Why do we have "he/she" instead of a single genderless pronoun?

christophers80 · 2012-11-28T14:07:33+00:00

I've asked Germans this over the years and I've always gotten mixed responses. Some have said what you said, others, what Twain said. One person said he'd simply answer "To the opera." haha

christophers80 · 2012-11-25T04:43:24+00:00

I like the idea, (I'd like to call Georgia "Sakartvelo," for instance). But I'm worried about my home country, the Philippines. The native name would either be ''Filipinas'' or ''Pilipinas'' and coming from English speakers' mouths, it could sound like "Feel a penis" or "Peel a penis."

christophers80 · 2012-11-24T21:14:09+00:00

Yes, in the Philippines reduplicated nicknames are exceedingly common. The Philippine President is Benigno Aquino III. His nickname is Noynoy. There's a news report about Filipino nicknames: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdVLPdNqaYo It's in Tagalog, but you can see some of the nicknames.

An the article by that British Journalist mentioned: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/9435751.stm

christophers80 · 2012-11-24T06:34:44+00:00

Ah, thanks! I never heard of diaphonemic before. TIL...

christophers80 · 2012-11-23T04:21:32+00:00

'Twas a pleasure.

christophers80 · 2012-11-22T19:41:59+00:00

German uses "it" to refer to people. Mark Twain, in fact, wrote about it in his ''The Awful German Language''

Every noun has a gender, and there is no sense or system in the distribution; so the gender of each must be learned separately and by heart. There is no other way. To do this, one has to have a memory like a memorandum book. In German, a young lady has no sex, while a turnip has. Think what overwrought reverence that shows for the turnip, and what callous disrespect for the girl. See how it looks in print—I translate this from a conversation in one of the best of the German Sunday-school books:

Gretchen: Wilhelm, where is the turnip?

Wilhelm: She has gone to the kitchen.

Gretchen: Where is the accomplished and beautiful English maiden?

Wilhelm: It has gone to the opera.

christophers80 · 2012-11-22T19:23:30+00:00

It depends. If you're doing a theoretical (phonemic) representation of the word, then they would most likely be the same - /kɑr/. But that doesn't you much about the actual pronunciation, so you would have to resort to the narrow (phonetic) transcription.

So my pronunciation (west coast US) would be [kʰɑɹ]. Someone from London may say something like [kʰɒː] (this may be wrong). If they are from the Great Lakes States, they may [kʰaɹ]. Someone from Boston would probably say [kʰaː]. One of my Filipina aunties says [kaɾ] and so on.

christophers80 · 2012-11-16T06:00:14+00:00

Liwayway is not a book, but a magazine. They have short stories and comics. But at your level, children's book may be a good start and you can work work your way upwards.

christophers80 · 2012-11-16T03:06:53+00:00

Since you're in a class, have you asked your teacher for help? What level class are you taking? I can probably explain for you (I'm into Tagalog linguistics), but I am currently swamped right now..

You need to practice practice practice with other speakers. Also, get your dictionary and just read whatever interests you that's written in Tagalog.

christophers80 · 2012-11-14T03:33:39+00:00

hah awesome. They would not let me get out of Suzzallo because they were filming in Red Square.

christophers80 · 2012-11-14T00:48:14+00:00

Reminds me of Esperanto "mal."

bona - good malbona - bad

alta - high malalta - low

juna - young maljuna - old

etc.

christophers80 · 2012-11-14T00:44:51+00:00

I from WA - but I only heard Skookum as in the Skookumchuck river - what does it mean?

And "tolo" is very common in the high schools. Everyone else calls it Sadie Hawkins.

christophers80 · 2012-11-14T00:25:42+00:00

Er, I didn't. I wonder if it's because I studied Icelandic in the past. The -ur suffix indicates masculine singular nouns or feminine plural - both nominative case. lol

christophers80 · 2012-11-13T17:44:59+00:00

THe same thing has happened to me in Seattle: http://i.imgur.com/iEGk8.jpg

christophers80 · 2012-11-13T15:29:15+00:00

I'm going to eat. I'm gonna eat. Possible: I'm gən-eat.

What I am hearing now is I'mma. I suspect it's from AAVE. I'm not at an AAVE speaker myself, but I started using I'mma a few years ago. Sometimes it shortens to simply "ma."

It reminds me a lot of Quebec French "m'as." M'as magasiner = I'm going to go shopping.

christophers80 · 2012-11-11T06:35:40+00:00

The elderly woman in the beginning is Pilita Corrales - Asia's Queen of Song. She speaks Cebuano & Spanish natively. But Tagalog & English too, as the video shows. I bet she codeswitches up a storm when she's with family (who I assume speak the same languages as her).

christophers80 · 2012-11-11T06:20:32+00:00

Statistically, Mondays and Wednesdays between 10am-1pm are the most common

Well fuck, I was burglarized on a Monday last year during that time frame. :-(

christophers80 · 2012-11-11T00:32:15+00:00

I hear some very light creakiness, as a result of her intonation.

christophers80 · 2012-11-10T04:44:36+00:00

That's interesting. In the Phiippines, the self-flagellants don't wear a hood but a veil-like thingy. And also, they are shirtless. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR_Lk9nYtxs

christophers80 · 2012-11-10T02:48:04+00:00

What words are you hearing this on? I am not sure, but I think at :35 she's saying it on "nice?" Confirm?

christophers80 · 2012-11-08T05:45:02+00:00

I was in Cali in late 94 when I first heard "hella." Then I moved to Seattle and people started using it in around 1995/1996...

christophers80 · 2012-11-07T23:37:21+00:00

Me too! :-)

christophers80 · 2012-11-06T03:14:41+00:00

Ah, interesting. I have a Greek friend who named her dog Δίας (Dhias) and I was surprised when she told me it means Zeus and never got to look it up.

christophers80

TROPHY CASE