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Grex > Language > #5: Do all languages have a common "mother language"? | |
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| Author |
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| 25 new of 72 responses total. |
rcurl
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response 25 of 72:
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Mar 11 16:15 UTC 1994 |
Why isn't it equally probable that music developed from language? I
suspect that neither is the case. Homo Sapiens came equipped, somehow
or other, with a vocal mechanism and a brain, and did everything
imaginable with it (it wasn't an afternoon's exercise), and out of
this came language and music and yodeling (which is neither.....). I
think the African language you refer to is Xhosa, which is of the Bantu
group (if I recall correctly), which is *many* sublanguages. Xhosa is
an intonation of these, not a separate language group. Boy, am I out
on a limb....
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other
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response 26 of 72:
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Mar 11 18:25 UTC 1994 |
It seems logical that early humans would have discovered and used the
capability to make random noises, noises imitating those heard in nature, and
noises which punctuate gestures and show some emotional content, long before
the structure and uniformity required of a language would have developed...
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kami
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response 27 of 72:
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Mar 11 19:37 UTC 1994 |
rcurl, I believe your memory is better than mine, and that you are quite
correct about the Bantu languages.
hey, gringo- got a gender identity problem, or is "otra" the victim of a typo?
The way you stated your opinion in #26 makes more sense to me somehow than the
way you said it in #24.
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other
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response 28 of 72:
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Mar 12 07:58 UTC 1994 |
Thank. I had more time by then in which to develop the idea.
As far as the name goes, I flunked Spanish, so I don't *know* the proper form
for otra. If anyone can help, I'll be happy to correct it. (:
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davel
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response 29 of 72:
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Mar 12 16:46 UTC 1994 |
Well, I've never studied Spanish, but I'm pretty sure that final "a" says
you're female. I'd expect it to be "otro" if in fact that is the right
word.
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kami
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response 30 of 72:
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Mar 13 07:00 UTC 1994 |
right in one.
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anne
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response 31 of 72:
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Mar 13 20:38 UTC 1994 |
re #28, it should be El Gringo Otro, I had four years of espanol.
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omni
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response 32 of 72:
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Mar 13 21:09 UTC 1994 |
But isn't the word "gringo" a derogatory description of someone?
I think, (and this is a personal observation) that "El Hombre otro" would
be a better and more fitting phrase. (it means "The Other Man" which
I think is the point in the first place.
I have never liked the word "gringo"; and I guess I never will.
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anne
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response 33 of 72:
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Mar 13 21:30 UTC 1994 |
I don't think gringo was originally supposed to be derogatory, I think
it just means white man/woman. But I do agree that El Hombre Otro would
probably be better.
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davel
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response 34 of 72:
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Mar 13 21:47 UTC 1994 |
If I recall, the origin is obscure - the folk etymology being that it was
from that song supposedly sung by settlers from the US, but that it's
attested much too early & widely to be that. Or something.
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other
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response 35 of 72:
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Mar 14 04:59 UTC 1994 |
I chose gringo in lieu of hombre because I like the way the phrase flowed
better in that form. It's purely an aesthetic choice.
There is no intended slur or any political meaning to my choice of words
in this instance.
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kami
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response 36 of 72:
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Mar 14 05:38 UTC 1994 |
el chico otro? you're not all that old, after all.
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other
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response 37 of 72:
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Mar 14 06:00 UTC 1994 |
At times I am older than my years, and at times I am as the newborn, screaming
at the light from which I cannot escape.
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kami
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response 38 of 72:
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Mar 14 23:46 UTC 1994 |
sounds familiar.
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danr
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response 39 of 72:
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Mar 17 16:59 UTC 1994 |
Since he's is just " other" in English, he should be just "otro" or
"el otro" in Spanish.
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other
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response 40 of 72:
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Mar 17 19:29 UTC 1994 |
Ahhh, but it's meant to translate (loosely!) as "the other guy."
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kami
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response 41 of 72:
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Mar 18 21:44 UTC 1994 |
I've never seen "gringo" used for anything other than the Mexican slang for
"American". I'd use "hombre" for man, "algien"- someone, "personaje"-person,
or something.
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other
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response 42 of 72:
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Mar 19 05:18 UTC 1994 |
As I said earlier, I'm less concerned with the actual translation in this case
than with the aural aesthetics of the phrase itself.
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rcurl
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response 43 of 72:
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Mar 19 07:21 UTC 1994 |
In English. To you. Everyone else is going, ho ho ho, he's calling
himself a *gringo*!
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other
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response 44 of 72:
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Mar 19 07:49 UTC 1994 |
Exactly. In English. To me. It's not my problem if someone else busts a
gut laughing over the fact that I chose a word they think is inappropriate
or humourous. Joke 'em if they can't take a schmuck! (:
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kami
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response 45 of 72:
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Mar 20 07:32 UTC 1994 |
so long as they don't call you a putz
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danr
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response 46 of 72:
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Apr 4 15:57 UTC 1994 |
re #40: "el otro" can be loosely translated as "the other guy."
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davel
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response 47 of 72:
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Apr 5 01:41 UTC 1994 |
In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that it's closer than any of the other
suggestions that were made. (But this is from seeing Spanish used - I've
never studied it at all.)
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other
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response 48 of 72:
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Apr 5 04:56 UTC 1994 |
Ok, enough about that...
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anne
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response 49 of 72:
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Apr 5 14:47 UTC 1994 |
I like the change, other. <grin>
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