Lexigame Community

General Category => Words => Topic started by: Ozzyjack on August 10, 2019, 12:07:20 PM

Title: Professor Anne Curzan’s Talk on What Makes a Word Real
Post by: Ozzyjack on August 10, 2019, 12:07:20 PM
When I was looking for material in the topic More or Les (was Bloody Plurals) I came across a video in which Professor Anne Curzan discusses what makes a word “real”.  I thought it might be of interest to forumites who do not follow the “Les” topic.

https://www.ted.com/talks/anne_curzan_what_makes_a_word_real#t-58693

I hope you finding it as interesting as I did.
Title: Re: Professor Anne Curzan’s Talk on What Makes a Word Real
Post by: yelnats on August 11, 2019, 02:18:51 PM
But I do wonder why English is so odd in its spelling, and came across a video by Superholly who seems to be fully bilingual in English and Spanish talking about English spelling/pronunciation/usage. Mostly in Spanish but for non-Spanish speakers, in settings, you can get English sub-titles...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCf4hINwzoc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCf4hINwzoc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCf4hINwzoc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCf4hINwzoc)

Quite fun!

Title: Re: Professor Anne Curzan’s Talk on What Makes a Word Real
Post by: Ozzyjack on August 11, 2019, 05:24:21 PM
(https://i.ytimg.com/an_webp/hCf4hINwzoc/mqdefault_6s.webp?du=3000&sqp=CMuSvuoF&rs=AOn4CLCT4FxHWLKk53Ximd6UyxrSLHQO8w) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCf4hINwzoc)

Hi Stanley

The embedded image
Code: [Select]
[img]https://i.ytimg.com/an_webp/hCf4hINwzoc/mqdefault_6s.webp?du=3000&sqp=CMuSvuoF&rs=AOn4CLCT4FxHWLKk53Ximd6UyxrSLHQO8w[/img]

shows up correctly as an animated gif on my lap top but shows up as an empty rectangle on my iPad.  I suspect  IOS cannot handle animated GIFs unless their URL ends in ".gif".  If you click the empty rectangle the YouTube plays normally.


I had the same problem with the dog coming down the slide in my post today in the More or Les (was Bloody Plurals) topic when I initially used an image from GIPHY.  I found the same image from another source where the URL ended in ".gif" to make it work on the iPad.


I agree the video was quite fun
Title: Re: Professor Anne Curzan’s Talk on What Makes a Word Real
Post by: mkenuk on August 11, 2019, 07:13:12 PM
I do wonder why English is so odd in its spelling,

In a nutshell, because the spoken language changes and the written language doesn't.

For example, the reason we have a 'silent l' in words like 'would' and 'should' is that a few hundred years ago those letters were pronounced, as they are in their modern German equivalents : - 'wollte' and 'sollte'.

Unlike France who have their 'Academie' , there is no governing body in any English-speaking country to pronounce on such matters.
Noah Webster's self-appointed herculean task of reforming English (or American - his reforms were not intended for the Eastern side of the Atlantic-) spelling was always doomed to failure and he had barely started to scratch the surface of the problem before he went to join the Great Lexicographer in the sky.

As for textese - 'CU L8er, W8 4 me' - it just exacerbates the problem!


Title: Re: Professor Anne Curzan’s Talk on What Makes a Word Real
Post by: Calilasseia on August 19, 2019, 05:40:42 AM

There's also Germany, which is another nation with a prescriptive basis for its language, in the form of the first volume of Duden, the massive dictionary of the German language. that first volume bears the title Die Deutsche Rechtschreibung (German Orthography), and defines the basics of German syntax and grammar. The remaining volumes are devoted to spelling, pronunciation, etc. It's now in its 27th edition, and is a behemoth of a written work - now in twelve volumes. This work has had the official backing of the German government for decades.
Title: Re: Professor Anne Curzan’s Talk on What Makes a Word Real
Post by: mkenuk on August 19, 2019, 08:39:26 PM
Yes, when I was working in Germany, I often heard my German colleagues settle arguments about correct German grammar and usage with 'Es steht im Duden....'

The nearest we had in Britain, possibly, was Fowler's English Usage, which was intended for use by Britain's army of civil servants. A bit old now, and most definitely very formal and prescriptive,  although there has been a revised edition on sale for some years now.