how things work there, but if I was sick I would use the normal terminology like "Doctor, I came down with a fever, I was sweating all the time, I couldn't walk, felt pain in joints. I felt like dying. I'm dying doc!" something like that. But I see your point, well, you must know a lot of technical words then.
It is good to know the technical lingo so yeah I agree with you.
I wouldn't want to use "I'm dying" because that might be hyperbolic (or it might not) so is vague.
Oh I threw that as a joke. I know.
But I never use technical words when I visit them.
Docs will tend towards asking something like "on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is nothing and 10 is the worst pain you've ever felt"
I have a million dollar vocabulary though. No doubt about it.
=)
18:21
@englishstudent that is not a bad thing to do because we might use their technical word wrongly if we're not very familiar with their technical language
Yeah that's a possibility too. Very wise.
By formal I mean clear, not mumbling articulate with as little slang as possible. I don't know all their technical terms but I can still be formal
Don't want no malapropisms to get prescribed a head transplant instead of a blackhead removal
Take the lead from the doc how formal they want to be
Also there are so many medical shows around these days that you can play a doc very easily. But in a funny way.
18:27
> I beat him up right nice.
Can you use the adverb right freely?
I guess with other adverbials, yes: right past it, right on, etc.
But with adjectives and verbs, I don't know.
@KitZ.Fox yet, she had to focus on several narrow small things. har har har
@Færd it seems to be part of some dialects. "Right quick" is something I've heard in some American things
Right.
Haha
Maybe with a humorous effect?
although I realise those are song lyrics, so might not be representative
18:37
It's ok (grammatical and natural) but it feels ... too informal/dialectal? No particular dialect just...
I think in British it would be a class marker
It doesn't say 'I am from Philadelphia' or 'I am a garbage man'...
> I'll be total nice with you; I promise.
Like this, perhaps?
I repeat myself
No that one didn't work
You totally need to use totally there
What a total ignorant I am.
18:39
There is a tendency to drop -ly.
@MattE.Эллен Huh. I would have thought that was BrE actually.
But not there
What a total genius I am.
@Færd ignoramus
@Færd yes
@Mitch I thought you were going to say but not there.
18:41
Total is correct as an adjective modifying the noun genius
It was irrelevant. It doesn't modify adjectives.
Back to right.
Total totally modified genius there, there's no other interpretation
@terdon I can imagine a west country farmer saying it, but not in general
right back atcha
Yeah. West Country. Whatever country it's west of.
How do the lyrics go?
> he got a right good kicking from the Edinburgh Review.
> The cooks did a right good job, Colonel!
> Well, you did a right smart job on the stalls.
18:45
> On we sweep with threshing oar
Our only goal will be the western shore
@Færd yep those all sound informal/local
Alright. Thanks.
@Mitch Said Columbus on his way to 'India'.
Haha
Columbus was dumb
He had good staff though
19:06
@MattE.Эллен har har har
19:21
> And act like ya tryin' to get this money right quick
is the specific line I was thinking of
 
2 hours later…
21:15
@MattE.Эллен that's not ... unamerican even if from West Country (but I've heard the the American R derives from the WC R. But it's not as simple as that)
21:45
@Mitch I just remembered I was talking to some medical doctor in the past and she told me that doctors sometimes get intimated when their patients talk in a technical language, the reason being that a doctor then knows the patient knows shit (diagnosis etc. even from the internet) and so they have to be careful with the diagnosis etc. and not make mistakes.
The same person also told me that these days due to internet most patients are like that i.e. they talk in a technical language or like to talk in a technical language. Well everyone has access to medical websites etc.
Is this a correct sentence ? "I'm always fascinated by how software is a part of our everyday life"
Sounds good to me.
@englishstudent good point
@englishstudent and they use the fancy terms, but don't necessarily know how to use them correctly.
 
2 hours later…
23:26
@Færd To return to this old message, indeed, you don't need to learn every idiomatic expression that anyone has ever used. It's just people who use words, not magical essence you need to ascend to a higher form of being.
In fact, it's probably better to remain ignorant about ugly things in order to reduce the chance that it might subconsciously influence your style.
So you just need words to ascend to a higher form of being?
And you don't need to learn everything in order to avoid it: if you base your style on sound principles, you'll avoid them of your own accord. A desire for some consistency and a distaste for vulgarities will get you far.
@tchrist "The secret letter is not B." "So it must be Q?"
Odd.
I was watching a short film in Portuguese.
I was rather proud of myself when, after thinking it sounded like Brazilian all the time, I saw a Brazilian flag in the ending scene.
It's pretty obvious which is which, no?
23:33
And one guy even seemed to have a rather nasty vulgar accent.
Perhaps.
The one you can't ever seem to figure out which words are which in is from Portugal. :)
French should be worse, but for me it's easier, perhaps because I had it in my brain for longer, younger.
I also noticed that Brazilians seems to ask "sabe?", while the Portuguese ask what sounds like "sabs?" /sabʃ/ or /sapʃ/.
Well, right.
Brazilians don't usually use tu forms.
@tchrist I'm not sure the difference is that huge.
@tchrist Ah, that explains it.
"sabes (tu)?" has a silent "e" in /sapʃ/
23:35
They use você, something like that?
Yes.
Most of them.
@tchrist Yes, I figures it must.
And some of them randomly mix in the tu clitics with você forms. It's confusing.
I remember there was something odd about you in Brazil.
They are always sounding formal. :)
23:36
Like the English?
But we've forgotten, as have they.
tens fogu?
When I just hear it without the "-s" I always wonder if they're really talking to me. :)
Also, the Brazilians will pronounce sabe as /sabi/.
Mm it did sound more like -e in the film.
Lucky you!
The Portuguese reduce it differently.
Nearly silent, usually.
They have this vowel that only Romanians also have for the Romance tongues.
Oh?
I know the Portuguese like to swallow letters like the French.
> European Portuguese has taken this process one step further, raising /a, ɐ/, /e, ɛ/, /o, ɔ/ to /ɐ/, /ɨ/, /u/ in all unstressed syllables. The vowels /ɐ/ and /ɨ/ are also more centralized than their Brazilian counterparts. The three unstressed vowels /ɐ, ɨ, u/ are reduced and often voiceless or elided in fast speech.
If /ɨ/ is elided, which mostly it is in the beginning of a word and word finally, the previous consonant becomes aspirated like in 'ponte' (bridge) [ˈpõtʰ], or if it is /u/ is labializes the previous consonant like in 'grosso' (thick) [ˈgɾosʷ].
Might be [ɯ].
The /ɨ/ is like in English roses (versus in Rosa’s).
Yeah, that one.
It moves more towards /u/ compared with a normal schwa.
23:49
OK.
> The three unstressed vowels /ɐ, ɨ, u/ are reduced and often voiceless or elided in fast speech.
They all become that [ɯ] thing, or are just completely gone.
That sounds very Portuguese.

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