English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

RegDwight

8:01 PM

Just don't waste too much time and nerves on stuff like this.

Vitaly

@z7sg Yeah, basically, I can't see how it could possibly gain the critical mass required to get through the private beta stage. I have met precious few serious Russian learners in my life, even though I regularly visit language exchange websites. A Coptic or Gothic proposal would be on a par with those two proposals in question.

RegDwight

20

Ancient Greek

Proposed Q&A site for newbies or veterans interested in Ancient, Attic, Classical, or Biblical Greek

Currently in definition.

That's 20 followers after two months.

MrHen

@RegDwight Well, yeah. I haven't interacted with him much. This is sort of me testing the waters.

Vitaly

yeah, even Ancient Greek is more successful than Russian

MrHen

@Fx Voted.

RegDwight

8:04 PM

38

Planned Languages

Proposed Q&A site for questions about auxiliary, constructed, planned, and artificial languages, including Esperanto, Na'vi, Klingon, Ido, Lojban, Sindarin, Láadan, Toki Pona, etc. Also field linguistics questions, such as how to document a new language.

Currently in definition.

9

Language Preservation

Proposed Q&A site for people interested in the active documentation and preservation of languages, especially endangered ones.

Currently in definition.

77

Natural Language Processing and Computational Linguistics (NLP/CL)

Proposed Q&A site for NLP/CL students and faculty in the academic research community as well as industry professionals

Currently in definition.

There's a site for everything...

MrHen

@RegDwight Purr...

RegDwight

Or, more precisely, there are no sites...

@MrHen I only know taH pagh taHbe', or however it's written.

Vitaly

toki pona li toki pona ^_^

MrHen

@RegDwight Well, I know jack squat about any of them. But I do like them. :D

I would be the one asking questions on that site. :)

RegDwight

@MrHen That's the thing, it's a weird mix, I'm not sure it will fly.

Vitaly

8:08 PM

I am surprised not to see Ithkuil or Ilaksh in that list

MrHen

@RegDwight It doesn't seem to be gaining speed. :(

Nyuszika7H

'night all

Vitaly

if you want to get familiar with all languages the world over, Ilaksh/Ithkuil is the way to go

z7sg

@Vitaly It's supposedly the fifth world language so there should be more people learning it. People are just philistines I guess.

Vitaly

Night @Nyuszika7H

RegDwight

8:09 PM

@Nyuszika7H Good night.

Yeah, I would love to see questions about toki pona.
"How do I say X in toki pona?" — "Dude, here's our canonical list of 120 words, just look it up."
"How do I say Y in toki pona?" — "Du-uhde! Teh list! Just use it already!"

Vitaly

Hahahahaha!

to be fair to toki pona, it's not as easy as it seems, for it requires proficient concept decomposition

F'x

I'd much rather talk PIE than toki pona!

Vitaly

it's not quite straightforward that a duck is a silly water bird, for example

RegDwight

Oh, I am fair to all languages. I would make jokes about Russian, too, if Putin wasn't lurking.

Apr 22 at 23:55, by RegDwight

Just listen to some Russians talking. Can you make out a single "word"?

F'x

I had a friend who made a list of "if a djinni asked me for a list of 10 languages (actual, historical, specific dialects, invented, anything), and gave me instant knowledge of some of them (not knowing in advance how many he would grant me), what would I ask for?"

it's actually a fun task

RegDwight

8:18 PM

Well, let's see... certainly not French... that ain't even a language...

Sarkozy admits French language a hoax after Wikileaks exposé

F'x

his order was: 1. Classical Arabic, 2. Mandarin, 3. Russian, 4. Swedish, 5. Classical Greek, 6. Japanese, 7. Sanskrit, 8. Irish Gaelic, 9. Italian, 10. German, 11. Old English, 12. Classical Latin, 13. Turkish, 14. Tamil, 15. Wolof

Vitaly

does English include Old English, Present-day English, Middle English, Proto-Germanic and PIE? it should, so I would just ask for English and get all the bunch for free

F'x

added info is: he's a native Canadian English and French speaker, knows a bit of German already

@Vitaly no; the idea is, you specify a language, time and place, and you become fluent like the people living in that place at that time

Vitaly

awwww.

F'x

so, you'd have to choose: English Boston 20th century or English London 20th or Old English 16th Anglia or …

RegDwight

8:21 PM

@Fx Well, that's pretty useless, dare I say.

F'x

@RegDwight well, it's not a very powerful djinni, you see

RegDwight

I'd obviously go with contemporary languages, then.

F'x

@RegDwight I didn't know NewsBiscuits; how does it compare to The Onion?

@RegDwight no curiosity have you?

RegDwight

If no one can tell that I'm speaking flawless 5000 B.C. Thingamajiggian, I might just as well just talk rubbish.

F'x

@RegDwight but on the other hand, you can ask for Linear B :)

Vitaly

8:24 PM

well then, since that includes invented languages, I'd ask for C++ and Haskell, get instant knowledge of them (which would make me a native speaker of those languages), create an AI, and then the ‎AI would become my personal djinni, giving me immortality and everything I ever wish to get

F'x

I believe that makes you an instant celebrity in some circles

RegDwight

@Fx You see, I have that theory that you can't really appreciate the beauty of a language by yourself. You really need a second person.

F'x

@RegDwight which is why they invented this thing called literature

of course, in the case of Linear B, it's not like you have entire bookshelves to choose from

RegDwight

Show me literature in 5000 B.C. Thingamajiggian, and I might consider subscribing to your newsletter.

Again, there's a heckuva lot of literature in contemporary English.

@Fx No idea, I got the link from the Language Log.

Speaking of which, THE MISERABLE FRENCH LANGUAGE AND ITS INADEQUACIES

Funny stuff.

MrHen

I just want to say that I love the new blockquote borders.

RegDwight

8:27 PM

Do have a look in case you haven't.

F'x

@RegDwight I already have a look

in fact, I've got more than one, I've got looks! (and good ones at that)

Vitaly

also, one could argue that symbols in mathematical notation are letters, mathematical concepts are words, theorems are sentences, etc, etc; which in effect makes mathematics a language, so I would ask for the mathematical language and become omniscient (for the Universe could as well be generated by mathematics)

F'x

3

In memoriam

2

RegDwight

I have a feeling this will be the message that gets you your Outspoken badge.

F'x

@RegDwight Is that the chat badge? I already have it!

z7sg

8:35 PM

@Fx bring them back, i miss them so!

RegDwight

@Fx No you don't.

You have Talkative

F'x

@z7sg well, here's something for you, then

7

A: What is the English word to describe this skill?

I would say clever, quick-witted or, informally, smart: clever (adjective) quick to understand, learn, and devise or apply ideas; intelligent. quick-witted (adjective) showing or characterized by an ability to think or respond quickly or effectively.

@RegDwight so there are two of them? since when? (that's a rethorical question, I'll go look it up on meta)

RegDwight

Outspoken was introduced on January 22nd.

Talkative on December 2nd.

F'x

I should probably CC @Billare too on this one: english.stackexchange.com/questions/23014/…

I don't believe there is any badge still "easily" accessible to me :(

RegDwight

I think Nice Answer is within your reach.

F'x

8:42 PM

all the good tags are created, I have too much discipline for self-learner, badges with very high votes or views are apparently not for me

maybe [badge:copy editor]

RegDwight

@Fx Never say never.

Given enough time, all of your answers and questions will get thousands of votes.

F'x

@RegDwight breaking your own rule twice in a few seconds

RegDwight

I'm not breaking a rule, I'm quoting a movie title.

F'x

“You've earned the "Outspoken" badge. See your profile.”

RegDwight

Sorry that there were no quotes around it, Jin stole them.

F'x

8:43 PM

for two stars? was I so close already?

RegDwight

Well, obviously, I have never starred anything of yours before!

And never will again!

F'x

@RegDwight how's that for a compliment!

RegDwight

There, two more nevers for ya.

@Fx That's not a compliment, that's a

Mar 22 at 19:15, by RegDwight

Joke

A joke is a question, short story, or depiction of a situation made with the intent of being humorous. To achieve this end, jokes may employ irony, sarcasm, word play and other devices. Jokes may have a punchline that will end the sentence to make it humorous. A practical joke or prank differs from a spoken one in that the major component of the humour is physical rather than verbal (for example placing salt in the sugar bowl). Purpose Jokes are typically for the entertainment of friends and onlookers. The desired response is generally laughter; when this does not happen the joke is...

For the incognoscenti.

Okay people, now stop starring him, he's got the badge already.

F'x

RegDwight

You fail. It should be a quote.

F'x

8:46 PM

RegDwight

Ah. Much better now.

F'x

RegDwight

20 secs ago, by F'x

This is a quote.

F'x

yes, please help me make this go viral

only all together can we restore the giant-red-quote-balance of the Universe

so many of these opening quotes were never closed

RegDwight

Okay people, LEGO time.

F'x

8:48 PM

1 min ago, by RegDwight

This is a quote.

that's more like it

RegDwight

@Fx Don't make me go ABBA.

MrHen

And... downvotes are starting to land. I was wondering if this was going to happen...

F'x

and This, right here, is a self-referential quote

14 secs ago, by F'x

and This, right here, is a self-referential quote

RegDwight

(ABBA message posted to show that I win, and deleted cause it's hugenormous.)

Case closed.

F'x

well, I'm not impressed: all the recursive quoting you can do is countable (and not even that, but finite)

@MrHen what downvotes?

MrHen

8:52 PM

@Fx Actually, nevermind. I misread the rep page. Only one came through which isn't too unusual.

F'x

ok, gotta go do something less funny but that pays the rent

hi @Robusto!

Robusto

Hi

I've been payin' the goddamn rent since 6:30 this morning. Tired of it.

RegDwight

@JSBangs lo and behold, now questions start getting tagged word-usage.

@Robusto Ahoi.

Robusto

Ahoi-hoi

F'x

@Robusto hey, you're an American, you could consider switching parties:

Rent Is Too Damn High Party

The Rent Is Too Damn High Party is a single-issue political party in New York that has nominated candidates for mayor of New York City in 2005 and 2009 and for governor and senator in 2010. Jimmy McMillan was the mayoral candidate both times and a candidate for governor. In 2005, he received more than 4,000 votes, and more than 40,000 in 2010. The party has three registered members in the state. McMillan himself is registered as a Republican (previously a Democrat) for the purposes of running in that party's primary elections. Platform As its name implies, the central tenet of the Rent I...

Robusto

8:56 PM

Sounds like a tea-bagger thing.

F'x

@Robusto no, it's like a liberal New Yorkers' party

Robusto

Screw New York.

F'x

@RegDwight is that like a badly written "ahoy", or a Czech "ahoi"?

RegDwight

@Fx It's in German. Robusto can handle it.

In fact, he needs his daily dose of it.

F'x

ok, understood

tschüß, then

Viel Spaß!

RegDwight

9:12 PM

Ciao.

MrHen

0

Q: Personal Pronoun order.

Not just English Why are proper nouns when conjugating verbs always given in the same order. I You He She We You Plural They (or he's and she's depending on the language) Does anyone know?

I don't understand this question.

What am I missing?

RegDwight

Well he's asking why it's always 1st, 2nd, 3rd person singular, then 1st, 2nd, 3rd person plural.

Which is rather self-explanatory if you word it the way I just did.

MrHen

@RegDwight Why what is always in that order?

RegDwight

Also, it's the same across most (all?) languages I'm familiar with.

@MrHen I am, you are, he/she/it is, we are, you are, they are.

It made more sense in Old English.

Or take German, French, Spanish, Russian.

Ich bin, du bist, er/sie/es ist, wir sind, ihr seid, sie sind.

MrHen

@RegDwight That isn't helping. I don't understand what the question is asking. Where is this order? What are they referring to?

they are "always given in the same order"

what does that mean?

what is given? And where?

What does "given" mean?

RegDwight

9:21 PM

When you conjugate verbs, you do it in this order.

Any verb in any language.

Much like with cases, the nominative always being the first.

MrHen

@RegDwight But you can only do one at a time?

RegDwight

de.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C3%AAtre

MrHen

Is it asking why the tables always list them in the same order?

RegDwight

Yes.

MrHen

@RegDwight Oh

RegDwight

9:23 PM

Which, again, is self-explanatory if you think 1st, 2nd, 3rd person.

MrHen

That seems like a lame question...

I guess I was looking for something more interesting

@RegDwight Agreed.

So... that being clarified... how is this on-topic?

RegDwight

I'm not sure it is. It says "not just English" in bold right in the first line.

Ha @Cerberus is in our sitez answering questionz.

I have commented on the question.

Cerberus

9:42 PM

Hai.

Yeah I just gave a bit of a generic speaks-for-itself answer.

I wasn't sure what this guy wanted to know exactly.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…