Language Learners' Library

That was an interesting read and know I have I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller stuck in my head.
I didn’t understand the last paragraph about “have got”, though.

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Yeah I kind of skimmed that part of it- I think that paragraph is a little out there as this is the first time I’ve heard of “have got to” being a midwest-specific thing. N.b. am a midwesterner :joy:

Yes, I’d forgotten those. I don’t have access to books here. My vague memory is that the -uu- spelling typically starts appearing from the mid first century B.C., although -uo- survives a bit. Of course it could be that the spelling was changed to agree with analogous forms and the pronunciation continued to be -uo-. These adjectives also throw up some interesting form variations like mortus and perpetus, which, whatever their origin, avoid the repetition.

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A little Italian cat song.

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When do we start seeing -uWu-?

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Around 700 CE in Old High German texts, we see Uuords starting with a double-u quite often. The quadruple uWu comes up in the early 2000s.

„Dat gafregin ih mit firahim firiuuizzo meista
Dat ero ni uuas noh ufhimil
noh paum noh pereg ni uuas
ni […] nohheinig noh sunna ni scein
noh mano ni liuhta noh der mareo seo

Do dar niuuiht ni uuas enteo ni uuenteo
enti do uuas der eino almahtico cot
manno miltisto enti dar uuarun auh manake mit inan
cootlihhe geista enti cot heilac […]

Cot almahtico, du himil enti erda gauuorahtos enti du mannun so manac coot forgapi forgip mir in dina ganada rehta galaupa enti cotan uuilleon uuistom enti spahida enti craft tiuflun za uuidarstantanne enti arc za piuuisanne enti dinan uuilleon za gauurchanne“

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Right, this year I decided to give another go Anki. I dislike Anki because you need to do it every day thus turning learning into a chore. Cramming with breaks is much more my style.

I got a free vocabulary deck online (and couple others). And yeah, it’s much easier to go through it when you vaguely know a lot of words and readings compared to completely new things. I relatively quickly went through N5-N3 levels in which words aren’t particularly hard, still a lot of troubles with synonyms. Now N2 words are noticeably harder, this is where the pushing the limit begins.

Maybe I should get a textbook. But it’s difficult to find a good one, they’re either crappy or academic.

I noticed some textbooks are trying to teach you foreign language through the prism of Russian language, like using Russian linguistics terms. Which is weird but maybe you could do it. But they’re written for people with linguistics degrees because no normal Russian knows at all or remembers from school terms they’re using.

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Zhi shi

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMeUh1sGn/

But yeah, save the cats ^ω^

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Latin

I found this. My experience, though, has taught me to have a low expectation of wikibooks.

This was on the front page of Wikipedia yesterday:

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The Marciana is a wonderful place! We were shown an Iliad-manuscript when we were there on a field trip.

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I think learning languages is hard. That’s why it’s important have pessimistic outlook. Most likely, it’s going to be many-year struggle, entirely possible you’ll quit altogether. And even if not, you’ll be nowhere near fluent. Accepting just how hard the task is before us allows us to treat any progress as a victory and not be burdened by unrealistic expectations. Once we’ve done that, there’s no tension, no pressure. You can’t fail at reaching your goal if you have no goal. There’re no disappointments, you aren’t easily discouraged. Even if you quit, you don’t feel bad about it, since that was the default outcome anyway. And you can easily get back into it if you feel like it, because there’s no underlying feeling of previous failure.

Of course, on the other hand, well-advertised positive thinking is detrimental. If you approach the task with “this is easy”, “I can do it” attitude then the default outcome in your mind is succeeding. But unbeknownst to you, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Because with this attitude every missed goal, every forgot word is a failure, is a blow to you confidence. After all, if the task is easy, it’s only your fault if you fail. You’ll lose motivation, quit and end up being a homeless alcoholic. It’s an entirely unacceptable attitude.

This is why we need to fight against Western forced positivity, and accept hopelessness. Don’t expect anything, don’t set any goals either, and reach happiness.

Applies to go too.

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In didactics, we learn that students will attribute the reason for their successes and failures along this model:

Internal + stable: “the reason was within myself, and I can’t change it” e.g. my own stupidity.
Internal + variable: “the reason was within myself, and I can change it” e.g. my attitude about the matter.
External + stable: “the reason is outside myself, and can’t be changed” e.g. the teacher can’t teach, I have to get up too early for school so I’m tired.
External + variable: “the reason is outside myself, and changes” e.g. a headache, bad weather, good weather.

The American pronunciation of buoy to rhyme with gluey riles me a bit.

In British English it’s homophonous to boy.

/bu:i:/ sounds instinctually ridiculous to me. It’s a pretty rare word-final vowel combination in English, although it’s also in gluey (as said), chewy, gooey, the acronymic pronunciation of GUI, one pronunciation of Ruy, and other such fringe vocabulary.

Also, I don’t think the /u:i:d/ of American buoyed occurs in any other formal English word. /bu:i:d/ is even stranger to me than plain /bu:i:/. Then again, /oid/ words aren’t that common outside of the -oid suffix. The main rhyme is cloyed.

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Let’s study the the Livery Companies of the City of London.

Each Livery Company is an association of professionals or tradesmen in a certain employment. They are ordered by the precedence of their establishment.

There are currently 110 Companies. These can apparently be separated into an older set founded in the 14th–17th C.s and a younger set founded in the 20th and 21st C.s. The younger set begins with the 78th Company, the Honourable Company of Master Mariners.

Prec. Company Etymological root
1 Mercers Latin merx (merchandise)
2 Grocers Medieval Latin grossus (unrefined), as in wholesale?
3 Drapers M.L. drapus
4 Fishmongers Old English fisċ
5 Goldsmiths O.E. gold
6 / 7 Skinners Old Norse skinn
6 / 7 Merchant Taylors L. merx, tālea (a cutting)
8 Haberdashers Anglo-Norman habertas (small goods)?
9 Salters O.E. sealt
10 Ironmongers O E. īren
11 Vintners M.L. vīnētārius
12 Clothworkers O E. clāþ
13 Dyers O.E. dēag
14 Brewers O.E. brēowan
15 Leathersellers O.E. leþer
16 Pewterers Old French peautre
17 Barbers L. barba (beard)
18 Cutlers L. culter (knife)
19 Bakers O.E. bacan
20 Wax Chandlers O.E. weax, L. candēlārius
21 Tallow Chandlers Middle English talugh
22 Armourers and Brasiers L. armātūra (armour), O.E. bræs
23 Girdlers O.E. gyrdel
24 Butchers M.L. buccus (male goat)
25 Saddlers O.E. sadol
26 Carpenters L. carpentārius
27 Cordwainers Spanish Córdoba, from the leather from that city
28 Painter–Stainers L. pingo (to paint), O.N. steinn (mineral, stain)
29 Curriers L. coriarus (tanner)
30 Masons L. macio (mason)
31 Plumbers L. plumbārius
32 Innholders O.E. inn
33 Founders L. fundo (cast)
34 Poulters L. pullus (chicken)
35 Cooks L. cocus (cook)
36 Coopers M.E. cupe (barrel), from O.E. cȳpe or Middle Dutch cûpe
37 Tylers and Bricklayers O.E. tiġle, M.D. bricke
38 Bowyers O.E. boga (bow)
39 Fletchers O.F. fleche (arrow)
40 Blacksmiths O.E. blæc
41 Joiners and Cellers L. jungo (join), and presumably cella (room)
42 Weavers O.E wafian (to wave)
43 Woolmen O.E. wull
44 Scriveners L. scrība (scribe)
45 Fruiterers L. frūx (fruit)
46 Plaisterers L. plastrum (bandage)
47 Stationers and Newspaper Makers M.L. statiōnārius
48 Broderers O. F. broder (embroider)
49 Upholders M.E. upholden
50 Musicians L. mūsica, from Greek μουσῐκή
51 Turners L. tornus (lathe)
52 Basketmakers Late Latin bascauda (kettle)
53 Glaziers and Painters of Glass O.E. glæs
54 Horners O.E. horn
55 Farriers L. ferrārius (blacksmith)

And now the younger half, without etymological explanation.

Prec. Company AKA
56 Paviors pavers
57 Loriners equestrian suppliers
58 Apothecaries
59 Shipwrights
60 Spectacle Makers
61 Clockmakers
62 Glovers glove makers
63 Feltmakers makers of felt hats
64 Framework Knitters
65 Needlemakers
66 Gardeners
67 Tin Plate Workers aka Wire Workers
68 Wheelwrights
69 Distillers
70 Pattenmakers makers of wooden shoes
71 Glass Sellers
72 Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers
73 Gunmakers
74 Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers threadmakers
75 Makers of Playing Cards
76 Fanmakers
77 Carmen drivers
78 Master Mariners
79 Solicitors
80 Farmers
81 Air Pilots
82 Tobacco Pipe Makers and Tobacco Blenders
83 Furniture Makers
84 Scientific Instrument Makers
85 Chartered Surveyors
86 Chartered Accountants
87 Chartered Secretaries
88 Builders Merchants
89 Launderers
90 Marketors
91 Actuaries
92 Insurers
93 Arbitrators
94 Engineers
95 Fuellers
96 Lightmongers electric lighting suppliers
97 Environmental Cleaners
98 Chartered Architects
99 Constructors
100 Information Technologists
101 World Traders
102 Water Conservators
103 Firefighters
104 Hackney Carriage Drivers black cab taxi drivers
105 Management Consultors
106 International Bankers
107 Tax Advisors
108 Security Professionals
109 Educators
110 Arts Scholars

I should stop posting in here for a bit, don’t want to bump-spam.

In the comments of the second video we find out how long Luke has been studying Latin: since 2005!

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Did you know that the United Nations has declared seven official language celebration days?

These are for their six official languages and also Portuguese.

Celebration Date Reason
UN French Language Day 20 March International Francophonie Day
UN Chinese Language Day 20 April “in honour of Cang Jie”
UN Spanish Language Day 23 April in honour of Miguel de Cervantes (death)
UN English Language Day 23 April in honour of Shakespeare (birth)
UN Portuguese Language Day 5th May
UN Russian Language Day 6th June in honour of Pushkin (birth)
UN Arabic Language Day 18 December day of UN adoption of Arabic as an official language
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Latin doesn’t have many words in any form where two identical vowels follow each other without a consonant to separate them.

Why are you excluding the very common -iī inflection of the -ius root?

eg. filius (the son), filii (the sons, the son’s, you sons), filiis (from the sons)

Apart from Sanonius’ mention of uu, there are also several (albeit obscure) words that end -aeae, although that isn’t exactly a vowel repetition.

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