#Linguistics is fascinating

[necronatural]

If you like Dungeon Meshi, why not try out Heterogeneous Linguistics?

It follows the student of a monster anthropologist tasked with learning about monster culture himself. In doing so he learns that every monster species has their own communication style and own way of overcoming their language barrier.

Like werewolves:

Slimes:

and Kraken!

Heterogeneous Linguistics covers all kinds of monsters, both humanoid and not.

Not only that, it explores the culture of the monster world, untouched by humans, where communities connected by the travelers between them have their own independent ways of living that he must learn as he travels deeper into the country.

An absolutely fascinating manga that I think takes Dungeon Meshi's "what if monsters were animals" and pushes it all the way to "what if monsters were people, even if they had nothing in common with humans".

All told alongside a little half-human half-werewolf girl, who, on account of being a child, perceives these differences as intuitive and can't explain a damn thing.

#pers #heterogeneous linguistics #i think the slimes are the living armour of this manga. just immediately fascinating phenomenon

[tanadrin]

Sometimes, Chris Hayes' podcast goes off on these weird tangents, and the most recent episode is one of them, quite explicitly. It's about the history of Polynesia, which is always a fascinating subject--the Polynesian expansion, and really the whole history of the Austronesian-speaking peoples, seems like one of those feats with rare equal in human history. It's one thing to roam over the vast steppes of Asia--it's quite another to take a canoe, stick some outriggers on it so it doesn't tip over, and start faring the open ocean.

One point his guest makes that I found interesting is that for the most part the atolls and little islands of the Pacific are a very harsh environment. Big volcanic archipelagoes like Hawaii and Aotearoa/New Zealand are rare. Atolls and other reef islands especially are functionally big limestone slabs, often without any source of fresh water, with no large mammals, and with few native plants you can eat. The weather is nice, sure (when there isn't a typhoon--and I can't help but think a typhoon on a little island must be terrifying indeed), but these are not inherently resource-rich places. That the Polynesian (and Micronesian and Melanesian!) peoples not only could travel those distances, but make permanent habitation on the islands they came across, is kind of crazy! You have to be really prepared, with a package of supplies and technologies that set you up for success. Long-distance trade is possible, but you're not gonna be running any kind of substantial import economy across hundreds or thousands of miles of ocean via catamarans.

The comparison that springs to mind to me isn't a historical one like the European age of exploration, which was overwhelmingly to places already peopled and productive, but to science fiction scenarios of space exploration. You'd have to have a little bit of the wild-eyed zealot to be the sort of person who ignores the cries of "there is no possible useful return on this investment" to settle most of these places. But they did! And they thrived for centuries!

#and totally incidentally created one of the most fascinating environments for historical linguistics ever

[courtingwonder]

How English Changed Over The Last 1000 Years

#linguistics #english #etymology #language #languages #world culture #history #world history #old english #middle english #educational #fascinating

[oncillabrigade]

I saw someone's fan art where Damian and Tim bond over bring autistic, and it made me imagine Tim Drake complaining that he can't connect w/ other neurodivergent tumblr folks because his entire family is nd.

Tim: Everyone else is talking about how alone they feel and how their families don't know what a meltdown is or refuse to modulate sensory input and I'm sitting here like, my family actually all got diagnosed at the same time because I sent my dad one (1) article about autism and he took action.

Jason, in his asks: hey u realize tumblr is about to rip u a new asshole rite?

Tim, answering publically: It's cool; I long for death.

#I keep forgetting the point of having a tumblr is to share stupid fandom thoughts with other nerds #batfam #tim drake #bruce wayne #damian wayne #truly believe that Tim uses semi-colons instead of comma splices #and Jason intentionally uses tumblr grammar because he's linguistically fascinated #shout out to blairthebrave for providing Jason's point when I told him this idea #he is correct

[upslapmeal]

In the ongoing saga of Incy Upslapmeal Tries To Understand How People Categorise Food, here's the next instalment following from @likeadevils's original poll and my last poll - if you reblog please tag with where you're from!

#people had such strong opinions about this in both of those polls and I want to Understand #linguistics #baking #anyway I really hope this gets responses like that last one because this is all soooo fascinating to me #I really wish I'd been able to incorporate region into this one too but hey ho #upslappoll

[sciralta]

Having read the Drake and Kiara alternative LI autopsy/essay by @lizzybeth1986 and the notes, and going over this part about how many characters doubt Kiara’s linguistic prowess and are like “when have you ever heard her speak anything other than French and English”, I am truly struck by the obvious conclusion:

Why the fuck would she? None of you pricks speak anything other than English. Why would she be talking to or around these characters—who, might I add, are European nobility and apparently didn’t bother to get any language tutors growing up? can’t even do the bare fucking minimum expected of someone in your position of power and privilege jfc—in languages they wouldn’t understand.

The only time she doesn’t speak to them in English is when she code-switches into French; with those two clearly implied to be her native languages. And not incidentally BOTH languages also happen to be lingua francas, which actually lends more credence to her skills in diplomacy. Even when considering self-talk (something that I’m not aware we see Kiara do in the series but can easily assume the characters may have seen her do before), you’d just assume that she’d talk to herself in those two languages since they’re her native ones.

I genuinely can’t remember, but is Cordonia ever stated to speak a language other than English? Maybe the Cordonian nobility should be worrying about their own monolingualism before chiding the single noble demonstrating a skill you’d expect from any person born into nobility and worth their salt to have. You people apparently live on the Mediterranean, learn a Romance language AT LEAST.

#anyway as someone who knows next to nothing but is fascinated by linguistics… bilingual and polyglot people you’re so sexy ahh #playchoices #choices #the royal romance #choices the royal romance #choices trr #kiara theron

[the-elusive-soleil]

I have this idea, that when the Haladin first show up in Thargelion, they don't speak any elvish languages, and have to learn some before they can really communicate and negotiate the whole issue of lands and settlement and vassalage. And Caranthir and his people teach them Quenya.

There could be any number of reasons for this. It's the language he grew up speaking, and the one that comes most naturally to him and his followers. It might be banned, but they're far enough removed from Doriath and from anybody else that they can essentially do whatever they want. He doesn't have any reason to think that Haleth will be interacting with Thingol's people after they move on. And maybe, just maybe, he's a little petty about it. Finrod Finarfinion, the suck-up, might have taught his Edain to speak Sindarin, but not Caranthir.

(And it's just barely possible that he has a weakness for hearing Haleth speak his native language, but if that is the case, he tells no one.)

And then eventually Haleth brings her people to Brethil, and she tries to talk to Thingol about settling there, and he already doesn't like the idea much, but then she has the Audacity to greet him in Feanorian Quenya, and after that not even Finrod's intervention can help her. So the Haladin get booted from Brethil, and they're not sure where else they can go, now that the Doriathrin think they're associated with horrible kinslayers and will doubtless spread the news around to their allies.

So back east they go, and when they get near Thargelion again Caranthir comes by and is like, "you're back!" And Haleth is fed up from all the journeying and has Words for him about this booby-trapped language he fed them.

But I like to think they work out some kind of compromise after all that, and the Haladin end up settling in the greater Thargelion area. And if there is anything more going on between the Chieftain of the Haladin and the Lord of Thargelion than simple alliance and friendship, then it is no one's business but their own, and certainly not the business of his nosy cousins.

#silmarillion #haleth #caranthir #halenthir #caranthir x haleth #fic idea #linguistic mischiefs #the various language debacles in silm never cease to fascinate and entertain me

[formerheroeswhoquittoolate]

okay okay okay but I headcanon (firmly believe actually but whatever) that cass considers herself to be dick/jason/tim/damian's brother.

because. okay. gender and language are extremely interconnected. and without gendered language, it's difficult to explain gender and why you would use one term over another. and cass doesn't really have a language with which to understand gender. and when you're learning words, especially if you're starting from scratch, it's way more important to understand that different words mean different things. "brother" and "sister" are different words. even "brother" and "sibling" are different words. and you and I, who have been using language for a while, can argue all day about the denotations and connotations of the words, but to cass, who didn't have language for a good chunk of her early life, those semantics don't matter.

dick is her brother. jason is her brother. tim is her brother. damian is her brother. just like they are all each other's brothers. and calling herself their "sister" instead communicates a different meaning. it sets cass apart from them. she doesn't really know or care about the complicated history of gendered language. the word "brother" and the word "sister" are not the same thing. the other legal(ish) children of bruce's are all brothers. she would consider herself one, too.

#cass cain #batfamily #batfam headcanons #black bat #orphan #batgirl #linguistics??? #combining my love of language theory and comics! #no but cass's whole deal is so fascinating to me #and I have some thoughts about it #this is just the most coherent one #and maybe I'm a crazy person in which case please help me out #this seems like an oddly specific post to make #but I'm having fun #anyway #text post #I'm really sorry if this makes no sense but I appreciate you bearing with me

[neo--queen--serenity]

I noticed that, in the English dub, the ADA refers to Tanizaki by his first name rather often. It's actually pretty rare to hear his last name in the dub, and I wish I knew why.

It can’t be for the simplicity of referring between him and his sister, since everyone calls her Naomi in both versions.

It’s not a logistical (“mouth-flap”) choice either, I’ve noticed them saying it even when a character is facing away, and their mouth isn’t visible, so it’s not that.

I admit that I do like the choice, since Jun’ichirou is the same age as Atsushi—who also gets referred to by his first name by the rest of the ADA. It follows the trend of calling anyone 18 and under by their first names, too, since this also applies to Kenji and Kyouka.

It may be a small change, but it’s a consistent one, so it had to have been a conscious choice.

#localization is such a fascinating process to me #i wanna pick the brains of all the members of the dubbing team like a linguistic ryan seacrest #bsdrewatch2023 #bungou stray dogs #bsd #jun’ichirou tanizaki #junichirou tanizaki #tanizaki junichirou #tanizaki jun’ichirou #jun’ichirō tanizaki #tanizaki jun’ichirō #i typically watch anime in both japanese & english #it just depends on my mood. or when i started the series #or even based off of how fast the cast speaks (as some shows just have too many people talking at once) #so english dub is sometimes my default for a first-watch #naomi tanizaki #tanizaki naomi #atsushi nakajima #nakajima atsushi #kyouka izumi #izumi kyouka #tanizaki siblings #dubbing #english dub #bsd rewatch #bungo stray dogs #bungou gay dogs #neo queen serenity's posts #junichiro tanizaki #tanizaki junichiro

[hanzajesthanza]

the rest of the hanza addressing or speaking of angoulême: “girl,” “brat”

regis addressing or speaking of angoulême: “my dear child,” “our darling angoulême”

#perhaps he was being politely disapproving in the first and a little sarcastic in the second #but i think about that… he didn’t have to throw in ‘our beloved’ when bringing her up but he did… #he gives her such dignity when he speaks of her even if he doesn’t understand or disagrees ❤️ #plus he said that when she was sitting right at the table with them like. :) #regis being amused by her ‘colorful expressions’ and this being brought up not one not two but three times… #if nothing else to him she is a fascinating example of linguistic microevolution and niche LMAO #txt #f: i’m not your uncle dear child #c: angouleme #c: regis

[suenitos]

ogie is kinda like our ito/a a little

#recently i saw a tiktok on internet community linguistics and how fractured language becomes when you go into certain communities it was #really fascinating

[erovalkyrie]

How to adapt Shakespearian Style in German DISCO ELYSIUM? Fairy tales!

DRAMA talks in a Shakespearian style in Disco Elysium, addressing Harry with "sire" and using the pronouns thou/thee on occasion. It makes sense for a skill that belongs on the *stage of the world*.

However, Shakespeare is very specific to the English language. How to adapt this into German?

German SCHAUSPIELKUNST (Art of Acting) uses a different set of pronouns and vocabulary, and evokes something else: GERMAN FAIRY TALES.

The pronouns are Euer/Ihr, a polite pronoun only to be used in plural cases - the Pluralis Majestatis. Old monarchy used to refer to themselves with we.

The royal we, majestic plural (pluralis majestatis), or royal plural, is the use of a plural pronoun (or corresponding plural-inflected verb forms) used by a single person who is a monarch or holds a high office to refer to themselves.

So if you address a king, you have to use plural pronouns Euer/Ihr in return, SCHAUSPIELKUNST does so. And of course, calls you "Majestät" (majesty), instead of "sire".

In combination with Euer/Ihr, it evokes the image of a Court Jester, talking to his King. The style of writing sounds "old", medieval even, one that you normally encounter a fairy tale, like how characters talk in a Brothers Grimm story, for example. (Since Germany has no monarchy to speak of, you will pretty much encounter "Eure Majestät" in fairy tales, fictional stories and history books.)

To me, that is a triple whammy of a localisation:

Switching Shakespeare to Brothers Grimm is a great style baton pass that keeps the cultural significance: classic literature that is recognisable to the reader as something old and long-gone, but still linked to the theatrical and story-telling.

Addressing Harry itself with a plural pronoun is great, as he has many voice skills in his head. SCHAUSPIELKUNST recognises that Harry is in fact a *multitude* of characters, like its portrait shows.

Literal KING, SLAYYYYYYYY

#disco elysium #de #german disco elysium #linguistics #harry du bois #hdb #thought cabinet #shakespeare #brothers grimm #gebrüder grimm #übersetzung #I am sorry for spamming you with this but I love these little bits so much #isn't language fascinating??? #my master degree in English literature is going haywire on Disco Elysium #pronouns

[natjennie]

I believe the captain speaks like 8 languages. and switches between them whenever convenient. like to express frustration in a language the people he's talking to won't know, or whatever. but also when he gets flustered or excited sometimes he slips into one. he's autistic so, sometimes you've just got to put on an accent or start speaking a different language. along with english and canon german, I think it's gotta be like. french. latin and/or greek. a scandinavian language idk which one, swedish maybe? russian. he knows morse code and the nato phonetic alphabet. his british sign language is out of date but he knows the old signs. anyway he mostly doesn't get a chance to use any of these skills because everyone just speaks english all the time, but one time the rest of the ghosts are all being really annoying, talking over each other stumbling for alison's attention and the captain complains under his breath about their lack of respect and the chaos of the house etc etc in like. welsh or something. and robin looks right at him and shrugs and responds in the same language like "yeah they're annoying but they're family. can't complain too much huh?" and cap just. whuh??!?!!!? because robin has been around for thousands of years and definitely knows allllll sorts of languages.

#anyway I digress #I saw a post about what other languages robin might speak #and that stuck with me #also I love language #I find linguistics genuinely fascinating #even though I do not know a lot #bbc ghosts

[ilovedthestars]

"biblically accurate" i think what you mean is "radially symmetrical with lots of eyes"

#it's simultaneously funny/fascinating to me that tumblr has created this linguistic drift #and kind of a pet peeve of mine lol #stars rambles #the eyes are optional at this point

[aeide-thea]

learning a language is so funny bc you’ll pick up these totally calcified terms as part of a beginner course and then realize years later, oh, duh, Übung is just the gerund of üben…

#like i’m extremely not an expert but i get the sense that deutsch really loves its gerunds #which is convenient bc i‚ too‚ love my gerunds tbh #but like‚ obviously there’s also a relationship auf englisch btwn ‘exercise’ and ‘exercise’ #but like. we do exercises‚ not exercisings #anyway i’m sure Actual Linguists have had Thoughts abt this #but it’s like. why sometimes do you get the gerund #vs other times pairs like denken/Gedanke #where like. there’s clearly a relationship but like. the pp is gedacht so the noun isn’t so straightforwardly a form of the verb #anyway. unfortunate linguistics was too science-y for me bc i do really love thinking abt linguistic patterns! #language #not the world’s most fascinating post but. it’s a free blog.

[violetthekiller]

This made me laugh the commentary is having a great day 😂😂😂😂😂

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSFmcKfna/

And the amount of times I’ve heard Tom saying zendayer and it just still feels new when I hear it said 😭😭😭

i find it funny when people say that he’s saying Zendayer when it’s literally just Zendaya in a British accent. like that’s how everyone says it here and idk how else you would say it without putting an accent on. just like how (to me) Tom sounds like Taahm in an American accent bc of the elongation of the ‘o’ rather than it being a short ‘o’ sound. neither are wrong just different dialects

#linguistics are fascinating #my and my housemates have such long convos about it #ask