• io9
  • science
  • overmind
  • kotaku
  • gizmodo
  • Profile logout login

#linguistics

io9

Share Cancel
   
Upload an image | Add an image URL
×

logging in
  • FAQ. Include # before tag:
  • #observationdeck,
  • #tips,
  • #calendar,
  • etc.

San Francisco, 2:42 AM
Sat Dec 5
24 posts in the last 24 hours

Team

Tip your editors:

Editor-in-Chief:
Annalee Newitz |

News Editor:
Charlie Jane Anders |

Associate Editor:
Meredith Woerner |

Assistant Editor:
Lauren Davis |

Weekend Editor:
Graeme McMillan |

Contributors:
Joshua Glenn
Stephen Goldmeier |
Ed Grabianowski |
Austin Grossman
Paul Hogan |
Lauren Davis |
Chris Hsiang |
Lynn Peril |
Ann VanderMeer
Alasdair Wilkins |

Graphic Designer:
Stephanie Fox |

Interns:
Tim Barribeau |
Julia Carusillo |
Alex Eichler |
Cyriaque Lamar |
Caitlin Petrakovitz |
Mary Ratliff |
Josh Snyder |

More:
io9 on Facebook
follow io9 on Twitter

SUBSCRIBE TO io9 RSS

New: Breaking news and daily top stories via email
1428 Subscribers
io9
  • posts about #linguistics more →

    Avatar Linguist Wants Na'vi Language to be the Next Klingon

    Father Teaches his Son Klingon as a First Language

    Scientist Writes the "Ideal" David Bowie Song

    The Way of the Klingon Linguists

    Would Humans and Aliens Really Be Able to Communicate?

    Let's Talk Dirty to the Animals

    All the Best Alien Languages in One Place

    Want to Invent an Alien Language?

    How Could We Talk To Alien Life Forms?

    The Future Belongs to W00t, O.K.?
  • Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.
    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of LittleDragon LittleDragon
    11/23/09

    In reply to Avatar Linguist Wants Na'vi Language to be the Next Klingon
    Since the Na'vi have tails, I would think that the tails would possibly be integrated in to the language. Sort of a body language thing. Animals with tails often use them to communicate. But perhaps I am making things far to complicated.

    "Why did she slap me? I said she had nice eyes"
    "You said she had winged thighs. Nice eyes has a tail swish from left to right, not a twirl"
     Reply
    LittleDragon was starred LittleDragon was unstarred
    Image of Demonbird Demonbird
    11/23/09

    In reply to Avatar Linguist Wants Na'vi Language to be the Next Klingon
    I think they should stop saying this is going to be the enxt big thing, and wait to see if it actually happens before celebrating. Honestly, it doesn't look groundbreaking.
     Reply
    Demonbird was starred Demonbird was unstarred
    Image of GreyHammer GreyHammer
    11/23/09

    In reply to Avatar Linguist Wants Na'vi Language to be the Next Klingon
    this language will come in handy if i need any smurf berries.
     Reply
    GreyHammer was starred GreyHammer was unstarred
    Image of dry-roasted-peanuts dry-roasted-peanuts
    11/23/09

    In reply to Avatar Linguist Wants Na'vi Language to be the Next Klingon
    "It may be too early to start translating Hamlet into the language of Pandora's blue aliens, but it's fascinating to read about Frommer's process and the detail that went into creating Na'vi."

    Wasn't Hamlet originally done in Klingon?
     Reply
    dry-roasted-peanuts was starred dry-roasted-peanuts was unstarred
    Image of Aaron Altman Aaron Altman
    11/23/09

    @dry-roasted-peanuts: Yep. And, also? Sherlock Holmes was a descendant of Spock's. :-)
     Reply
    Aaron Altman was starred Aaron Altman was unstarred
    Image of LittleDragon LittleDragon
    11/23/09

    @Aaron Altman: Lies. LIES.....Data was Sherlock Holmes.
     Reply
    LittleDragon was starred LittleDragon was unstarred
    Image of firstanointed firstanointed
    11/23/09

    In reply to Avatar Linguist Wants Na'vi Language to be the Next Klingon
    Hey, to all 12 people who are going to run out and learn Na'vi, more power to you. I just figured out what p'tach means, so I'm happy.
     Reply
    firstanointed was starred firstanointed was unstarred
    Image of SuperTuna SuperTuna
    11/23/09

    In reply to Avatar Linguist Wants Na'vi Language to be the Next Klingon
    Look, here's an idea. Work on America speaking better English first. I'm not talking about the immigrants either. I'm talking about born in the States, English is my native language, I'll sue first and ask later, I'd rather complain then do anything about it Americans.

    When foreigners butcher our language, it can come out as cute (keyword is CAN).

    When the "natives" do it, another meme on the internet gets famous.
     Reply
    FrankenPC promoted this comment SuperTuna was starred SuperTuna was unstarred
    Image of FrankenPC FrankenPC
    11/23/09

    @SuperTuna: My BFF Carlos is from Costa Rica. His grammar and mastery of English in general rival most native born US citizens.

    That's sad on so many levels.
     Reply
    FrankenPC was starred FrankenPC was unstarred
    Image of korybing korybing
    11/23/09

    @SuperTuna: And don't get me started on written English. And not just the horrible English I see on the internet, I've seen college students turn in English papers written in internet shorthand thinking that it was a perfectly acceptable way to write the language.

    It's only a matter of time before "ur" becomes the accepted spelling of "your". That will be the day I move to the moon.
     Reply
    korybing was starred korybing was unstarred
    Image of MonkeyT MonkeyT
    11/23/09

    @SuperTuna: Usually, with fictional languages, they make sense. That is appealing. Their structure, their rules, their grammar - everything is made up at one time by a handful (or less) people who have a clearly stated goal of creating a language that makes sense. English is the most bastardized, contradictory mishmash of linguistic rules anyone could have possibly assemble over a half-dozen centuries. That's why it works as well as it does, and why it's incredibly hard to teach - it always has been and remains a moving target. Considering how much English has stolen from other languages, I get really tickled at people who want others to treat English as an immobile, stagnate set of linguistic rules. In a few hundred rules, they'll still be calling it English, and we'll barely recognize it.
     Reply
    MonkeyT was starred MonkeyT was unstarred
    Image of Rtrain Rtrain
    11/23/09

    @korybing: Languages evolve. This is a constant factor. Do you think people sounded like we do 100 years ago. Hell, 20 years ago people sounded nothing like we do. Language evolves over time. That's totally radical to the max!
    But, yeah, people who type "ur" instead of "your" or "you're" are fucking retarded. Just look at it as something you can bitch to your grand kids about in the future.

    #socalmeetup
     Reply
    korybing promoted this comment Edited by Rtrain at 11/23/09 9:40 AM Rtrain was starred Rtrain was unstarred
    Image of korybing korybing
    11/23/09

    @Rtrain: I don't normally have a problem with the idea of languages evolving, but seeing people type 'lol g2g l8r!' and think it is a completely acceptable form of the language and not just shorthand boggles my mind.

    Although I guess I'm not the one to dictate how the language should evolve. I'm sure people like me hated contractions when they first started showing up in the language. It just looks stupid as hell to see someone ask a serious question but write it as "can ne1 help me i need ur help" or "Ur needed ova their! ^_^;;!"
     Reply
    Edited by korybing at 11/23/09 10:25 AM korybing was starred korybing was unstarred
    Image of smacgry543 smacgry543
    11/23/09

    @SuperTuna:Missing comma after "immigrants"; missing word before "born" (probably "people"); commas after "States," "language," and "later" should be semicolons; "then" should be spelled "than"; comma or missing word needed before "Americans"; "Internet" is usually capitalized.
     Reply
    WestMantooth approved this comment smacgry543 was starred smacgry543 was unstarred
    Image of Rtrain Rtrain
    11/23/09

    @korybing: It's a weird place to be in. Knowing the logical progression of a thing but still holding onto some idealized precept you still have. I know that language will change, but when it does all the rules i know will be thrown out. I guess it's just a fear response.
    Are there any good scifi books that deal with language? I always hate it when someone goes into the future and everyone speaks English the same way they did in the past. Likewise when Germans speak perfect English with German accents in WW2 movies.
    #socalmeetup
     Reply
    Rtrain was starred Rtrain was unstarred
    Image of WestMantooth WestMantooth
    11/23/09

    @smacgry543: Thank you. It was crazy ironic he was bashing bad grammar and using terrible punctuation.
     Reply
    WestMantooth was starred WestMantooth was unstarred
    Image of WestMantooth WestMantooth
    11/23/09

    @SuperTuna: Check your punctuation.
     Reply
    WestMantooth was starred WestMantooth was unstarred
    Image of SuperTuna SuperTuna
    11/23/09

    @WestMantooth: @smacgry543:

    . I'm talking about "born in the States, English is my native language, I'll sue first and ask later, I'd rather complain than do anything about it" Americans.

    Sorry - quotes should have been added for clarity. Pretty sure that listings of adjectives should have commas, but it doesn't really matter to me since English isn't my first language and we're on the Internet ;)

    Thanks <3
     Reply
    SuperTuna was starred SuperTuna was unstarred
    Image of LittleDragon LittleDragon
    11/23/09

    @Rtrain: That video is awesome.
    As for language, Anne McCaffery dealt with language shift in her pern books briefly, Stargate the movie had a bit in the movie where Daniel couldn't communicate with the Egyptians, and CJ Cherryh has a series in which humans end up on a planet with a species with a language based on math. (That is a awkward sentence). Other then that I can't think of any that deal with the linguistic shift of our language, which is a constant argument in my household. Both parents can't handle linguistic shifts. To finish it off insert preferred joke about Germans speaking English .
     Reply
    LittleDragon was starred LittleDragon was unstarred
    Image of Rtrain Rtrain
    11/23/09

    @LittleDragon: No ending statement? Perhaps anight in the cooooler will clear things up!

    #calendar
     Reply
    Rtrain was starred Rtrain was unstarred
    Image of Gen. Appithy Gen. Appithy
    11/23/09

    @korybing: most of the language on the net, or at the very least a great majority, is in formal and colloquial in nature and the writing reflects that. while i would never use gonna or pro'bly in a formal paper i see no issue using it on the net. what we than have is an issue of dgrees and ppl deciding how far is too far for other people.
     Reply
    korybing promoted this comment Gen. Appithy was starred Gen. Appithy was unstarred
    Image of LittleDragon LittleDragon
    11/24/09

    @Rtrain: Where's my ball and glove.
     Reply
    LittleDragon was starred LittleDragon was unstarred
    Image of Rtrain Rtrain
    11/24/09

    @LittleDragon: I know nussing. Nussing!

    #socalmeetup
    #lameetup
     Reply
    Rtrain was starred Rtrain was unstarred
    Image of Makidian Makidian
    11/23/09

    In reply to Avatar Linguist Wants Na'vi Language to be the Next Klingon
    What if, one day, we find an alien race(s) that speaks all the made up languages humans have created? It would be just as mind blowing to find one that speaks English though....
     Reply
    Makidian was starred Makidian was unstarred
    Image of evildead1971 evildead1971
    11/23/09

    In reply to Avatar Linguist Wants Na'vi Language to be the Next Klingon
    after hearing zoe speak a bit of it, i'm all for it
     Reply
    evildead1971 was starred evildead1971 was unstarred
    Image of hamshank hamshank
    11/23/09

    In reply to Avatar Linguist Wants Na'vi Language to be the Next Klingon
    what's Na'vi for "scary bald man"?
     Reply
    queensowntalia promoted this comment hamshank was starred hamshank was unstarred
    Image of queensowntalia queensowntalia
    11/23/09

    @hamshank: Cheinee. Pronounced Chey-Knee.
     Reply
    queensowntalia was starred queensowntalia was unstarred
    Image of mekki mekki
    11/23/09

    @queensowntalia: Okay, I laughed. Clever.
     Reply
    mekki was starred mekki was unstarred
    Image of ManchuCandidate ManchuCandidate
    11/23/09

    In reply to Avatar Linguist Wants Na'vi Language to be the Next Klingon
    Now that I think about, will Navi been the new Codetalker language to replace Navaho?

    [en.wikipedia.org]
     Reply
    ManchuCandidate was starred ManchuCandidate was unstarred
    Image of ciscokidinsf ciscokidinsf
    11/23/09

    In reply to Avatar Linguist Wants Na'vi Language to be the Next Klingon
    Wait, I'm not done with my Rosetta Stone CDs learning Elvish language.
     Reply
    salthegeek promoted this comment ciscokidinsf was starred ciscokidinsf was unstarred
    Image of CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard)
    11/23/09

    In reply to Avatar Linguist Wants Na'vi Language to be the Next Klingon
    As long as we dont have to get semi naked and paint our skin blue at conventions......

    ...........Oh damn! Thats going to happen isnt it???? Thats really going to happen?!
     Reply
    CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) was starred CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) was unstarred
    Image of Obee Juan Obee Juan
    11/23/09

    @CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard): Well we do need a refreshing change from the Princess Leia Slave Girl attendees.
     Reply
    CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) promoted this comment Obee Juan was starred Obee Juan was unstarred
    Image of CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard)
    11/23/09

    @Obee Juan: Yeah...but im worried that the Na'vi are both female AND male semi naked aliens!!

    Thats my problem!!
    #calendar
     Reply
    CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) was starred CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) was unstarred
    Image of MonkeyT MonkeyT
    11/23/09

    @CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard): I really didn't need to conceptualize that.
     Reply
    MonkeyT was starred MonkeyT was unstarred
    Image of korybing korybing
    11/23/09

    @CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard): All the furry bodypainters have been waiting for a movie like this to have a legitimate reason to be at mainstream conventions.
     Reply
    korybing was starred korybing was unstarred
    Image of ManchuCandidate ManchuCandidate
    11/23/09

    In reply to Avatar Linguist Wants Na'vi Language to be the Next Klingon
    I miss the days when Esperanto was the only fictional language.
     Reply
    ManchuCandidate was starred ManchuCandidate was unstarred
    Image of atrus123 atrus123
    11/23/09

    @ManchuCandidate: Go drink a beer, watch Incubus again, and remember the good-old-days.
     Reply
    atrus123 was starred atrus123 was unstarred
    Image of hamshank hamshank
    11/23/09

    @ManchuCandidate: and the Stainless Steel Rat spoke it ... I even tried to learn, as an impressionable kid...
     Reply
    LittleDragon promoted this comment hamshank was starred hamshank was unstarred
    Image of LittleDragon LittleDragon
    11/23/09

    @hamshank: Any thing the Stainless Steel Rat knows is worth trying to learn once.
     Reply
    LittleDragon was starred LittleDragon was unstarred
    Image of ubermex ubermex
    11/23/09

    In reply to Avatar Linguist Wants Na'vi Language to be the Next Klingon
    I hope someone writes a Klingon-Navi dictionary.
     Reply
    queensowntalia promoted this comment ubermex was starred ubermex was unstarred
    Image of queensowntalia queensowntalia
    11/23/09

    @ubermex: And will Avatar be available with Klingon subtitles? This is important. (Fictional languages - serious business.)
     Reply
    queensowntalia was starred queensowntalia was unstarred
    Image of firstanointed firstanointed
    11/23/09

    @queensowntalia: I believe the proper spelling of "serious business" in this context is "srs bizznz".

    Or therebouts.
     Reply
    firstanointed was starred firstanointed was unstarred
    Image of queensowntalia queensowntalia
    11/23/09

    @firstanointed: right, right. Ties right in with that "language evolving" thing. I better forget all my grammar skills so I can keep up ;)
     Reply
    queensowntalia was starred queensowntalia was unstarred
    Image of darkstar5555 darkstar5555
    11/19/09

    In reply to Father Teaches his Son Klingon as a First Language
    And this kids life is ruined.
     Reply
    LittleDragon promoted this comment darkstar5555 was starred darkstar5555 was unstarred
    Image of LittleDragon LittleDragon
    11/19/09

    @darkstar5555: And have you not been paying attention? This story is old. The kid is now in high school and is doing just fine. Not to mention being a geek is not what it used to be.
     Reply
    LittleDragon was starred LittleDragon was unstarred
    Earlier discussions Other discussions Show all discussions Show featured discussions only Start a new discussion

Login

Enter your username and password.

Please enter a username.
Please enter your password.
logging in
Login via Facebook | Sign Up | Forgot Password?

Reset Password

Please enter your email address to have your password reset.

Please enter your email address.
Please enter a valid email address.
requesting password reset

Register

Registering will give you a user profile and the ability to add other users as friends. To become a commenter, however, you need to audition.

Want to know more? Consult the Comment FAQ and legal terms.

Please enter a username.
Please enter a password.
Please confirm your password.
Passwords are not identical.
Please enter a valid email address.
registration sent, waiting for reply

Submit Your Comment

You don't need to login to comment. Just enter your email address below.

See how your address will be displayed in the Comment FAQ.

Please enter a valid email address.
Please enter a valid email address.
logging in

Login with your Facebook or io9 account.

Sign up here.



  • Archives
  • About
  • Advertising
  • Legal
  • Help
  • Report a Bug
  • FAQ
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.