tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post3567786320617551238..comments2024-03-27T18:24:19.683-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: McWhorter: Language doesn't affect how you thinkUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger108125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-87106709159346715042014-01-20T18:56:06.414-08:002014-01-20T18:56:06.414-08:00People who sigh usually don't think.People who sigh usually don't think.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-19019208247080998262014-01-20T00:15:05.166-08:002014-01-20T00:15:05.166-08:00"The closest thing to what you propose...&quo...<i>"The closest thing to what you propose..."</i><br /><br />I'm not proposing anything because it's silly to propose things that have zero chance of occurring. My main point is that English spelling is less predictable than the spelling of any other European language because it was never managed by a central authority. If anybody's curious about how English spelling got this way, I have the answer for them. That is all. <br />Glossyhttp://lazyglossophiliac.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-65760407965522565212014-01-19T23:00:30.863-08:002014-01-19T23:00:30.863-08:00i wanna post in here and i have some stuff to say ...i wanna post in here and i have some stuff to say as a guy with a degree related to this topic, but man, steve is moving fast these days on his 3 red bull a day schedule. anything i post about the whorf hypothesis will just be buried.jodynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-14129345735283736692014-01-19T21:55:49.483-08:002014-01-19T21:55:49.483-08:00And just who would run this "organization&quo...<i>And just who would run this "organization" that would in turn "run" the language? Lancasters or Yorks? Roundheads or Cavaliers or recusant Papists? Scots or Irishmen or Welshmen? Brits or Yanks or compromising Canucks?</i><br /><br />Of course English is regulated, it's just not not government-regulated. A handful of influential dictionaries and style guides regulate the two main national standards, and virtually all official and prestige publications conform to them. Of course, because there's more than one authoritative dictionary etc. writers get more wiggle room than if there were an academy. But anyone who does professional editing knows perfectly well there are standards that need to be applied.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-58580342768803443132014-01-19T21:46:20.727-08:002014-01-19T21:46:20.727-08:00"Lacking compasses, how would they have known..."Lacking compasses, how would they have known which direction is north and which direction is south?"<br /><br />Sigh.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-506625954528818712014-01-19T21:20:01.850-08:002014-01-19T21:20:01.850-08:00http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUWlPjXvFZU
Modern...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUWlPjXvFZU<br /><br />Modern characters speak Shakespearean stuff. <br /><br />I don't know about worldview, but speaking Shakesperese in the modern world does affecr personal view. Don't progs say 'the personal is political'? <br /><br />Then a change of personal view will surely change worldview. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-89828534029245490462014-01-19T20:46:47.894-08:002014-01-19T20:46:47.894-08:00Portuguese spelling is far more predictable than E...<i>Portuguese spelling is far more predictable than English spelling. This is undoubtedly because of centuries of management. </i>---Glossy<br /><br />American spelling is more predictable than English-- or rather, American pronunciation is more likely to be literal. That's with <i>zero</i> management. By government, at least. The closest thing to what you propose in America was Noah Webster-- and he <i>increased </i>the differences between us and England. <br /><br />Do we really need a panel of scholar-bureaucrats to tell us that the H in spaghetti is superfluous (in our language) and therefore must go, as the German academy did recently? We rather like the look of the Italian original.<br /><br /> On the other hand, <i>sentrum</i>, <i>stasjon</i> and <i>filosofi</i> look childish on signs in Scandinavia. Better the "uncleftish beholding" attitude of the Icelanders. But Anglophones would never stand for that. <br /><br />The usual complaint is that English is too difficult for foreigners to learn. Considering our near monopoly on the world's immigration, and our endless trade deficits, such difficulty (as it is) would be a feature, not a bug.Reg Cæsarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-62134694042954611932014-01-19T19:21:37.584-08:002014-01-19T19:21:37.584-08:00And about Simplified Technical English, we English...And about Simplified Technical English, we English speakers are, ah, in high cotton because those fussy Europeans are working hard on a standard subset English. I hear they have lots of practice. We can just ease back and watch. Man, this is straight from Tom Sawyer!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-39690308479041132422014-01-19T19:06:19.131-08:002014-01-19T19:06:19.131-08:00"And just who would run this "organizati...<i>"And just who would run this "organization" that would in turn "run" the language? Lancasters or Yorks? Roundheads or Cavaliers or recusant Papists? Scots or Irishmen or Welshmen? Brits or Yanks or compromising Canucks?<br /><br />Would it be housed in London or Oxford or Cambridge? Or Cambridge, Mass., New Haven, or Princeton? Manhattan, Washington, or Studio City? Skookumchuck or Rotorua or Bulawayo, Walla Walla or Wooloomooloo?"</i><br /><br /><br />Brussels, it appears, good sir. The STEMG is in Brussels.<br /><br />(Yup, English, the real-world language, cannot be controlled. But you don't want, say, aviation mechanics rebuilding jet engines for you in Mexico, Thailand, China, or Lithuania to screw-up due to Crazy English language problems.)<br /><br />So there is an organization:<br /><a href="http://www.asd-ste100.org/" rel="nofollow"><br /><br />WELCOME TO THE STEMG WEB SITE<br /><br />The official home of ASD Simplified Technical English, ASD-STE100 (STE)<br /><br /> <br />ASD SIMPLIFIED TECHNICAL ENGLISH<br /><br />Specification ASD-STE100</a><br /><br /><br />Of course an artificial subset English language committee operates out of Brussels...<br /><br /><i>"The ASD Simplified Technical English Maintenance Group (STEMG) is very pleased to announce that on Tuesday, November 26, 2013, at ASD Headquarters in Rue Montoyer 10, Brussels..."</i><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_Technical_English" rel="nofollow">"Simplified English is... a controlled language. The aerospace and defense standard started as an industry-regulated writing standard for aerospace maintenance documentation, but has become mandatory for an increasing number of military land vehicle, sea vehicle and weapons programs as well. Although it was not intended for use as a general writing standard, it has been successfully adopted by other industries and for a wide range of document types.<br /><br /> ...<br /><br />... STE is defined by the specification ASD-STE100, which is maintained by the Simplified Technical English Maintenance Group (STEMG).[2] The specification contains a set of restrictions on the grammar and style of procedural and descriptive text. It also contains a dictionary of approx. 875 approved general words. Writers are given guidelines for adding technical names and technical verbs to their documentation. STE is mandated by several commercial and military specifications that control the style and content of maintenance documentation, most notably ASD S1000D."</a><br /><br /><br />It's interesting that STE was originally defined by Fokker, apparently influenced by Caterpillar's simplified technical English.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-27314199370778576452014-01-19T17:20:00.183-08:002014-01-19T17:20:00.183-08:00""Lacking compasses, how would they have...""Lacking compasses, how would they have known which direction is north and which direction is south?"<br /><br />The point on the horizon from which the sun appears to rise in the morning is by convention called the east. The point at which it appears to set in the evening is called the west. If you stand with the east on your right-hand side and the west on your left-hand side, then you'll have north in front of you and south behind you. "<br /><br />You have proven you can think grasshopper.<br /><br />However, all that shows is that they have to pay attention to where the sun rises and sets with respect to their current position.<br /><br />For a people who spend all of their time outside, that is easy. Perhaps that explains why Aboriginal kids don't like school. Prevents then from getting in touch with their culture and its requirement that they provide directions with respect to where the sun rises and sets.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-50946978937575949072014-01-19T15:30:03.106-08:002014-01-19T15:30:03.106-08:00"Lacking compasses, how would they have known...<i>"Lacking compasses, how would they have known which direction is north and which direction is south?"</i><br /><br />The point on the horizon from which the sun appears to rise in the morning is by convention called the east. The point at which it appears to set in the evening is called the west. If you stand with the east on your right-hand side and the west on your left-hand side, then you'll have north in front of you and south behind you. <br /><br /><i>"Boa sorte with that, João."</i><br /><br />It's worked out for them. Portuguese spelling is far more predictable than English spelling. This is undoubtedly because of centuries of management. <br /><br /><i>English would be ideal in grammatical structure.</i><br /><br />Over the centuries English lost most of the old Indo-European inflectional grammar. It replaced much of it with analytical grammar, which relies on word order, prepositions, articles, auxiliary verbs and pronouns. An analytical grammar isn't necessarily easier to learn than an inflectional grammar. Every language seems easy to its native speakers, especially if they're monoglots. I have a feeling that inflectional grammars seem difficult to English speakers more because they're different than because they're complex. You don't see the complexities of English grammar because you learned it subconsciously in childhood.Glossyhttp://lazyglossophiliac.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-70613653541401487032014-01-19T13:47:34.258-08:002014-01-19T13:47:34.258-08:00English is the only important language in the worl...<i>English is the only important language in the world that is not run by some organization.</i> --Glossy [I think I know your brother Matte.]<br /><br />And just who would run this "organization" that would in turn "run" the language? Lancasters or Yorks? Roundheads or Cavaliers or recusant Papists? Scots or Irishmen or Welshmen? Brits or Yanks or compromising Canucks? <br /><br />Would it be housed in London or Oxford or Cambridge? Or Cambridge, Mass., New Haven, or Princeton? Manhattan, Washington, or Studio City? Skookumchuck or Rotorua or Bulawayo, Walla Walla or Wooloomooloo?<br /><br />Every now and then the Portuguese and Brazilian authorities get together to smooth over differences in language. Then they report back to the <i>gente</i>-- a word pronounced "zhent" in one country and "zhen-chee" in the other. <i>Boa sorte</i> with that, João. <br /><br />And, leaving out the Africans, that's just two countries-- Portugal and Brazil. (Or "Braziw" and "Portugaw", if you're in Rio.) English has seven, and more after devolution. <br /><br />Your "organization" (or "organisation") has its work cut out for it. Keep your <a href="http://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/keep_one's_pecker_up" rel="nofollow">pecker up</a>, lest you get kicked in the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2140724/Spanx-billionaire-Sara-Blakely-shares-mortifying-moment.html" rel="nofollow">fanny</a>.Reg Cæsarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-91771247951128515692014-01-19T13:42:56.059-08:002014-01-19T13:42:56.059-08:00http://www.russianlessons.net/grammar/verbs_aspect...http://www.russianlessons.net/grammar/verbs_aspect.php<br /><br />More Russian lunacy. <br /><br />Imperfective and perfective verbs. <br /><br />In English, it's implied through context or simple distinction of 'was eating' and 'ate'. <br /><br />In Russian, you gotta learn the imperfective and perfective cases. Ludicrousness. <br /><br />Some perfectives are easily formed with a prefix but many are very different from imperfectives. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-57604945991427848662014-01-19T13:25:43.910-08:002014-01-19T13:25:43.910-08:00"Languages evolved to prevent us communicatin..."Languages evolved to prevent us communicating, writes Professor Pagel in New Scientist this week"<br /><br />http://www.reading.ac.uk/news-and-events/releases/PR478283.aspx<br /><br />"Languages have acted as a powerful social anchor of our tribal identity throughout modern human history, but between 30 and 50 languages are being lost every year as the inhabitants of small tribal societies adopt majority languages. It is inevitable that eventually there will be one single language. So concludes Mark Pagel, Professor of Evolutionary Biology, in his article, War of Words, in this week's New Scientist.<br /><br />Drawing on his ERC research project on the evolution of language and material from his recent book, Wired for Culture, Professor Pagel explains in the article how languages have evolved since modern humans emerged in Africa 200,000 years ago and why today's 7000 languages are probably a fraction of those spoken throughout that history.<br /><br />His research has demonstrated that the greatest diversity in human societies and languages has arisen where people are most closely packed together, near to the equator, rather than when they are geographically scattered, as might be expected. As an example, he points to Papua New Guinea, which is a relatively small country but home to 15% of the languages spoken across the world. Why, he asks, would people living so close together have become incapable of talking to one another?<br /><br />He points to continual battles in human history as a reason for linguistic diversity. In the New Scientist article he says; "We have acquired a suite of traits that help our own particular group to outcompete the others. Two traits that stand out are ‘groupishness' - affiliating with people with whom you share a distinct identity - and xenophobia... In this context, languages act as powerful social anchors of our tribal identity."<br /><br />He cites, as evidence, anthropological accounts of tribes deciding to change their language, with immediate effect, to distinguish them from neighbouring groups, and in modern times, the differences between American and British English.<br /><br />The rate of loss of languages in modern times exceeds that of biological diversity decline, he says. Globalisation and electronic communication is creating cultural homogeneity, which will inevitably lead to a "mass extinction of languages to rival the great biological extinctions in Earth's past." However, this trend is happening more slowly than it could due to the psychological role language plays in identity. Foreign words are still sometimes viewed with suspicion and nationalist agendas foster policies to save dying languages. In the long-run, however, "it seems virtually inevitable that a single language will replace all others....English is already the worldwide linguafranca, so if I had to put money on one language, this would be it.""Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-54172670122835703632014-01-19T12:39:43.377-08:002014-01-19T12:39:43.377-08:00Some languages sound goofy and funny, and such peo...Some languages sound goofy and funny, and such people might have a goofier and funnier view of the world. <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-90177551103401280022014-01-19T12:37:48.323-08:002014-01-19T12:37:48.323-08:00"Based on what? I assume that you are not a Y..."Based on what? I assume that you are not a Yiddish speaker, Steve, so what is the source for this contention?"<br /><br />What do you take him for, a schmuck? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-81040776985468108772014-01-19T12:02:30.560-08:002014-01-19T12:02:30.560-08:00"Yiddish is the world's most developed la..."Yiddish is the world's most developed language for the art of demeaning other people's intelligence."<br /><br /> Based on what? I assume that you are not a Yiddish speaker, Steve, so what is the source for this contention?kaganovitchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-50252523444709377932014-01-19T11:24:40.714-08:002014-01-19T11:24:40.714-08:00A more interesting question is how the way we use ...A more interesting question is how the way we use or own language colors our attitudes. There's a fascinating book about that--_Metaphors we Live By_. One of the coauthors, George Lakoff, has been advising the Left about how to use language to repackage old failed Leftist ideas.International Jewnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-51875899277688096962014-01-19T10:57:55.140-08:002014-01-19T10:57:55.140-08:00I've read that this is true in some Australian...<b>I've read that this is true in some Australian Aborigine languages. I doubt it's much more widespread than that. </b><br /><br />Lacking compasses, how would they have known which direction is north and which direction is south?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-45272852964378086582014-01-19T10:52:39.900-08:002014-01-19T10:52:39.900-08:00If you were to create a new language, which existi...If you were to create a new language, which existing language model would you follow? <br /><br />English would be ideal in grammatical structure. <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-38493083116642525392014-01-19T10:06:26.991-08:002014-01-19T10:06:26.991-08:00"The only Indo-European languages that are to...<i>"The only Indo-European languages that are tonal are ancient Greek and modern-day Punjabi. “<br /><br />Some dialects of the language formerly known as ‘Serbo-Croation’ are tonal to a limited extend.</i><br /><br />Also to a minor extent, standard Swedish and Norwegian. Swedish "anden", for example, can mean either 'duck' or 'spirit', depending the tone.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-58667662229612762142014-01-19T09:52:50.196-08:002014-01-19T09:52:50.196-08:00I don't know how much language affects thought...I don't know how much language affects thought, but surely it's not a stretch to say that it affects societal organization and interpersonal relationships. English does not have separate formal and informal pronouns (e.g., "you" for German "Sie"/formal and "du"/informal). The loss of the informal "thou" may have led to Anglo societies becoming as socially egalitarian as they did.<br /><br />Other languages have further hierarchies built-in that probably affects the way people think (at least when they talk to each other). Tamil, for example, has different words for older brother/sister and younger brother/sister.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-54095514617417014012014-01-19T09:01:24.630-08:002014-01-19T09:01:24.630-08:00Our guide to Iceland pointed out that there's ...Our guide to Iceland pointed out that there's no Icelandic equivalent of "please". A fairly direct bunch, Icelanders.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-18778399316911181852014-01-19T07:52:26.226-08:002014-01-19T07:52:26.226-08:00We're so used to using Latin and Greek for tec...We're so used to using Latin and Greek for technical and sophisticated vocabulary that Germanic vocabulary, especially with its compounding, sounds silly and ridiculous. <br /><br />For example, hydrogen and oxygen in German and Dutch are called "waterstuff" and "sourstuff". A mixture of hydrogen and oxygen is called "knallgas" in German, which is literally "bang-gas" i.e. gas that goes bang.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-21137969766020740822014-01-19T07:22:30.492-08:002014-01-19T07:22:30.492-08:00The PC police will come knocking if I refer to &qu...The PC police will come knocking if I refer to "chairMAN" or "workMAN," etc. or if I say, "Everyone should be free to speak as HE wishes." Yet, English is the most gender-free of all the Indo-European languages and the others get free passes. Why is this?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com