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How sounds arose

Brainwork

Being a linguist

What is a linguist

LEARNING ONE'S LESSON Even having to swallow hard You must go on Returning to reality LANGUAGE IN TIME 1895 1897 1929 1933 1949 1955 1969 What differs What wins Freeze-frame Centromer vs. Nordital NETWORKS TV-stars in the 1950s Male or female TV? Computer, we said Computers in 1995 Acquiring power Recording on Cd Mini-display Hypertexts WORDS Accettare Combinare Decadere Distruggere Donna Finire Morire Presenza Recuperare Rinascere Scomparire Sfuggire Storia Vincere DOMAIN Thus spoke Zarathustra How to react to that At that very moment What is a domain The best choice Pitch invasion An exclusive Meaningless Misleading Probability Combining This work, despite its ultimate title referring to lessons, wasn't a regular course in a language grammar. The author aimed to tackle problems from different angles, trying to point out to you what kind of inaccuracies were in the sentences he analyzed. The domain suggested him variations making the sentences more appropriate. His pages might seem more difficult than they really are.		This is more than an introduction to the world of languages. It was also instrumental in helping us better understand the disaster caused thousands of years ago. The source of the most common misunderstanding was related to logic. From the explanation of how one thing is associated to one word, the author drew most of his reasoning on the false God. We've always got to call the things we use. Then mentioning them was long conceived as an advertising message, when the thing was a product on the market. When it was about a single object, we went through phases of adjustment before reaching a real uniformity. Language is the most important factor that distinguishes human beings from other animal species. The exclusive allowed us to tell the truth and falsehoods too, which has always been unknown to nature since reality is unique. LANGUAGES A GENETIC VARIETY. Since the eighteenth century, languages have been classified by families according to common roots. The diversity of language grammars is to be compared to the diversity of our minds. This is why a universal grammar has never existed as a biological endowment. Every grammar is like an inner, self-referential structure provided by nature and acquired by native speakers. If you're familiar with a language grammar you'll be able to master it without specializing. The aim to get to an only language was an unrealistic plan: artificial languages based on makeshift roots or new mixtures of sounds cause a state of chaos that can be found even on a lot of Web sites. MISUNDERSTANDINGS You may coin a new word for conveying in a different way the idea of a finger. You may call it 'danter' or 'dinger', reaching also an agreement with thousands of people doing the same as you. This won't ever be a new language. 'Conlang' doesn't mean anything. THE EVOLUTION It's not easy to comprehend the life of words, that is nowhere to be seen. Languages die out if they can no longer have native speakers, which must be seen in its true light. When children can no more acquire their parents' language, this implies that one language became superior to (all) others. English has become in the last decades the undisputed global language (notice how necessary this page in English was). This can never threaten, however, the survival of national systems. The author told you the story of one word, from its origin. Describing their path or evolution in time is only a question of insight, because we've never had a method of detecting what was being said at that very moment. After decades, we can have a global overlook since a particular course of events beyond human control gave us all a new sense of direction. This is what happened, for example, to English 'emotional' and Italian 'emozione'. Sort of physical mobility, that amounts to figuring a gradual process echoing a theory of linguistic evolution. Here, too, it would be easy to foresee more complex requirements. There may be ambiguity, in this process. SELF-EVIDENCE If there are mistakes, it's clear we're being put through to a self-sufficient structure (language, grammar) while talking. This structure is outer space. Otherwise we'd never agree on the consideration of those mistakes. This is why Noam Chomsky missed the point. Just contrary to what he believed. THE SYSTEM Language allows us to have a communication system. When one person talks to another both the speakers have simultaneously the same image on their minds, coming from an initial code (correspondence between words and meanings). So we speak. The communication of ideas and thoughts achieves its aims in the most diverse ways. To understand, sometimes one needs to know the context. For everyone, every time it's like building a bridge toward sounds to emit. Neuronal connections at supersonic speed, creating language from scratch. A system may be long-lasting even after everyone's motivations change. I told you, with reference to this matter, how outdated the Spanish use of prepositions is. We can always plead the cause of the most logical structures, as I do for every thing that seems wrong to me, but a new usage of the word must be then shared by most speakers. So it remains difficult to carry through radical reforms. Like it happened with the false idea of God, we should overcome a strong opposition coming from a great number of speakers that got used to speaking like that. What may seemingly spring from nowhere is only the result of everyone's talent. Translating from one language to another implies as well a certain quickness. The process establishes either a different order or a transformation in converting every meaning into an equivalent according to the rules. We couldn't express the same concept as we were used to do, while moving in on a foreign territory (English, French, Italian etc.). To those asking me, I'd say for example how and when that expression appeared to my ears for the first time. The words having the greatest interest are those introducing a different shade of meaning, which made me write dozens of pages. DOMAIN FAQ. What if 'tardy' instead of 'late' comes to me? This means 'tardy' wins over a small group of 'fellow words'. Every domain was occupied, in theory, by those sounds. The one that we pronounce is the winner. The spoken language We'll be using the word that will come to our mind. This word will be the winner on that domain. It could vary, according to the country's region. That word will be likely to prevail, establishing even a trend somewhere. A page on our choice of the verb for the validation of railway tickets in Italy described this process. It was a new concept (see here on the left column), that I introduced in late 1999. We may be even captivated by somebody's voice, while we pay little attention to the formal structure of his speech. Our vocal emission reveals our being to the outer world, in a variety of shades that are still to be discovered. Impersonating other people is a way of reproducing just their being, through their language. At the highest level, an imitation can also repeat the succession of words, as they come out in a typical or local sequence.				Meanwhile, without anybody's noticing, thousands of events - measured almost on the human lives - occur to words we use every day. GRAMMARS What's the best language? How to apply our mind Teaching a language A two-hour lesson From a newspaper Spanish grammar English grammar French grammar Italian grammar SYNTAX The genitive case An ordinal number Relative pronouns The passive voice Generic luggage A moot point Acronyms No plural Auxiliary verbs Countable nouns Can't deny twice Transitive or not TRANSLATION About the translation Finding a counterpart Influential hadn't one Passports are not admired Come in!. Where? Tell John Mary's out The concerns of our family That's the little stream But this wasn't mistaken Thespis left the ensemble What's become of your language? MISTAKES Did I behave myself, today? That didn't match with music Their frequent mistaking No more belonging to us Their lack of attention Wrong heading A wrong guide Fantasy DICTIONARIES The top 100 From 101 to 150 From the bottom An easy lady An invasive guy Building a dictionary Without dictionaries Without a rough copy An engaging exercise Scrivi a info@grammatiche.com
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