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Rhapsody
Joined: 11 Apr 2004
Posts: 1153
Location: Maglor's Lap
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 Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 12:23 pm Post subject: |
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| LydiaB wrote: | I guess what I'm trying to say, none to clearly  , is that nouns in Germanic languages decline differently from those in Russian because while, in German, you have to consider gender, in Russian you have to consider gender and also case. My German is also very rusty (I'd give my GCSE certificate back if I could, I feel such a fraud in having it  ) but I don't think case matters. In English, case only clings on with certain pronouns: he/him etc.
Please forgive me if I'm missing the point of your question; it's quite possible for me in my current sleepy state. |
Nopes! Actually: thanks for helping me with it! This makes a lot more sense to me. It's been a while since I plunged into German grammar, but if a word is female, it does influence the case (I hope I am not confusing it with nouns, so I might be mixing things) I thought.... (but I am admitting that I have a hard time with grammar technicalities like case, noun..) I need to refresh this, but I just wanted to say that even germanic languages are influenced by gender...
What I learnt from my English teacher is that there are still remnants of it in the language and the same goes for Dutch. Most often in the middle of an article I had to look up the gender of a word... is this word femine or not. Because it does make a difference in writing from time to time. So the influence is still the same, it just got a bit more simplified.. German is still a difficult language though, but also a beautiful one.
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LydiaB
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Posts: 29
Location: Russia
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| Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 1:03 pm Post subject: |
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| SpaceWeavil wrote: |
Does anyone know the history behind it at all? As in why English doesn't have the same quirks when it comes to noun declension? |
I've been thinking about it, and I seem to remember reading somewhere that it was a result largely of the Norman invasion. The Normans and the Anglo-Saxons had some difficulty communicating with each other, so gradually a form of English developed in which most of the endings were dropped off along with a lot of other bits and pieces, to make it easier to do their everyday business, until they ended up with a kind of hybrid that had removed the most troublesome aspects of both languages. Basically they were lazy learners. |
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SpaceWeavil
Joined: 27 May 2004
Posts: 23
Location: Looking at shiny things
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| Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 1:30 pm Post subject: |
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| LydiaB wrote: | | SpaceWeavil wrote: |
Does anyone know the history behind it at all? As in why English doesn't have the same quirks when it comes to noun declension? |
I've been thinking about it, and I seem to remember reading somewhere that it was a result largely of the Norman invasion. The Normans and the Anglo-Saxons had some difficulty communicating with each other, so gradually a form of English developed in which most of the endings were dropped off along with a lot of other bits and pieces, to make it easier to do their everyday business, until they ended up with a kind of hybrid that had removed the most troublesome aspects of both languages. Basically they were lazy learners. |
That was my instinct on it, but I couldn't find anything in the books I have close to hand. I find the development of language fascinating though, as well as the intricacies of different languages. I mean, that's what got me interested in Tolkien to start with as well.
I need to get back to my Russian, to be honest though. I kept it up on my own for a while after my teacher left, but gradually let it slide. I'm starting to have difficulty reading Cyrillic again now, it's so long since I looked at it.
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ghettoelleth
Joined: 06 Nov 2004
Posts: 1804
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| Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 5:01 pm Post subject: |
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Al: "You did it again G.
G: heheh, I know
Al: You rock
G: I know that too 
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vladazhael
Joined: 15 Dec 2005
Posts: 171
Location: Gone mad, back later
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| Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 9:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Rhapsody wrote: | | Relying on MS word?? Really? |
relying... not so much.
occasionally using to get a second opinion... yes.  |
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Rhapsody
Joined: 11 Apr 2004
Posts: 1153
Location: Maglor's Lap
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| Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 3:32 am Post subject: |
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| vladazhael wrote: | | Rhapsody wrote: | | Relying on MS word?? Really? |
relying... not so much.
occasionally using to get a second opinion... yes. |
Well I depend on dictionaries a lot, but I have seen Word sometimes suggesting things that made my skin crawl. Also a while ago I installed an improved version of Word where it automatically started to change words to it's liking. Now, try to type words as Fëanor, or Noldor or.. Dunedain and see in what gets changed into... LOL
But at any rate, for me very good beta is my saviour and the best second or first opinion actually I can get. *looks around to see if she can find hers for a warm hug*
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I have not lost my mind - it's backed up on disk somewhere...
Maglor's bard & Celegorm's play pal
Nazgul #5 in charge anything liquid or edible things
Icon made by Carnage in c minor. |
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