User:Garzo/lala

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Contents

[edit] Linguistics templates

See Category:Multilingual support templates.

[edit] Linguasphere codes

Each Linguasphere phylozone has a separate PDF:

[edit] Arabic use and transliteration policy (proposal)

Arabic transliteration schemes
Arabic Strict
transliteration		 Customary
transliteration		 Notes
ا Left untransliterated unless accompanied by other signs; see below.
ب b b
ت t t
ث ṯ th
ج ǧ j or g J is used generally: g is used in those dialects that require it.
ح ḥ h
خ ẖ kh
د d d
ذ ḏ dh
ر r r
ز z z
س s s
ش š sh
ص ṣ s
ض ḍ d
ط ṭ t
ظ ẓ z
ع ʿ ` The 'back tick' (`) is convenient way of distinguishing `ayn from hamza.
غ ġ gh
ف f f
ق q q
ك k k
ل l l
م m m
ن n n
ه h h
و w w
ي y y
ء ʾ ' Hamza should always be transliterated.
ة ä a or at There are a number of different ways of dealing with ta' marbuta.
َ a a
َا ā a
ِ i i
ِي ī i
ِيّ iyy iyy
ُ u u
ُو ū u
ُوّ uww uww
آ ʾā 'a
َى à a This is useful to distinguish.
َي ay ay
َو aw aw

[edit] Using the language template

The language template is for use in articles about languages or dialects. It provides a common standard for displaying data about a language.

[edit] How to incorporate the template into an article: the basics

The template should placed at the very top of the wikitext of the article, before any text. The absolute basic syntax is as shown below:

{{language ← this calls the template
|name=name of language ← the name of the language needs to be given
|familycolor=appropriate colour for language family ← the selection of colours can be found at WikiProject Languages
}} ← this ends the template call

However, you will probably want to add more than just this. Other parameters are listed below, they can be incorporated anywhere between the first and last lines, and in any order.

[edit] Some more parameters

There are several more parameters that can be defined between the opening and closing lines. These are:

|nativename=native name of the language ← this is what the name of the language in that language
|states=countries in which it is mainly spoken
|region=geographic region in which it is mainly spoken
|speakers=the number of speakers of the language
|iso1=the ISO 639-1 code for the language
|iso2=the ISO 639-2 code for the language
|iso3=the ISO 639-3 code for the language
|sil=the lanuage code in the 14th edition of Ethnologue

If any of these are unknown, simply leave them out: the template will provide a default text.

[edit] How to display the genetic classification of a language

You can use the language template to show the genetic classification of a language at a glance. This classification is displayed as a descending staircase of language families, from the broadest to the most specific. To add the genetic classification use the following:

|fam1=the broadest possible widely accepted language family of which the language is a part
|fam2=a more specific sub-family
|fam3=a more specific group

You can keep adding parameters in like fashion until you have completed the classification. If you would prefer to enter some other information in this box (for example, disputed), use this parameter instead:

|family=whatever you want to say

[edit] Some optional parameters

Some parts of the template remain invisible unless they are specifically called. Only use these parameters if they are required.

|fontcolor=colour of font against 'familycolor' ← the font colour is usually black, use this to change it if it is difficultto read
|rank=language's ranking in the list of languages by number of native speakers
|nation=list of countries in which it is an official language
|agency=regulatory body or language academy for the language

[edit] Where a language has more than one ISO 639-3 code

Some languages have a number of ISO 639-3 codes, one for each dialect of that language. If you try putting all of these codes in the usual iso3= parameter, it will get quite messy. Instead, use the following parameters:

|lc1=language code of the first dialect
|ld1=name of the first language dialect
|ll1=link to the Wikipedia article on that dialect

For subsequent dialects, use lc2 and so forth. If the name of a language is the same as its Wikipedia article, you do not need to define ll3. It will link without it.

[edit] Using the template for sign languages

This template is appropriate to use for sign languages. Somewhere, add this following parameter:

|signers=number of people who sign that language

Once this parameter is defined (even if it's set to unknown), the rest of the template makes sure that any reference to 'speaking' is replaced by ones to 'signing'. All the other parameters work in exactly the same way.

[edit] Classification of Semitic languages

There are a number of different classification schemes for Semitic languages. The main difference seems to be based on whether the writer is working mainly with extinct languages (e.g. Akkadian) or living languages (e.g. Turoyo). I'm trying to work out what the consensus is here, so please feel free to add to this table.

Text from Ignacio Ferrando:

The issue of Semitic subclassification, and especially the position of dialects related to Arabic or Northarabic1 has produced in the last decades a good deal of scientific debate amongst Western scholars. It is indeed an actual fact that Arabic shares significant isoglosses with Southsemitic languages, such as a rich system of internal or "broken" plurals or the articulation -f for northern -p. On the other hand Arabic also shares some important features with Northwest Semitic, among them the imperfect verbal stem without gemination (yaqtul) and a set of -t suffixes in the perfect stem. In light of these facts, some scholars, following the traditional lines of Semitic studies, classified Arabic within the Southwest Semitic branch along with the languages of South Arabia and Ethiopia; see the works of Diem (1980), Zaborski (1994), Corriente (1992:24) (1996:12-13) and Ratcliffe (1998a) and (1998b:150-152 and 204-213). However, other scholars prefer to accept the hypothesis put forward by Hetzron (1974), which adopts the view that Arabic belongs to the Central Semitic branch, along with the traditionally named Northwest Semitic (Hebrew, Aramaic). Among these scholars we find Voigt (1987), Rodgers (1991), Kaye (1991), Faber (1997) and Lipinski (1997:46-49).
There is also a somewhat intermediate proposal put forward by Garbini (1984:110-112) and Garbini & Durand (1994:140-143), that Arabic is the result of an innovative Northwest Semitic dialect (Amorreic) which entered the Arabian Peninsula in the first millenium b.c. Interference and interaction with the local pre-Semitic substratum, mainly prone to archaism, ultimately produced the Arabic language in its historical form.2

NOTES:

  1. It is not necessary to insist here on the heterogeneity of elements on the basis of which the Arabic koinè (Classical Arabic) was formed, rapidly reaching a prestigious status and spreading, in such a way that it is nowadays justified to speak of "Arabic" rather than of "Arabic varieties". Besides this general perspective, it is important of course not to forget the absence of homogeneity in the first phases of the history of the language.
  2. It is interesting to observe that, in line with the methodological premises of Hetzron (1976), all these attempts of classification are based on morphologic, to a lesser extent phonetic features. But it would be perhaps interesting to consider other levels of language (syntax, lexicon and semantics) when establishing such genetic relationships between languages and/or dialects, as suggested by Owens (1996), who, after emphasizing the role of idiomatic structure as a useful tool for the task of classification and subclassification of linguistic varieties, applies this perspective to Nigerian Arabic.

[edit] Different schemes for classifying Semitic languages

Languages Beyer Huehnergard Ethnologue source unknown Hetzron
Babylonian-Assyrian East Semitic East Semitic not classified North Peripheral Eastern Semitic
Euphrates dialects North Semitic
Ugaritic West S/Central S/Northwest S
West Semitic North Central Central S/Northwest S
Aramaic Central/Aramaic
Canaanite Central/South
Arabic South Semitic West S/Central S/North Arabian South Central Central S/South Central (Arabic)
Ancient North Arabic not classified
South Arabian West S/South S South/South Arabian South Peripheral South Semitic
Ethiopic South/Ethiopian

Huehnergard's A Grammar of Akkadian also has an interesting chart that further subdivides the Semitic family:

  1. East Semitic
    1. Akkadian and Eblaite
  2. West Semitic
    1. Central Semitic
      1. Northwest Semitic
        1. Ugaritic
        2. Canaanite (including Hebrew)
        3. Aramaic
      2. North Arabian
        1. Arabic Dialects
    2. South Semitic
      1. South Arabian
        1. Old South Arabian Languages
      2. Ethiopian
        1. Ge'ez
        2. Amharic

I'd be willing to reorganize the article along these lines, but not until this is paraphrased (ideally by the addition of more language names).

Ben Brumfield

Thankyou for that Ben, including the above there are now four different classifications I know of. In one of them Punic comes under West Semetic somewhere between North & South Arabian and Ugaritic under Canaanite which is also called NorthCentral. A user called user:Wetman on the Phoenician page proposed "Phoenician was one of the northwestern Semitic languages, those languages that include Amorite and Ugaritic, in addition to the Canaanite languages that include Phoenician, Hebrew and Aramaic." As you can see he seperates Amorite from Canaanite and replaces it with Punic. These may be very minor differences in opinion but I wonter how the arguments go for the different classifications?

[edit] Categorization of Canaanite languages

Languages Beyer
parts of Ugaritic North Canaanite
the language of the names at Ugarit
Amortite East Canaanite
Proto-Byblian West Canaanite
the western area of Amarna glosses
Phoenician-Punic (and the Gezer Calendar)
Proto-Sinaitic South Canaanite
Taanach and southern area of Amarna glosses
North Hebrew
Ammonite
Moabite
South Hebrew
Gileadite
Edomite

[edit] Text from the Semitic languages article reworked

East
Semitic		 Akkadian — extinct
Eblaite — controversial, either East Semitic or Northwest Semitic — extinct
West
Semitic		 Central
Semitic		 Northwest
Semitic		 Ugaritic — extinct
Canaanite
languages		 Ammonite — extinct
Moabite — extinct
Edomite — extinct
Hebrew — renewed
Phoenician (incl. Punic) — extinct
Aramaic
languages		 Syriac
Mandaic
Amorite — extinct
(attested only in proper names transcribed in Akkadian;
perhaps parent lang. of NW or Cent. Semitic)
Southwest
Semitic
(Arabic)		 Arabic
Maltese
South
Semitic		 Southwest
Semitic		 Ethiopic North
Ethiopic		 Tigrinya
Tigre
Ge'ez
South
Ethiopic		 Transverse Amharic
Argobba
Harari
East
Gurage
languages		 Selti
Wolane
Zway
Ulbare
Inneqor
Outer Soddo (North Gurage)
Goggot (Gurange unclass.)
Muher (Gurage unclass.)
West
Gurage
languages		 Masqan (Gurage unclass.?)
Ezha
Gura
Gyeto
Ennemor
Endegen
Old
South
Arabian		 Sabaean — extinct
Minaean — extinct
Qatabanian — extinct
Hadhramautic languages — extinct
Southeast
Semitic		 Soqotri
Mehri
Jibbali
Harsusi
Bathari
Hobyot

[edit] How Ethnologue does it

Afro-Asiatic (372)

  • Semitic (74)
    • Central (57)
      • Aramaic (19)
        • Eastern (17)
          • Central (14)
            • Northeastern (12)
              • ASSYRIAN NEO-ARAMAIC [AII] (Iraq)
              • LISHANID NOSHAN [AIJ] (Israel)
              • BOHTAN NEO-ARAMAIC [BHN] (Georgia)
              • BIJIL NEO-ARAMAIC [BJF] (Israel)
              • BABYLONIAN TALMUDIC ARAMAIC [BYA] (Israel)
              • CHALDEAN NEO-ARAMAIC [CLD] (Iraq)
              • HÉRTEVIN [HRT] (Turkey (Asia))
              • HULAULÁ [HUY] (Israel)
              • KOY SANJAQ SURAT [KQD] (Iraq)
              • LISHANA DENI [LSD] (Israel)
              • SENAYA [SYN] (Iran)
              • LISHÁN DIDÁN [TRG] (Israel)
            • Northwestern (2)
              • MLAHSÖ [QMQ] (Syria)
              • TUROYO [SYR] (Turkey (Asia))
          • Mandaic (2)
            • MANDAIC [MID] (Iran)
            • MANDAIC, CLASSICAL [MYZ] (Iran)
          • SYRIAC [SYC] (Turkey (Asia))
        • Western (2)
          • WESTERN NEO-ARAMAIC [AMW] (Syria)
          • SAMARITAN ARAMAIC [SRA] (Palestinian West Bank and Gaza)
      • South (38)
        • Arabic (35)
          • ARABIC, ALGERIAN SAHARAN SPOKEN [AAO] (Algeria)
          • ARABIC, TAJIKI SPOKEN [ABH] (Tajikistan)
          • ARABIC, STANDARD [ABV] (Saudi Arabia)
          • ARABIC, MESOPOTAMIAN SPOKEN [ACM] (Iraq)
          • ARABIC, TA'IZZI-ADENI SPOKEN [ACQ] (Yemen)
          • ARABIC, HIJAZI SPOKEN [ACW] (Saudi Arabia)
          • ARABIC, OMANI SPOKEN [ACX] (Oman)
          • ARABIC, CYPRIOT SPOKEN [ACY] (Cyprus)
          • ARABIC, DHOFARI SPOKEN [ADF] (Oman)
          • ARABIC, TUNISIAN SPOKEN [AEB] (Tunisia)
          • ARABIC, SA<IDI SPOKEN [AEC] (Egypt)
          • ARABIC, GULF SPOKEN [AFB] (Iraq)
          • ARABIC, BAHARNA SPOKEN [AFH] (Bahrain)
          • ARABIC, SOUTH LEVANTINE SPOKEN [AJP] (Jordan)
          • ARABIC, JUDEO-TUNISIAN [AJT] (Israel)
          • ARABIC, JUDEO-MOROCCAN [AJU] (Israel)
          • ARABIC, NORTH LEVANTINE SPOKEN [APC] (Syria)
          • ARABIC, SUDANESE SPOKEN [APD] (Sudan)
          • ARABIC, ALGERIAN SPOKEN [ARQ] (Algeria)
          • ARABIC, NAJDI SPOKEN [ARS] (Saudi Arabia)
          • ARABIC, MOROCCAN SPOKEN [ARY] (Morocco)
          • ARABIC, EGYPTIAN SPOKEN [ARZ] (Egypt)
          • ARABIC, UZBEKI SPOKEN [AUZ] (Uzbekistan)
          • ARABIC, EASTERN EGYPTIAN BEDAWI SPOKEN [AVL] (Egypt)
          • ARABIC, HADRAMI SPOKEN [AYH] (Yemen)
          • ARABIC, LIBYAN SPOKEN [AYL] (Libya)
          • ARABIC, SANAANI SPOKEN [AYN] (Yemen)
          • ARABIC, NORTH MESOPOTAMIAN SPOKEN [AYP] (Iraq)
          • ARABIC, JUDEO-YEMENI [JYE] (Israel)
          • HASSANIYYA [MEY] (Mauritania)
          • MALTESE [MLS] (Malta)
          • ARABIC, CHADIAN SPOKEN [SHU] (Chad)
          • ARABIC, SHIHHI SPOKEN [SSH] (United Arab Emirates)
          • ARABIC, JUDEO-IRAQI [YHD] (Israel)
          • ARABIC, JUDEO-TRIPOLITANIAN [YUD] (Israel)
        • Canaanite (3)
          • HEBREW, ANCIENT [HBO] (Israel)
          • HEBREW [HBR] (Israel)
          • SAMARITAN [SMP] (Palestinian West Bank and Gaza)
    • South (17)
      • Ethiopian (12)
        • North (3)
          • GEEZ [GEE] (Ethiopia)
          • TIGRIGNA [TGN] (Ethiopia)
          • TIGRÉ [TIE] (Eritrea)
        • South (9)
          • Outer (4)
            • n-Group (2)
              • GAFAT [GFT] (Ethiopia)
              • GURAGE, SODDO [GRU] (Ethiopia)
            • tt-Group (2)
              • GURAGE, WEST [GUY] (Ethiopia)
              • MESMES [MYS] (Ethiopia)
          • Transversal (5)
            • Amharic-Argobba (2)
              • ARGOBBA [AGJ] (Ethiopia)
              • AMHARIC [AMH] (Ethiopia)
            • Harari-East Gurage (3)
              • GURAGE, EAST [GRE] (Ethiopia)
              • HARARI [HAR] (Ethiopia)
              • ZAY [ZWA] (Ethiopia)
      • South Arabian (5)
        • HOBYÓT [HOH] (Oman)
        • HARSUSI [HSS] (Oman)
        • MEHRI [MHR] (Yemen)
        • JIBBALI [SHV] (Oman)
        • SOQOTRI [SQT] (Yemen)


Hm, I added more info to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Semitic_languages (Classification again) with no reaction. If somebody really interested I look forward. Koryakov Yuri 10:11, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Grammar Universals

Some of the grammar articles on WP are in a mess. They are heavily biased towards English and Indo-European languages. Grammatical tense/multilingual sources is a preparation area for a more universal approach to tense in language. This is my thinking outloud section.

[edit] Conceptual hierarchy

  • Temporal deixis (semantic feature of referring to time).
    • Non-morphosyntactic temporal deixis (time referrence is inferred only by context).
      • Temporal adverbs used for clarification.
    • Morphosyntactic temporal deixis (time referrence is grammatically marked).
      • Syntactic temporal deixis (a grammatical particle marks time referrences).
      • Morphological temporal deixis (one or more words carry the time referrence marker).

Often blurred kinds of temporal deixis:

  1. Tense (major temporal referrence).
    1. Absolute tense (referrence to the 'now' of the utterance).
    2. Relative tense (reference to the 'then' of narative).
    3. Hybrid tense (reference to the 'then' of narrative in referrence to the 'now' of utterance).
  2. 'Temporal contouring' (the 'viewpoint' and 'kind of action')
    1. Aspect (grammatical coding - aspectuality is additional encoding) (perfective/imperfective) ('viewpoint')
    2. Aktionsart (lexical coding - words have encoded aspectuality) (stative/dynamic) ('kind of action')

[edit] Getting tense?

Anders: I am primarily indebted to the Sw Natl Encyclopedia and Siegfried Lienhard: Tempusgebrauch und Aktionsartenbildung in der modernen Hindi for what follows. (Another book to check out is, according to Lienhard, Horst Renicke: Die Theorie der Aspekte und Aktionsarten and perhaps also Max Deuschbein: Aspekte und Aktionsarten im Neuenglischen. There is also a more recent, massive tome, edited by Östen Dahl, Tense and Aspect Systems.)

Aktionsarten are verbal constructions, describing the general characteristics of actions, as objectively stated by the speaker. A personal involvement of the speaker is possible, but subordinate. Examples of Aktionsarten are starting (ingressive-inchoative), instantaneous, continuing (progressive-continuative) and ending (egressive-conclusive).

Aspects are kinds of time perspectives which describe the speaker's view, like perfective, progressive or habitual.

Lienhard regards tenses (at least in Hindi) as secondary phenomena that relate originally aspect carrying forms to time domains. "A tense" originates "by a kind of linear interpretation of a localized aspect". (My translation of Lienhard's quoting F. Rundgren: Intensiv und Aspektkorrelation. Studien zur äthiopischen und akkadischen Verbalstammbildung.)

Finally, it seems that Jerzy Kurylowicz in Aspect et temps dans l'histoire du persan, and his L'apophonie en indo-européen discusses the pair of opposites imperfective-perfective in an interesting way, assigning different symbols consisting of combinations of Greek letters and subscripts to, for example, I write, I am writing, I have written, I have been writing, I wrote, I was writing, I had written and I had been writing.

Anders: I'm afraid that this question requires a definition of "word"... Hindi uses verbs, lots of them in a row, to express subtle shades of meaning, but who am I to tell if they are verb forms as separate words, or if they can be classified as inflectional morphemes? The most common term is "compound verbs", but I don't find any consensus on the interpretation of usages. Compare the general nonspecific gâ.ri caltî hai "the train gone is" 'the train goes' or gâ.rî caltî thî "the train gone was" 'the train went' with gâ.rî cal dî "train went gave" 'the train left', in principle stressing that the action concerns somebody else than the doer, and the more sudden gâ.rî cal pa.rî "train went fell (preterite of 'fall')" 'the train began to move'.

This is interesting to compare to the Chinese general notion of going (away) chu, the completed/accomplished (perfective?) having gone laile, the having gone once laiguo or the ongoing going laizhe.

Flaminius: Japanese adjectives are conjugated in the same paradigm as verbs, although the two parts of speech have different inflectional forms for the same paradigm. To tell you the truth I am not very comfortable using the word conjugation in Japanese grammar for the paradigm is not defined by such features as are common in European and Semitic languages; person, number, gender etc. For detail please refer first to my then-irrelevant posts in Ottoman Turkish thead.

I will show a part of Japanese conjugational paradigm just to contrast conjugations of verbs and adjectives (hyphen separates the stem and the inflectional affix).

Present or unmarked tense shiro-i (am/are/is white) (< CJ shiroshi) kam-u (I/you/he/she/they bite)

After-Noun-Clause form shiro-i N (a/the white N) (< CJ shiroki) kam-u N (a/the N that bites)

Past test or perfect aspect shiro-katta (was/were white) (< shiroku-atta; white-existed morphologically) kan-da (I/you/he/she they bit) (< kam-ta; morphologically)

After-Negation form in the unmarked tense shiro-ku nai (white not); the negative word nai is another adjective. kam-a nai (do/does not bite)

And-Form (I suspect this is adverbialisation) shiro-ku te kuroi (am/is/are white and black) kan-de taberu (bite and eat = awkward masticate)

Henri: I confess myself a little confused by the examples given by Anders to illustrate aspect in Chinese verbs.

But why the switch of verbs, from «chu» («qu» ?) to «lai» ? In any event, the use of the particle «zhe» after verbs is especially interesting, but it is important not to identify such combinations with an English progressive tense. Thus a dialogue of the type What are you doing ? - I'm eating would be rendered in Chinese by Ni zuo shemma ? - (Wo) chifan rather than by Ni zuozhe shemme ? - (Wo) chizhe fan. In my experience, «zhe» is most often suffixed to a verb to indicate that it serves as ongoing background to the action desribed by another verb. Thus the phrase mentioned by Flam on another thread I have once heard a chinese comment on his compatriot students of Japanese, "xiao3 zhao2 jin3, ku2 zhao2 chu2." In a peculiar parallel to Henri's expression it means "laughing enter but crying exit." which I, however, would transliterate slightly differently, as follows: «Xiao4zhe0 jin4, ku1zhe0 chu1».

Indeed, if I may speculate, I can't help wondering if the «te» suffix in Japanese And-Form (I suspect this is adverbialisation) shiro-ku te kuroi (am/is/are white and black) kan-de taberu (bite and eat = awkward masticate) is not, in fact, derived from this use of the particle «zhe» in Chinese. Let us hope that that Chinese Otto Jespersen of the Japanese language does turn up while we are still around to benefit !...

Flaminius: Myself And-Form (I suspect this is adverbialisation) shiro-ku te kuroi (am/is/are white and black) kan-de taberu (bite and eat = awkward masticate) Verbs can form request expressions with this te-form. E.g., kande kudasai (Please bite) kudasai < CJ kudasare; polite to give; imperative.

I consider this usage somewhat akin to English expressions like "ask you to bite," although the subject to the infinitive is not explicitly shown in the Japanese counterpart.

However, an adjective in te-form before a verb is ungrammatical. E.g., *shiroku-te kudasai. In order for any form of imperative/request expression using adjectives to be grammatical, a verb in te-form should intervene between the adjective and the main verb.

Thus, some examples of such expressions are; shiroku-natte kudasai. (natte < naru; become)

  Become white, please.

shiroku-shite kudasai. (shite < suru; do or make)

  Make it/him/yourself/etc. white, please.

For convenience of those who intend to commit Internet search, I favoured the term te-form in this post. This is the most dominant appellation in the literature (In our examples the verb kande is the result of forward assimilation like kami-te > kamte > kande).

My conviction is, though, that this is advervialisation for it is "suffixed to a verb to indicate that it serves as ongoing background to the action (M._Henri_Day)." I don't see any problem in including infinitive-like use of te-form in advervialisation. In view of the history that the English to-infinitive also started out from an adverbial phrase (constructed by virtue of preposition to), this may not be so wild a speculation.

Henri: Interesting analysis, Flam! I'm not sure that I find your view of the suffix «-te» as an infinite marker when used with verbal imperatives like kudasai or kure convincing ; rather I tend to see it as a marker for combining verbals (in Japanese, both verbs and adjectives) with other verbals, with the restrictions involving combinations of the two sub-categories that you mention.

In any event, even if this use of «-te» should, in fact, derive from the Chinese use of «zhe», it should be noted that in Japanese, unlike in Chinese, one does find a morphological construction closely akin to the progressive tenses in English, i e, V-te-iru/aru. Thus the little dialogue mentioned in my earlier posting would, in Japanese, come out something like the following (in language denuded of honorifics, etc) Nani(wo) yateiruka ? -Gohan(wo) tabeteiru. Or am I misinformed ?...

Anders: Yes, I mixed up the verbs for coming and going in the middle of the night (I think). I'm not perfectly sure on how to use chu/qu/chuqu 'come out' etc.; quchu however seems to be more of a noun. That may be the reason for suddenly? switching to lai 'come'.

It is fairly common for Chinese "adjectives" to be referred to as "stative verbs" when used predicatively. One argument is that no other verb is needed. But they can also be the subject of a sentence, and may then perhaps be compared to an English gerund: Leng bu hao '[Being/to be] cold [is] not good."

Russian adjectives are inflected in a nounish way, but they too can be used verbishly: Sankt Peterburg - krasiviy gorod "Sankt Petersburg [is a] beautiful town".

Garzo: I've got the feeling that predicative adjectives in these situations imply a zero copula. That is particularly the case in Russian. However, classifying the absense of something is not too easy. However, if, as in Japanese, an adjective can show tense, it might be fair to say that it is the 'verb' and not magic up a zero copula. In an isolating language, isn't this a subjective matter?

[edit] Nabataean alphabet

Image:Nabataean_alphabet.jpg This image does not work: it was a nice idea, but it doesn't work. The IPA symbols are messed up, and I'm not sure what the historical perspective on the language should be.

[edit] Playing with IPA in Unicode

  • ʔ Glottal stop (660)
  • ʕ Voiced pharyngeal fricative (661)
  • ɟ Voiced palatal plosive (607)
  • ɢ Voiced uvular plosive (610)
  • ɲ Voiced palatal nasal (626)
  • ŋ Voiced velar nasal (331)
  • ʃ Voiceless postalveolar fricative (643)
  • Ʒ Voiced postalveolar fricative (439)
  • ɣ Voiced velar fricative (411)

[edit] Semitic transliteration templates

Template:unicode forces browsers to use a unicode font to display the text given as its parameter. However, Unicode can be quite awkward to remember. It would be good to have a template that called Unicode characters by memorable names. This would be most useful for transliteration and would force browsers to show the text properly (if these templates piggy-backed on template:unicode).

Code Character Unicode Use
glot ’ 146 glottal stop
Protosemitic alpu
Aramaic/Hebrew א
Arabic ء
aa ā 257 long a vowel
ee ē 275 long (open) e vowel
oo ō 333 long (open) o vowel
bh ḇ 7687 soft b
gh ḡ 7713 soft g
Protosemitic gharu
Arabic غ
htie ḫ 7723 Protosemitic harmu
Egyptian
x
dh ḏ 7695 soft d
Protosemitic dhabu
Arabic ذ
uu ū 363 long u vowel
odot ọ 7885 (short) close o vowel
oodot ộ 7897 long close o vowel
hdot ḥ 7717 Aramaic/Hebrew ח
Arabic ح
Egyptian
H
hline ẖ 7830 Egyptian
X
tdot ṭ 7789 emphatic t
Aramaic/Hebrew ט
Arabic ط
ii ī 299 long i vowel
edot ặ 7865 (short) close e vowel
eedot ệ 7879 long close e vowel
kh ḵ 7733 soft k
Arabic خ
ayn ‘ 145 Aramaic/Hebrew ע
Arabic ع
ph ṗ 7767 soft p
sdot ṣ 7779 emphatic s
Aramaic/Hebrew צ
Arabic ص
sacute ś 347 Protosemitic sannu
Aramaic/Hebrew ש
sh š 353 Protosemitic shetu
Aramaic/Hebrew ש
Arabic ش
th ṯ 7791 soft t
Arabic ث
j ğ 287 Arabic ج
ddot ḍ 7693 emphatic d
Arabic ض
dhdot ẓ 7827 emphatic dh
Arabic ظ
ch č 269 extended Arabic چ
zh ž 382 extended Arabic ژ
reed ỉ 7881 Egyptian
i

[edit] Playing with WikiHiero syntax

WikiHiero syntax is a straightforward way of writing in Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Information can be found on m:Help:WikiHiero syntax and m:Help:WikiHiero phonemes.

For example, the Egyptian word 3pdw means birds, and is written (in full)

A p
d		 w G38
Z2

.

{{{1}}}
in hieroglyphs
{{{2}}}

Template:Hiero/pharaoh

[edit] One-consonant signs

1-consonant signs
Sign Coding Notes
A
A Aleph 3
i
i Yodh ỉ
i i
i-i y
y
y
a
a Ayin c
w
w Waw w
W
W
b
b b
p
p p
f
f f
m
m m
n
n n
r
r r
h
h h
H
H 'h-dot' ḥ
x
x 'h-tie' ḫ
X
X 'h-underline' h ẖ
s
s s
z
z
S
S sh
q
q 'k-dot' q
k
k k
g
g g
t
t t
T
T t
d
d d
D
D d

[edit] Colours for ancient Egypt templates

Period Background colour Border colour
Pre-dynastic plum red
Early dynastic sandybrown indianred
Old Kingdom gold royalblue
First IP crimson gold
Middle Kingdom palegoldenrod crimson
Second IP red palegoldenrod
New Kingdom aquamarine black
Third IP lime red
Late period fuchsia orchid
Ptolomys skyblue steelblue

[edit] Titles

The official titulary of the king by the New Kingdom consisted of five names; for some rulers, we know only one or two of them. In the order of their appearance they are:

[edit] Horus name

This is the earliest recorded name, which was created to identify the king with an aspect of the Hawk-god Horus. It was written inside a serekh.

[edit] Two ladies name

The nebty or Two Ladies name was associated with the goddess of Upper Egypt (the vulture-goddess Nekhbet), and the goddess of Lower Egypt (the cobra-goddess Wadjet).

[edit] Golden Horus name

The Golden Falcon Name first appeared in the Twelfth Dynasty, and became a part of the official titulary.

[edit] Praenomen

The throne name, by which he was addressed in diplomatic correspondence. It was the first of the two names written inside a cartouche, and usually accompanied by one of two phrases: either n-sw-bity, "He of the Sedge and the Bee"; or neb tawy, "Lord of the Two Lands".

[edit] Nomen

Template:Hiero/pharaoh1 The Nomen was given to the crown prince at birth; it was his "real" name. The other names were received at his coronation. Beginning with Chephren of the Fourth Dynasty, this name was introduced by the title "son of Ra."

[edit] English grammar

The English language is an inflectional language using subject-verb-object construction as its norm. It is a Germanic language, which has undergone significant changes over time. This article is a description of the grammar of Modern English; for information about English at earlier periods of its development, see the History of the English language.

[edit] Nouns

English nouns are inflected for grammatical number: either singular (unmarked) or plural (marked). The usual inflection for the plural number is the suffix -s: cat (singular), cats (plural). In cases where the unmarked noun ends in a sibilant consonant (s, z, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ or dʒ), the ending becomes -es: bus→busses, jazz→jazzes, stash→stashes, church→churches, for example. Old English had many different ways to mark the plural number, and some of these still exist in Modern English. The internal plural, involving the change of the internal vowel of a word, can be seen in foot→feet, mouse→mice and woman→women. Another irregular plural is the ending -en, which can be seen in ox→oxen and child→children (the additional -r- is from a now obsolete form, childer). A few English nouns are considered to be mass nouns, and thus have no plural form: furniture, knowledge, fish and sheep, for example.

[edit] Possession

There are two usual ways of indicating possession in English. The of-construnction links the possessoed to the possessor by way of the word of: for example, the King of Sweden, the Last Night of the Proms. However, it can also add description: a book of short stories.

The other form of marking possession in English is with the possessive clitic. The usual form of the clitic is -'s, and it is appended to the possessor: the dog's bowl. The clitic is not strictly part of the word to which it is appended (or an inflection of it). It is appended to the final word of the entire noun phrase of the possessor: the King of Sweden's bicycle.

A reduced form of the clitic, -', is used when it is appended to word that has taken its plural in -s: bus's→busses' and car's→cars', but woman's→women's and child's→children's. This reduced form is sometimes used with singular proper names that end in -s, but this use is generally restricted to 'classical' names where the possessive clitic is not pronounced: Socrates', Jesus'. The clitic is not reduced in instances where the s is pronounced: Thomas's, but, refering to the Thomas family, Thomases'.

[edit] Pronouns and determiners

Pronouns are the only word class in English that inflect to show grammatical case. This is the remnant of the more complete case system of Old English. Due to its simplified case system, grammarians of English now tend to prefer the labels subject case, object case and possessive case to the traditional terms (respectively, nominative, accusative and dative, and genitive).

[edit] Personal pronouns and determiners

The personal pronouns and determiners exhibit case, number, person and, in the case of the third person singular, gender. As English does not have grammatical gender, he and she are usually used in accordance with natural gender. It tends to be impersonal. The indefinite pronoun one is sometimes used where none of these seems appropriate. The former form for the second person singular, thou, is now obsolete, and has been replaced completely by the plural you. There is a trend in Modern English to use the third person plural forms, they, for third person singular without marking gender: I know if I've got a good doctor, because they will look at me when they're talking. This usage is not yet considered standard.

Subject pronoun Object pronoun Reflexive pronoun Possessive pronoun Possessive determiner
1st person singular I me myself mine my
2nd person singular [archaic forms] you [thou] you [thee] yourself [thyself] yours [thine] your [thy]
3rd person singular feminine she her herself hers her
3rd person singular masculine he him himself his his
3rd person singular impersonal it it itself its its
1st person plural we us ourselves ours our
2nd person plural you you yourselves yours your
3rd person plural they them themselves theirs their

[edit] Other pronouns and determiners

  • Relative pronouns
    • who, whom, whose, which, that
  • Interrogative pronouns and determiners
    • what(ever), which(ever), who(ever), whom, whose
  • Demonstrative pronouns and determiners
    • this, these, that, those
  • Indefinite pronouns and determiners
    • everybody, something, every, some, all, either of, one

[edit] Adjectives

English adjectives can be used either attributively or predicatively, or independently implying a noun.

Attributive adjectives usually precede the noun they modify: red dress, beautiful smile, funny conversations. Adjectives do not inflect to agree with their noun: red dress→red dresses.

Predicative adjectives are used in statements of identity, and are connected to their noun by a copula: their dresses are red, his smile was beautiful, our conversations became funny.

[edit] Verbs

Regular verb forms Examples
Base form play, point, pass
-s form plays, points, passes
-ing form playing, pointing, passing
-ed form played, pointed, passed

English verbs can be inflected to show tense and the number, person and gender of the subject. It is useful to distinguish between the form and the function of the verb. There are only four regular verb forms in English (see the table to the right). However, these forms, particularly the base form, have a number of different functions in English grammar.

The base form of the verb (as it would appear in a dictionary) is used to form the infinitive, the present tense (except in the third person singular), the imperative and the subjunctive. The -s form (formed just like a regular noun plural) is used for the third person singular of the present tense. The -ing form is used as the present participle and the gerund, and the -ed form is used for the past tense and the past participle.

Irregular verb forms Examples
-t form sent [←send], lent [←lend]
-en form taken [←take], shaken [←shake]
vowel-gradated form took [←take], shook [←shake]

It is this last form of the verb that is subject to the most irregularity (see right). Some English verbs use an irregular ending instead of the -ed form. Some use different forms for the past tense and past participle.

[edit] Present tense

Subject Example
1st person singular I play
2nd person singular you play
3rd person singular she plays
1st person plural we play
2nd person plural you play
3rd person plural they play

The English present tense is normally used to speak about present time, now. The base form of the verb is used in all instances, except where the subject is the third person singular, when the -s form is used.

Despite its name, the present tense can be used to talk about past or future events as well as those of the present. The use of the present tense to talk about past time is often called the historic present. When this is done (and it is not done all that often), it can add a sense of immediacy, vividness and drama to narrative: Then, the landing craft jolts to a stop, and grabbing our rifles we wade to the beach under heavy fire — that was what it was like on D-Day, son.

There are various ways of talking about future time in English, and it is often done using the present tense. Sometimes, this is achieved by the context: we play football tomorrow.

[edit] Past tense

Subject Example
1st person singular I played
2nd person singular you played
3rd person singular she played
1st person plural we played
2nd person plural you played
3rd person plural they played

The past tense is formed by the -ed form of the verb, except for irregular verbs that use one of the forms mentioned above. The verb form remains the same for all persons, singular or plural. The past tense is normally used to talk about events in past time. However, it can be used to talk about the present and the future. If the present temse gives a sense of immediacy to a discourse, the past tense gives a sense of distancing. This distancing can be used to express doubt, possibility or politeness: If I played the long ball to Mary next time, we might just win, or I wanted to see you before you went.

[edit] Non-finite verbs

There are five types of non-finite verbs in English: the present and past participles, the gerund, the to-infinitive and the base infinitive.

The present participle is the -ing form of the verb. Despite its name, the present participle does not signify present time. It can be used as an adjective (playing cards), or to show progressive aspect.

The past participle of regular verbs uses the -ed form of the verb. Irregular verbs use one of the irregular endings, and some verbs use a different ending for the past participle to that used for the past tense (for example, he took lunch to her, lunch was taken to her). The past participle can be used as an adjective (a well-built shed) or to indicate the perfective aspect or passive voice.

The gerund, like the present participle, is also formed from the -ing form of the verb. Where as the participle can act in an adjective-like way, the gerund acts in a noun-like fashion. Some modern grammarians prefer not to distinguish between these two uses of the same verb form. The gerund can be used by itself (no fishing) or as the object of a catenative verb (I enjoy fishing in this river).

The infinitive is the base form of the verb. In English, it is usually preceded by the particle to: to play. It is used to describe the action of the verb: to sleep, perchance to dream. It may also occur as the object of a catenative verb: I want to go with you. The infinitive is often used without to as well. This base infinitive is used after certain verbs (especially modal verbs): I could go with you.

[edit] Verb functions

English verbs have two distinct roles:

  1. Main verbs carry lexical meaning (their dictionary definitions).
  2. Auxilliary verbs carry grammatical meaning (they alter the grammar of a sentence).

English verbs can be divided into three classes by their function:

  1. Primary verbs can function both as main verbs and auxilliary verbs.
    • There are only three primary verbs: be, have and do.
  2. Lexical verbs can only function as main verbs.
    • Most English verbs are lexical verbs.
  3. Modal verbs can only function as auxilliary verbs.
    • The core modal verbs are: can/could, may/might, must, shall/should and will/would.

[edit] Progressive aspect

English uses auxilliary verbs to show how the action of a verb relates to time. The progressive aspect describes the action of a verb in progress at the moment in question. English forms the progressive aspect with the auxilliary be and the present participle of the main verb: I am playing football (present progressive), they were driving too fast (past progressive). The auxilliary, a form of the verb be, shows the tense (past or perfect), and in combination with the participle show the aspect. The simple forms of the verb, unmarked for aspect, tend to describe habitual action: I play football, they drive too fast.

[edit] Perfective aspect

Likewise, English uses a form of the verb have with the past participle to show the perfective aspect. This aspect describes the action of the verb as complete: I have played football (present perfective), they had driven too fast (past perfective). Old-fashioned terms for the present perfective and the past perfective are perfect tense and pluperfect tense, respectively. However, it makes far better sense of English grammar to keep the sense of tense and aspect apart.

It is possible to apply both the perfective and progressive aspects to a verb. This shows that the action of the verb was ongoing, but has been completed. The perfect-progressive is formed by a form of the verb have followed by been (the past participle of be) followed by the present participle of the main verb: I have been playing football (present perfect-progressive), they had been driving too fast (past perfect-progressive).

[edit] Passive voice

Most sentences are in the active voice, where the grammatical subject performs the action of the verb: we hugged the big, old tree. However, the passive voice enables a shift of emphasis so that the subject has the action of the verb done to it. This is achieved in English in a similar fashion to aspect. The passive voice is formed by a form of the verb be followed by the past participle of the main verb: the big, old tree was hugged by us. The actor of the verb can be indicated by the preposition by.

It is possible to combine the passive voice with either or both aspects. In such cases, the passive voice is applied last: I had been being hugged (present perfect-progressive passive)!

[edit] Modal verbs

The modal verbs are a group of auxilliary verbs that are used to express mood. Their range of meaning and expression is large, but they can only be used in combination with a main verb (at least it has to be implied). The central modal verbs are can/could, may/might, must, shall/should, will/would. They can express possibility, neccesity, desire, obligation and much more. Historically, could is the past tense of can, but, in the case of modals, this simply implies a 'distancing'. Could, might, should and would are less solid moods than can, may, shall and will.

The verb that follows a modal verb, which cannot be another modal, is in its base infinitive form: she can go to the ball.

A few verbs are described as semi-modal in that they are lexical verbs that are able to function in a similar way to modals. These are dare, need, used to and ought to.

[edit] International English

v • d • e
Dialects of English

Europe
British · East Anglian · English English · Estuary · Euro-English · Guernsey English · Hiberno-English (Ireland) · Highland · Llanito (Gibraltar) · Manx · Mid Ulster · Midlands · Northern · Received Pronunciation · Scottish · Welsh · West Country dialects

North America
United States · African American Vernacular · Appalachian · Baltimorese · Boston · California · Chicano · Cajun · General American · Maine-New Hampshire · Mid-Atlantic · New York-New Jersey English · North American · North Central American · Inland Northern American · Pacific Northwest · Pittsburgh · Southern American · Utah · Yooper | Canadian · West/Central Canadian · Maritimer · Newfoundland · Quebec

Oceania | Asia | Africa
Australian · New Zealand · Australian Aboriginal · Hawaiian Pidgin | Burmese · Hong Kong · Indian · Manglish · Philippine · Singlish · Sri Lankan | Bermudian · Caribbean · Jamaican · Liberian · Malawian · South African

Miscellaneous
Basic · Commonwealth · Globish · International · Plain · Simplified · Special · Standard

This has been reworked, but some of this sorce material may still be useful.

Referrenced by Sitran from yourDictionary.com/Agora Discussion Board, and Towards International English in EFL Classrooms in Japan, Chiaki Yamaguchi

The reasons, however, for putting International English into the expanding circle [sic] are twofold. Firstly, there is the fact that it is often said that non-native speakers use English more as a lingua franca between themselves than in encounters with native speakers; thus, it is no longer the property of its native speakers (Jenkins, 1998; Prodromou, 1997; Widdowson, 1994). The situation or society where International English is thus used cannot fit in to any circle other than the expanding circle. Secondly, drawing on the previous citation from Romaine (1994) that language always reflects the real situation of its users, it cannot be said that the identity of International English could be identified with any one of the native or non-native varieties of English. That is, English as a lingua franca seems to be a foreign language to anybody (not only non-native but also native) to some extent. For example, native speakers of English change their speech manner depending on their interlocutor; so called, 'Foreigner Talk'. 'Foreigner Talk' is the register used by native speakers when they address non-native speakers. It involves simplified, sometimes, ungrammatical speech to adjust one's utterance to the interlocutor to enhance their communication.

My contribution to the Agora discussion:

International English is a complex idea. British and American standards, for historical reasons, dominante the field. Many with English as a native language do not really wish to use either standard, and there is a desire for a neutral idiom standard for international communication. Also, English has a 'special' position throughout most of the Commonwealth, and non-native varieties of English have developed. For instance, English is the lingua franca of choice in Southern India, so much so that it has developed a distinctive dialect standard of its own. Added to this, global dominance of English, means that many people living in countries with no historical connexion with the language are choosing/forced to learn it. International English is a rapidly evolving array of concepts about language politics, neutrality, flexibility and intelligibility.

[edit] New draft introduction

International English is the concept of the English language as a global means of communication in numerous dialects, and the movement towards an international standard for the language. It is sometimes referred to as Global English, World English or Standard English. Sometimes these terms refer simply to the array of varieties of English spoken throughout the world; sometimes they refer to a desired standarisation. However, consensus on the terminology and path to standardisation has not been reached.

[edit] Historical context

The modern concept of International English does not exist in isolation, but is the product of centuries of development of the English language.

The language of England came to dominance throughout Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages. In the modern era, printing led to the gradual standardisation of English, and particularly the use of the prestige dialect of the English ruling classes.

The establishment of first permanent English-speaking colony in North America in 1607 was a major step towards the globalisation of the language. As the American settlements were established midway through the process of standardisation of British English, and were seperated by the Atlantic, American English began to evolve a distinct standard form. In particular, Noah Webster's reform of American-English spelling gave rise to the main division in English spelling.

In the 18th century, British colonialism focused on the southern hemisphere. British English had settled into a more standard form than that of the previous century, and this confident English was brought to Africa, Asia and Oceania. It developed both as the language of English-speaking settlers from Britain and Ireland, and the administrative language imposed on speakers of other languages in the various parts of British Empire. The first form can be seen in New Zealand English, and the latter in Indian English. The term Commonwealth English refers to these groups of English dialects.

The English-speaking nations of Canada and the Caribbean are caught between historical connections with British and Commonwealth English, and geographical connections with American English.

The ebb and flow between standardisation of the language and diversification have been ever present throughout its history. The flagship of the former is intelligibility and practicality, while the latter has cultural autonomy and flexibility.

[edit] Modern global language

There is a distinction between English as spoken as a native language around the world (in Britain, USA, Australia and so forth) and as a non-native language spoken as a regional or global lingua franca.

Particularly in Britain and the Commonwealth of Nations, a second distinction is made between those countries where non-native English has official or historical importance (special significance, for example, in Pakistan and Uganda), and those where it does not (Japan and Peru).

In the terminology of English language teaching, we have:

  • English as a native language (ENL), also called first language (L1).
  • English as an additional language (EAL) or English for speakers of other languages (ESOL):
    • English as a second language (ESL) in an environment where English has a special significance, also called second language (L2).
    • English as a foreign language (EFL) in places where it has no special significance, also called third language (L3).

English as a second language might refer either to acquisition of the language in southern India, where it is a prominent, regional lingua franca, or the acquisition of the language by a speaker of another language in a predominantly English-speaking country (a Brazilian living in Barbados, for instance). It may not be an individual's actual second language, but perhaps third or fourth.

In the context of language teaching, English as an additional language (EAL) usually is based on the standards of either British/Commonwealth English or American English. English as an international language (EIL) is EAL with emphasis on learning different major dialect forms; in particular, it aims to equip students with the linguistic tools to communicate internationally.

[edit] English language teaching terminology

  • L1 first language NL native language ENL English as a native language
  • ENNL English as a non-native language ESOL English for speakers of other languages
  • L2 second language ESL English as a second language
  • L3 third language EFL English as a foreign language
  • EIL English as an international language
  • EGP English for general purposes
  • ESP English for specific purposes
    • EAP English for academic purposes
    • EST English for science and technology

[edit] Language-related projects

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