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English, a weird language???
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dilbert firestorm
Nov 23, 2015, 2:32:18 AM11/23/15
to
https://aeon.co/essays/why-is-english-so-weirdly-different-from-other-languages
ok, I have to admit, I never thought English was wierd, but this article
says otherwise.
to wit, I thought some aspects of other foreign languages kinda weird,
like having an adjective to denote females.
--
Dilbert Firestorm
remove *byteme* to email me
ok, I have to admit, I never thought English was wierd, but this article
says otherwise.
to wit, I thought some aspects of other foreign languages kinda weird,
like having an adjective to denote females.
--
Dilbert Firestorm
remove *byteme* to email me
Brettster
Nov 23, 2015, 2:52:25 PM11/23/15
to
Very cool article. Thanks for posting.
It wasn't until I started studying foreign languages that I
began to realize the many peculiarities of English (and of
the other languages as well).
For example, Asian friends who don't have a comprehensive
grasp of English say things to me like, "Why you ate that?"
instead of "Why DID you EAT that?" That used to sound so
terrible to me, but now I realize how dumb it is for English
to arrange the words that way. "Why you ate that" is simpler,
and it's the way a lot of other languages would organize the
thoughts. It's more efficient. I feel sorry for foreign students
of English who have to learn why the verb "to do" plays the role
it does.
Conversely, when I started to study Tagalog, I was amazed that
they have no words for "he or she." Just one word, siya, a
genderless pronoun. Context is everything.
It wasn't until I started studying foreign languages that I
began to realize the many peculiarities of English (and of
the other languages as well).
For example, Asian friends who don't have a comprehensive
grasp of English say things to me like, "Why you ate that?"
instead of "Why DID you EAT that?" That used to sound so
terrible to me, but now I realize how dumb it is for English
to arrange the words that way. "Why you ate that" is simpler,
and it's the way a lot of other languages would organize the
thoughts. It's more efficient. I feel sorry for foreign students
of English who have to learn why the verb "to do" plays the role
it does.
Conversely, when I started to study Tagalog, I was amazed that
they have no words for "he or she." Just one word, siya, a
genderless pronoun. Context is everything.
art...@yahoo.com
Nov 23, 2015, 3:02:50 PM11/23/15
to
On Monday, November 23, 2015 at 2:32:18 AM UTC-5, dilbert firestorm wrote:
> https://aeon.co/essays/why-is-english-so-weirdly-different-from-other-languages
>
> ok, I have to admit, I never thought English was wierd, but this article
> says otherwise.
The spelling rules are among the wierder aspects of the language.
> https://aeon.co/essays/why-is-english-so-weirdly-different-from-other-languages
>
> ok, I have to admit, I never thought English was wierd, but this article
> says otherwise.
Greg Goss
Nov 23, 2015, 3:44:48 PM11/23/15
to
original spelling for several centuries while the pronounced version
drifts towards whatever English considers normal.
Then there was the big shift just after Gutenberg. If printing had
stabilized the language fifty years later, the middle "gh"s and the
trailing E and a bunch of other oddities wouldn't have been locked in.
--
We are geeks. Resistance is voltage over current.
Hactar
Nov 23, 2015, 4:08:10 PM11/23/15
to
In article <91e6b3f4-e883-40f3...@googlegroups.com>,
Apparently Korean also doesn't distinguish "he" from "she". There were
some amusing incidents from my friend's wife (ESL, Korean).
--
-eben QebWe...@vTerYizUonI.nOetP ebmanda.redirectme.net:81
LIBRA: A big promotion is just around the corner for someone
much more talented than you. Laughter is the very best medicine,
remember that when your appendix bursts next week. -- Weird Al
some amusing incidents from my friend's wife (ESL, Korean).
--
-eben QebWe...@vTerYizUonI.nOetP ebmanda.redirectme.net:81
LIBRA: A big promotion is just around the corner for someone
much more talented than you. Laughter is the very best medicine,
remember that when your appendix bursts next week. -- Weird Al
Howard
Nov 23, 2015, 4:10:08 PM11/23/15
to
Brettster <brett...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Very cool article. Thanks for posting.
>
> It wasn't until I started studying foreign languages that I
> began to realize the many peculiarities of English (and of
> the other languages as well).
>
> For example, Asian friends who don't have a comprehensive
> grasp of English say things to me like, "Why you ate that?"
> instead of "Why DID you EAT that?" That used to sound so
> terrible to me, but now I realize how dumb it is for English
> to arrange the words that way. "Why you ate that" is simpler,
> and it's the way a lot of other languages would organize the
> thoughts. It's more efficient. I feel sorry for foreign students
> of English who have to learn why the verb "to do" plays the role
> it does.
One thing that may make it more confusing for them is that it's fine to say
> Very cool article. Thanks for posting.
>
> It wasn't until I started studying foreign languages that I
> began to realize the many peculiarities of English (and of
> the other languages as well).
>
> For example, Asian friends who don't have a comprehensive
> grasp of English say things to me like, "Why you ate that?"
> instead of "Why DID you EAT that?" That used to sound so
> terrible to me, but now I realize how dumb it is for English
> to arrange the words that way. "Why you ate that" is simpler,
> and it's the way a lot of other languages would organize the
> thoughts. It's more efficient. I feel sorry for foreign students
> of English who have to learn why the verb "to do" plays the role
> it does.
"Tell me why you ate that" or "Why you ate that is beyond me."
Les Albert
Nov 23, 2015, 6:09:48 PM11/23/15
to
http://www.anagrammy.com/literary/various/poems-english.html
It's a long poem but here is one stanza:
Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it's written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Les
Alfalfa Bill
Nov 23, 2015, 8:10:27 PM11/23/15
to
Greg Goss
Nov 24, 2015, 1:28:52 AM11/24/15
to
two Ss together, the first one became sort'a like an F.
Doubled letters have odd rules. I've been told that the Spanish
double-N and the French double C resulted in one of the two being
written above the other, and eventually one of the two became a
degenerate trace of its original shape.
Bill Turlock
Nov 24, 2015, 2:20:51 AM11/24/15
to
Snidely
Nov 24, 2015, 2:32:42 AM11/24/15
to
Brettster was thinking very hard :
Be thankful English has already removed a lot tenses, as well as all
that adjective inflection for grammatical gender.
I gather Latin had 2x the tenses of English, and many European
languages kept some of the ones we didn't. And then there were the
moods and voices.
/dps
--
Maybe C282Y is simply one of the hangers-on, a groupie following a
future guitar god of the human genome: an allele with undiscovered
virtuosity, currently soloing in obscurity in Mom's garage.
Bradley Wertheim, theAtlantic.com, Jan 10 2013
that adjective inflection for grammatical gender.
I gather Latin had 2x the tenses of English, and many European
languages kept some of the ones we didn't. And then there were the
moods and voices.
/dps
--
Maybe C282Y is simply one of the hangers-on, a groupie following a
future guitar god of the human genome: an allele with undiscovered
virtuosity, currently soloing in obscurity in Mom's garage.
Bradley Wertheim, theAtlantic.com, Jan 10 2013
Richard Hershberger
Nov 24, 2015, 8:41:49 AM11/24/15
to
Richard R. Hershberger
danny burstein
Nov 24, 2015, 8:43:30 AM11/24/15
to
In <ac270dea-927b-427c...@googlegroups.com> Richard Hershberger <rrh...@gmail.com> writes:
>> Doubled letters have odd rules. I've been told that the Spanish
>> double-N and the French double C resulted in one of the two being
>> written above the other, and eventually one of the two became a
>> degenerate trace of its original shape.
>The "long s" was used when the letter occurred at the beginning or within a word. The "round s" was used only when it was the last letter in the word. The long form disappeared across Europe over the later 18th century. I don't know why.
Me, I blame Congresf
>> Doubled letters have odd rules. I've been told that the Spanish
>> double-N and the French double C resulted in one of the two being
>> written above the other, and eventually one of the two became a
>> degenerate trace of its original shape.
>The "long s" was used when the letter occurred at the beginning or within a word. The "round s" was used only when it was the last letter in the word. The long form disappeared across Europe over the later 18th century. I don't know why.
--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dan...@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
Whiskers
Nov 24, 2015, 9:06:20 AM11/24/15
to
distinguish between them very well, hence the confusion. The long ess
eventually fell out of fashion - perhaps in part because of the
confusion in badly printed documents, but more probably because it cost
less to make type sets with only one form of ess. (The long ess came
about because it looked nice in handwriting instead of the short ess in
some places).
--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~
Hactar
Nov 24, 2015, 1:08:10 PM11/24/15
to
In article <n31pi1$8v4$1...@reader1.panix.com>,
danny burstein <dan...@panix.com> wrote:
> In <ac270dea-927b-427c...@googlegroups.com> Richard
> Hershberger <rrh...@gmail.com> writes:
>
> >> Doubled letters have odd rules. I've been told that the Spanish
> >> double-N and the French double C resulted in one of the two being
> >> written above the other, and eventually one of the two became a
> >> degenerate trace of its original shape.
>
> >The "long s" was used when the letter occurred at the beginning or
> within a word. The "round s" was used only when it was the last letter
> in the word. The long form disappeared across Europe over the later
> 18th century. I don't know why.
>
> Me, I blame Congresf
"Congrefs", perhaps?
> In <ac270dea-927b-427c...@googlegroups.com> Richard
> Hershberger <rrh...@gmail.com> writes:
>
> >> Doubled letters have odd rules. I've been told that the Spanish
> >> double-N and the French double C resulted in one of the two being
> >> written above the other, and eventually one of the two became a
> >> degenerate trace of its original shape.
>
> >The "long s" was used when the letter occurred at the beginning or
> within a word. The "round s" was used only when it was the last letter
> in the word. The long form disappeared across Europe over the later
> 18th century. I don't know why.
>
> Me, I blame Congresf
Les Albert
Nov 24, 2015, 1:36:36 PM11/24/15
to
>> Richard Hershberger <rrh...@gmail.com> writes:
>> >The "long s" was used when the letter occurred at the beginning or
>> within a word. The "round s" was used only when it was the last letter
>> in the word. The long form disappeared across Europe over the later
>> 18th century. I don't know why.
The "long s" disappeared across Europe because of a generational
>> >The "long s" was used when the letter occurred at the beginning or
>> within a word. The "round s" was used only when it was the last letter
>> in the word. The long form disappeared across Europe over the later
>> 18th century. I don't know why.
change. Younger churchgoers were mispronouning it, and throughout
Europe there was consternation when the younger readers were reciting
the 22nd psalm which read in part, "But be not thou far off, O LORD: O
thou my succour, haste thee to help me.".
Les
Peter Boulding
Nov 24, 2015, 4:52:43 PM11/24/15
to
On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 23:21:22 -0800, Bill Turlock
<billt...@billturlock.com> wrote in
<0v385bp4528g0p1re...@4ax.com>:
>"i" before "e" rules are weird and unscientific.
The whole language is weird and unscientific, being a haphazard amalgam of
other languages that used different vocab and rules. In the case of the "i
before e" "rule", it's not in fact a rule but only a guideline, and only
covers words in which an ie or ei combination is pronounced "ee", and even
then there's a long list of exceptions.
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that
English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words;
on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them
unconscious and riffle their pockets for new vocabulary.
--James Nicoll
--
Regards, Peter Boulding
pjbn...@UNSPAMpboulding.co.uk (to e-mail, remove "UNSPAM")
Fractal Images and Music: http://www.pboulding.co.uk/
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=794240&content=music
<billt...@billturlock.com> wrote in
<0v385bp4528g0p1re...@4ax.com>:
>"i" before "e" rules are weird and unscientific.
other languages that used different vocab and rules. In the case of the "i
before e" "rule", it's not in fact a rule but only a guideline, and only
covers words in which an ie or ei combination is pronounced "ee", and even
then there's a long list of exceptions.
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that
English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words;
on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them
unconscious and riffle their pockets for new vocabulary.
--James Nicoll
--
Regards, Peter Boulding
pjbn...@UNSPAMpboulding.co.uk (to e-mail, remove "UNSPAM")
Fractal Images and Music: http://www.pboulding.co.uk/
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=794240&content=music
Sano
Nov 25, 2015, 5:33:55 AM11/25/15
to
dilbert firestorm <sca...@bytemei-55.com> wrote in
news:T5-dnRX2GqucXM_L...@xfoneusa.net:
> https://aeon.co/essays/why-is-english-so-weirdly-different-from-other
My shoemaker, probably gone now, a wise Italian said to pronounce
SHEET and SHIT and SHEEP. In many ways they will all sound the same.
news:T5-dnRX2GqucXM_L...@xfoneusa.net:
> https://aeon.co/essays/why-is-english-so-weirdly-different-from-other
> -languages
>
> ok, I have to admit, I never thought English was wierd, but this
> article says otherwise.
>
> to wit, I thought some aspects of other foreign languages kinda
> weird, like having an adjective to denote females.
Absolutely is weird.
>
> ok, I have to admit, I never thought English was wierd, but this
> article says otherwise.
>
> to wit, I thought some aspects of other foreign languages kinda
> weird, like having an adjective to denote females.
My shoemaker, probably gone now, a wise Italian said to pronounce
SHEET and SHIT and SHEEP. In many ways they will all sound the same.
S. Checker
Nov 25, 2015, 9:00:07 AM11/25/15
to
Richard Hershberger <rrh...@gmail.com> wrote:
> The "long s" was used when the letter occurred at the beginning or within a word. The "round s" was used only when it was the last letter in the word. The long form disappeared across Europe over the later 18th century. I don't know why.
Becaufe it was filly to have two fhapes for the fame letter.
> The "long s" was used when the letter occurred at the beginning or within a word. The "round s" was used only when it was the last letter in the word. The long form disappeared across Europe over the later 18th century. I don't know why.
--
We are here on Earth to do good for others. What the others are here for
I don't know.
-- W.H. Auden
Hactar
Nov 25, 2015, 2:08:11 PM11/25/15
to
In article <88rgic-...@porter.pffcu.org>,
S. Checker <spa...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Richard Hershberger <rrh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > The "long s" was used when the letter occurred at the beginning or
> within a word. The "round s" was used only when it was the last letter
> in the word. The long form disappeared across Europe over the later
> 18th century. I don't know why.
>
> Becaufe it was filly to have two fhapes for the fame letter.
Tell that to the Greeks.
> Richard Hershberger <rrh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > The "long s" was used when the letter occurred at the beginning or
> within a word. The "round s" was used only when it was the last letter
> in the word. The long form disappeared across Europe over the later
> 18th century. I don't know why.
>
> Becaufe it was filly to have two fhapes for the fame letter.
Xho Jingleheimerschmidt
Nov 26, 2015, 9:16:20 AM11/26/15
to
On 11/23/15 23:32, Snidely wrote:
> Brettster was thinking very hard :
> Brettster was thinking very hard :
>> Conversely, when I started to study Tagalog, I was amazed that
>> they have no words for "he or she." Just one word, siya, a
>> genderless pronoun. Context is everything.
>
> Be thankful English has already removed a lot tenses, as well as all
> that adjective inflection for grammatical gender.
>
> I gather Latin had 2x the tenses of English, and many European languages
> kept some of the ones we didn't. And then there were the moods and voices.
>
And don't forget about the color, charm, and spin.
>> they have no words for "he or she." Just one word, siya, a
>> genderless pronoun. Context is everything.
>
> Be thankful English has already removed a lot tenses, as well as all
> that adjective inflection for grammatical gender.
>
> I gather Latin had 2x the tenses of English, and many European languages
> kept some of the ones we didn't. And then there were the moods and voices.
>
Xho
Whiskers
Nov 26, 2015, 2:17:20 PM11/26/15
to
On 2015-11-25, S. Checker <spa...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Richard Hershberger <rrh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> The "long s" was used when the letter occurred at the beginning or
>> within a word. The "round s" was used only when it was the last
>> letter in the word. The long form disappeared across Europe over the
>> later 18th century. I don't know why.
>
> Becaufe it was filly to have two fhapes for the fame letter.
But very natural in handwriting, even if ſuch idioſyncraſies tend to go
> Richard Hershberger <rrh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> The "long s" was used when the letter occurred at the beginning or
>> within a word. The "round s" was used only when it was the last
>> letter in the word. The long form disappeared across Europe over the
>> later 18th century. I don't know why.
>
> Becaufe it was filly to have two fhapes for the fame letter.
unnoticed. (Curious observation: my ſpelling checker is happy with
a long ſ in all the foregoing words).
Bill Turlock
Nov 26, 2015, 3:17:34 PM11/26/15
to
On 26 Nov 2015 19:17:17 GMT, Whiskers <catwh...@operamail.com>
wrote:
>On 2015-11-25, S. Checker <spa...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Richard Hershberger <rrh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> The "long s" was used when the letter occurred at the beginning or
>>> within a word. The "round s" was used only when it was the last
>>> letter in the word. The long form disappeared across Europe over the
>>> later 18th century. I don't know why.
>>
>> Becaufe it was filly to have two fhapes for the fame letter.
>
>But very natural in handwriting, even if ?uch idio?yncra?ies tend to go
>unnoticed. (Curious observation: my ?pelling checker is happy with
>a long ? in all the foregoing words).
Apparently UfeNet if not.
wrote:
>On 2015-11-25, S. Checker <spa...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Richard Hershberger <rrh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> The "long s" was used when the letter occurred at the beginning or
>>> within a word. The "round s" was used only when it was the last
>>> letter in the word. The long form disappeared across Europe over the
>>> later 18th century. I don't know why.
>>
>> Becaufe it was filly to have two fhapes for the fame letter.
>
>unnoticed. (Curious observation: my ?pelling checker is happy with
>a long ? in all the foregoing words).
Apparently UfeNet if not.
Whiskers
Nov 26, 2015, 5:32:23 PM11/26/15
to
handle UTF-8; the setting is in Tools - Options - Languages
<http://www.forteinc.com/agent/faq.php#69F5E7792BAF7B18852573C900575D86>
Bill Turlock
Nov 26, 2015, 6:48:32 PM11/26/15
to
On 26 Nov 2015 22:32:21 GMT, Whiskers <catwh...@operamail.com>
wrote:
>On 2015-11-26, Bill Turlock <billt...@billturlock.com> wrote:
>> On 26 Nov 2015 19:17:17 GMT, Whiskers <catwh...@operamail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>On 2015-11-25, S. Checker <spa...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Richard Hershberger <rrh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> The "long s" was used when the letter occurred at the beginning or
>>>>> within a word. The "round s" was used only when it was the last
>>>>> letter in the word. The long form disappeared across Europe over the
>>>>> later 18th century. I don't know why.
>>>>
>>>> Becaufe it was filly to have two fhapes for the fame letter.
>>>
>>>But very natural in handwriting, even if ?uch idio?yncra?ies tend to go
>>>unnoticed. (Curious observation: my ?pelling checker is happy with
>>>a long ? in all the foregoing words).
>>
>> Apparently UfeNet if not.
>
>The current version (Agent 8) of your newsreader looks as though it can
>handle UTF-8; the setting is in Tools - Options - Languages
><http://www.forteinc.com/agent/faq.php#69F5E7792BAF7B18852573C900575D86>
fank you
>On 2015-11-26, Bill Turlock <billt...@billturlock.com> wrote:
>> On 26 Nov 2015 19:17:17 GMT, Whiskers <catwh...@operamail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>On 2015-11-25, S. Checker <spa...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Richard Hershberger <rrh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> The "long s" was used when the letter occurred at the beginning or
>>>>> within a word. The "round s" was used only when it was the last
>>>>> letter in the word. The long form disappeared across Europe over the
>>>>> later 18th century. I don't know why.
>>>>
>>>> Becaufe it was filly to have two fhapes for the fame letter.
>>>
>>>But very natural in handwriting, even if ?uch idio?yncra?ies tend to go
>>>unnoticed. (Curious observation: my ?pelling checker is happy with
>>>a long ? in all the foregoing words).
>>
>> Apparently UfeNet if not.
>
>The current version (Agent 8) of your newsreader looks as though it can
>handle UTF-8; the setting is in Tools - Options - Languages
><http://www.forteinc.com/agent/faq.php#69F5E7792BAF7B18852573C900575D86>
dilbert firestorm
Dec 7, 2015, 9:27:28 PM12/7/15
to
dilbert firestorm
Dec 7, 2015, 9:30:04 PM12/7/15
to
On 11/24/2015 3:52 PM, Peter Boulding wrote:
> "The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that
> English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow
> words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways
> to beat them unconscious and riffle their pockets for new vocabulary.
> --James Nicoll
LOL, that has to be added to my list of favorite quotes.
> "The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that
> English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow
> words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways
> to beat them unconscious and riffle their pockets for new vocabulary.
> --James Nicoll
Greg Goss
Dec 8, 2015, 12:00:42 AM12/8/15
to
dilbert firestorm <sca...@bytemei-55.com> wrote:
>On 11/24/2015 3:52 PM, Peter Boulding wrote:
>> "The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that
>> English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow
>> words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways
>> to beat them unconscious and riffle their pockets for new vocabulary.
>> --James Nicoll
>
>LOL, that has to be added to my list of favorite quotes.
I'm surprised that this is the first you've heard it.
>On 11/24/2015 3:52 PM, Peter Boulding wrote:
>> "The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that
>> English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow
>> words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways
>> to beat them unconscious and riffle their pockets for new vocabulary.
>> --James Nicoll
>
>LOL, that has to be added to my list of favorite quotes.
http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/about-the-purity-of-the-english-language-t-shirts
Questor
Apr 19, 2018, 4:00:11 AM4/19/18
to
On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 01:32:15 -0600, dilbert firestorm <sca...@bytemei-55.com>
wrote:
>https://aeon.co/essays/why-is-english-so-weirdly-different-from-other-languages
and is no more legitimate than any of the other results."
-- Timothy A. McDaniel
wrote:
>https://aeon.co/essays/why-is-english-so-weirdly-different-from-other-languages
>
>ok, I have to admit, I never thought English was wierd, but this article
>says otherwise.
"English is the result of Norman knights trying to pick up Saxon barmaids,
>ok, I have to admit, I never thought English was wierd, but this article
>says otherwise.
and is no more legitimate than any of the other results."
-- Timothy A. McDaniel
Questor
Apr 19, 2018, 4:00:22 AM4/19/18
to
On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 23:32:35 -0800, Snidely <snide...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Brettster was thinking very hard :
>> Very cool article. Thanks for posting.
>>
>> It wasn't until I started studying foreign languages that I
>> began to realize the many peculiarities of English (and of
>> the other languages as well).
>>
>> For example, Asian friends who don't have a comprehensive
>> grasp of English say things to me like, "Why you ate that?"
>> instead of "Why DID you EAT that?" That used to sound so
>> terrible to me, but now I realize how dumb it is for English
>> to arrange the words that way. "Why you ate that" is simpler,
>> and it's the way a lot of other languages would organize the
>> thoughts. It's more efficient. I feel sorry for foreign students
>> of English who have to learn why the verb "to do" plays the role
>> it does.
Other languages have auxiliary verbs; German is one such.
>Brettster was thinking very hard :
>> Very cool article. Thanks for posting.
>>
>> It wasn't until I started studying foreign languages that I
>> began to realize the many peculiarities of English (and of
>> the other languages as well).
>>
>> For example, Asian friends who don't have a comprehensive
>> grasp of English say things to me like, "Why you ate that?"
>> instead of "Why DID you EAT that?" That used to sound so
>> terrible to me, but now I realize how dumb it is for English
>> to arrange the words that way. "Why you ate that" is simpler,
>> and it's the way a lot of other languages would organize the
>> thoughts. It's more efficient. I feel sorry for foreign students
>> of English who have to learn why the verb "to do" plays the role
>> it does.
>> Conversely, when I started to study Tagalog, I was amazed that
>> they have no words for "he or she." Just one word, siya, a
>> genderless pronoun. Context is everything.
>
>Be thankful English has already removed a lot tenses, as well as all
>that adjective inflection for grammatical gender.
>
>I gather Latin had 2x the tenses of English, and many European
>languages kept some of the ones we didn't. And then there were the
>moods and voices.
note, it is highly inflected, so they're more visible. Off the top of my head,
only with the genitive case do word endings change in English.
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