Summer's almost over! If you haven't been keeping track of recent linguistics news over the break, here are a few articles to get caught up:
"Ancient Language Mystery Deepens"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10924743
"Does Language Shape How We Think?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html?pagewanted=1&ref=general&src=me
"Study Suggests Grammar is Grimmer than Chomsky Claims"
http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/browse/ne/uninews/grammargrimmer
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
An old anecdote
J.L.Austin, a linguistics professor, was giving a lecture at Oxford University:
"In English," he said, "a double negative forms a positive. However, in some languages, such as Russian, a double negative remains a negative. But there isn't a single language, not one, in which a double positive can express a negative."
A voice from the back of the room piped up, "Yeah, right."
"In English," he said, "a double negative forms a positive. However, in some languages, such as Russian, a double negative remains a negative. But there isn't a single language, not one, in which a double positive can express a negative."
A voice from the back of the room piped up, "Yeah, right."
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