seriously, what i really want out of life is to study obscure tongues. is that so much to ask?

[schmerica]

This may in fact be the dorkiest poll ever to appear in my journal -- and that's counting all the times I made you guys tell me about how big Fraser's dick was and Ray Kowalski's favorite sexual activity.

[Poll #884355]

Comments

[malnpudl.livejournal.com]

Your linguistic geekiness is both hot and adorable. *g*

For insights into Sanskrit (and the studying thereof), drop into icarusancalion's LJ and poke around a bit. *big eyes*

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Oooh. I can be madly jealous but also feel relief at not being in crazy hard stuff!

[shoemaster.livejournal.com]

I don't understand how it is that the only people I know doing linguistics stuff, are in fandom. And it seems like there are an awful lot of you.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Obviously, we are a sekrit cult. Duh!

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

What, RADIO BUTTONS?

[refuses to answer, in protest over the absence of ticky boxes][torn, that is, between hittite and eskimo-aleut]

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Hahahahaha. If you look at the answers, you will notice that I can't decide EITHER.

[brownbetty]

I've heard the Eskimo-Aleut makes strong men faint and drives weak men mad.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

*sniffle* That doesn't explain why nobody at all has voted for my beloved circumpolar north languages!

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

Heee, I voted for Hittite, but I don't actually recommend it. Cuneiform kills souls!

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Man, there's totally joke in there insulting you, but I can't quite get to it. Alas!

[kalpurna.livejournal.com]

Um, isn't Hittite the language that cracked open the Proto-Indo-European laryngeal system for historical linguists, dramatically confirming Saussure's hypothesis about the three kinds of "H" in PIE, and helping to prove the systematic nature of sound change?

I REST MY CASE.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

*applauds* You make a persuasive argument!

[zulu]

Eskimo-Aleut, no question. I've been in love since reading "Alaska" by James Michener. Oh, fifteen-year-old self. You were so crazy.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

*sighs dreamily*

[mutecornett.livejournal.com]

Pidgins FTW!!

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

*giggles and tallies your vote*

[copracat]

Sanskrit for sure because you can then read this in the original.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Mmm, point!

[kerrypolka.livejournal.com]

Pidgins are like language 'shipping.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

That is BRILLIANT and PROFOUND.

[eledhwenlin]

Sanskrit!

You know, I feel like I should talk to you more often (or at all, for that matter). Seeing as you're the only linguist I know online (I'm surrounded by language geeks all the time, when I'm offline, but strangely they don't have the right appreciation for Benton Fraser, which is a very sad thing).

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Dude, there are many linguists in fandom that I have run across, at least! darthfox and ellen_fremedon both have master's degrees, though they're not studying it now, and I know that etben and kalpurna and mutecornett are all majoring in it, too.

[hobbledehoy.livejournal.com]

aren't these kind of different categories of things? does cuneiform go into written stuff? are the first two pre-colonization (hah!), so before pidgins and creoles, or were there creoles and pidgins of them? are the first two still alive, like sami is?

difficult.

[hobbledehoy.livejournal.com]

i mean, non-written stuff. for cuneiform.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

They are TOTALLY different categories! They're all linguistics, but way different subdisciplines. Hittie and Sanskrit are both dead, dead, dead, only existing in written form (mmm, historical linguistics). The Eskimo-Aleut and Saami languages are still alive (though some are seriously moribund), so that's more descriptive. And I think pidgins must have existed as long as there's been trade, but they're not the sort of thing that would necessarily leave physical evidence.

(Notice I did not put morphology/morphosyntax on the list, because that goes with ALL of them!)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_unhurt_/]

can't decide, but want to steal your brain.

also, you make me want to take the 'introduction to linguistics' evening class on offer at the local university. (taught by an italian PhD of undetermined* gender. possibly sexy? here's hoping.)


*by me - i expect he/she has a good idea.

[hobbledehoy.livejournal.com]

ahh, but perhaps not!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_unhurt_/]

hmm, point! (i meant to say this two days ago, but somehow forgot)

that'll teach me to make throw-away remarks about potential teachers. *g*

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Dooooooooo it! *evil*

[http://users.livejournal.com/_unhurt_/]

enabler! *shakes fists*

[zeenell]

...*stares*

I hate you because I want them ALL. But I should chose sanskrit what with being in Indo-Pak. Even if the indo-pak thing is just for the food. Mhmmm. Samosias.

(My theology professor is convincing me to look into grad school for anthro-lingustics, so in about 4 years, I will not be complaining about attic greek and latin, but of other, cooler languages).

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

I don't know, attic Greek and Latin are pretty cool too...

[zeenell]

yes, but both at the same time means I end up using greek letters when doing translations from english to latin.

[rubynye.livejournal.com]

I *love* your language posts. I don't say much, being only a language geek by proxy (I only know two languages, English and American) if even that. But I'll just sit here and admire.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Awww, you are sweet.

[caiusmajor.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, LANGUAGE.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

YES.

[frostfire-17.livejournal.com]

Hittite WINS! Because it's all about LOGOGRAMS and needing to know Sumerian AND Akkadian to read it.

(and, as someone pointed out above, it PRESERVES some of the PIE LARYNGEALS. I mean, CHRIST. What other language can say that? NONE, THAT'S WHO.)

um. finished my PIE final half an hour ago. I'm a tad nuts.

(and dude, Hoffner and Melchert's new Hittite grammar is being published VERY SOON and so there'll be like a REAL TEXTBOOK I'm excited!)

[askmehow.livejournal.com]

You rule. That is all.