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1500 questions
25
votes
5 answers
What has NLP/CL brought to the table of pencil-and-paper linguistics?
What role do NLP (natural language processing) and/or CL (Computational linguistics) play in today's theoretical linguistics?
Does, for instance, computability and formal specification play a big role in modern theories?
user47
25
votes
22 answers
What's the origin of "You're welcome"?
Is English the only language to use "You're welcome"?
I've read on a few websites that English is the only language where it's accepted to say, "You're welcome" in response to someone thanking you.
Other languages tend to use variances of "it was…
Chuck
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24
votes
4 answers
Is "double positive meaning negative" a common phenomenon?
The following joke is popular:
An MIT linguistics professor was lecturing his class the other day. “In English,” he said, “a double negative forms a positive. However, in some languages, such as Russian, a double negative remains a negative. But…
Bozho
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24
votes
10 answers
Are some languages inherently harder for children to acquire?
I don't see why this shouldn't be the case. Surely children around the world don't learn to speak fluently by the same age?
JohnJamesSmith
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24
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8 answers
What are some alternatives to Chomskian generative grammar?
What are the other common approaches to study syntax?
Note: the source is an example question from the on-topic question list in Area51.
Louis Rhys
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24
votes
5 answers
Animals’ names change when we eat them: is that universal?
I rebound off a question asked on French Language & Usage: in many languages, some designations for animal meats (in its raw, uncooked and uncured form) differ from the live animal's name itself. Examples in various languages include:
in English:…
F'x
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24
votes
2 answers
Why is /h/ called voiceless vowel phonetically, and /h/ consonant phonologically?
Why is /h/ called voiceless vowel phonetically, and /h/ consonant phonologically?
amjad
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24
votes
2 answers
Why do different languages have different amounts of unique words for numbers between 10 and 20?
I've read a similar question here which mainly dealt with why English only has eleven and twelve as unique words with some interesting ideas. But my question is why do different languages have different cut-off points for unique words. Here I am…
Sergoetgrim
24
votes
7 answers
Convert audio recording of word to IPA representation
Are the any open source tools/software libraries to convert an audio clip to its IPA representation? If so, are they accurate? If not, why not?
Here is a Gaelic word I wish to convert:
Ogg format:
Connacht…
Baz
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24
votes
1 answer
Deciphering a handwritten script
There are many studies on calligraphy, and in some cultures (Chinese, Indic, Arabic) it became a really significant part of culture.
However, there are not only examples of good handwriting. Often we see examples of bad handwritten script. There are…
Be Brave Be Like Ukraine
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24
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3 answers
Reversal of kinship terms when speaking to a child
When Turkish people speak to children, they often address them with the kinship term that the child is supposed to use for the speaker. For example a mother may call her child "anneciğim" ("my dear mother").
I've been told that something similar…
cyco130
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24
votes
4 answers
What is "case"?
As a non-linguist, I am confused about the concept of case. What is its definition, as linguists use it? Is it about the different forms that nouns/pronouns can take? Is it about the function of the noun in the sentence?
I find that the term…
Szabolcs
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24
votes
4 answers
Is there a linguistics equivalent to Turing completeness?
In computer science, programming languages can be described in terms of "Turing completeness", basically, whether a programming language is capable of expressing any* algorithm. A non-Turing-complete programming language has notable limitations in…
TheEnvironmentalist
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24
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2 answers
What's the difference between a "false cognate" and a "false friend"?
There are two terms used for pairs of words (in the same or different languages) that look similar but are actually unrelated: false friend and false cognate. Are these terms synonymous? If not, what's the difference?
Mechanical snail
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24
votes
2 answers
Do onomatopoeias resist sound change?
Regular sound changes can of course affect phonemes used in onomatopoeias. For example, consider a language containing /mjaw/, referring to the call of a cat. Suppose that final /w/ is sound-changed to /v/.
I see a few possibilities for what happens…
Mechanical snail
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