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1500 questions
12
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Database of Swadesh lists
Do anyone know where to find the most extensive collection of Swadesh lists?
And with how many different languages in the collection?
Flying
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Why is "Aurora Borealis" from Greek, but "Aurora Australis" from Latin?
In astronomy we have the Aurora Australis in the south and the Aurora Borealis in the north. According to Wikipedia, auster is in fact the Latin equivalent of the Greek νότος, or southern wind. However, boreas is a Greek word, βορέας, not Latin! The…
dotancohen
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The paucal to denote between three to six individuals
According to the paper cited in this answer, in a "usual case" the paucal denotes between three to six individuals.
How common is the limit "three to six"? Is there any reason that those languages agree on the limit three and six?
Louis Rhys
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How can the Arabic language used in social networking websites such as Twitter be classified?
I have begun to study computational Arabic linguistics and I have what probably amounts to a basic linguistics question, but I hope I can find some answers nonetheless.
So I know about Classical Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic and the dialects. When…
demongolem
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What is the history of the sound spelled <â> or <î> (IPA /ɨ/) in Romanian?
I've read that some people attribute it to influence from the Slavic languages. But it doesn't just appear in Slavic loans — it also shows up in obviously Latin-derived words like câine 'dog' (from CANEM). On the other hand, not all words with a in…
Leah Velleman
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Are different "aspects" of a Polish verb the same lexeme or different lexemes?
Polish verbs have two "aspects", imperfective and perfective, which means you use a different word depending on whether the activity you're describing is ongoing or habitual, or if it's definite or completed.
Sometimes the two aspects are just…
Kevin G.
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Examples of Borrowing Languages
In the Wikipedia page History of the English language it is mentioned that English is a "borrowing language", with the implication that there are many loan words in English. What other languages may be considered Borrowing Languages?
Additionally,…
dotancohen
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11
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Are there semivowels besides /w/ and /j/ and which are most common?
In the languages I'm familiar with I can't think of any cases of semivowels other than the "w" and "y" sounds /w/ and /j/. So are there any others and if so, which are most common beyond these two?
hippietrail
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Why do so many languages have a phase like "so-so"?
Many languages seem to have some sort of repeating and/or singsong equivalent of the phrase so-so:
Arabic: نصف نصف (nisf nisf)
Chinese: 馬馬虎虎 (mǎma hūhu)
Greek: έτσι κι έτσι
Hebrew: ככה ככה
Italian: così così
Japanese: まあまあ (māmā)
Malay:…
Kathy Santos
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1 answer
Are there any databases of geographical language distribution?
I'm wondering whether anyone knows of any machine parsable database of the geographical distribution of natural languages (for example the geographical distribution of (native) speakers)?
I know WALS has some basic information (it assigns some kind…
Tilo Wiklund
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11
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4 answers
Relationship between possession ("to have") and tenses ("I have seen")
In several Indo-European languages the verb that denotes possession (to have) is also used to construct verb tenses.
Some examples:
I have seen ... I have a dog. (English)
Am văzut ... Am un câine. (Romanian, am = I have. Note: this past tense in…
Szabolcs
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11
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How diachronically stable are color terms?
I have two questions concerning words for colors, one specific and one general.
First, Beekes in Comparative Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction (p. 181) reconstructs a PIE suffix –no- that forms adjectives. An example is * krs-nó- ‘black’: …
neubau
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Why are there inflections?
I'm from a Chinese background. I wonder why there are inflections in many languages, as compared with no inflections in Chinese. I personally suppose that a language should originate simple and easy to use. Why bother to use am/is/are when be can…
David
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Is there a term in linguistics for underdeveloped number systems?
I had trouble phrasing a recent question because I couldn't find simple wording to convey the difference between languages like English where all kinds of numbers are expressible, such as "nineteen thousand four hundred and sixty two" and other…
hippietrail
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How did the present continuous in English get to be such a dominant present tense?
In French if I write the sentence
Je mange le déjeuner
it would/could be the same as if I am saying I am eating lunch. What is going on in French goes on in a number of the other Romance languages.
How is it that it came to be in the English…
demongolem
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