Words that only exist in some languages (Philological Room) Language Learning Forum

Words that only exist in some languages
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Warp3
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United States
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Message 73 of 97

29 May 2010 at 10:55pm | IP Logged

horshod wrote:

Indian languages have specific words for many relations which is I think pretty unique. They have separate words for maternal and paternal uncle/aunt/grandparents.

Korean is actually somewhat similar in this respect (often changing relationship terms based on marital status, paternal/maternal side of the family, comparative age, and sometimes gender of speaker).
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Derian
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Message 74 of 97

30 May 2010 at 2:12am | IP Logged

iknowchristalen wrote:

English needs a word for "Ihr" (you, pural) because you all takes to long to say and ya'll sounds uneducated.

Haha, no. English needs the word for "Du" [you, singular], because 'you' is actually plural.
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lynxrunner
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Message 75 of 97

30 May 2010 at 5:08am | IP Logged

Derian wrote:

Haha, no. English needs the word for "Du" [you, singular], because 'you'
is actually plural.

"You" used to be only plural (unless applied to one person) and now it serves as both
plural and singular. Saying that "you" is a plural noun is a bit of a misnomer.
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Doitsujin
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Message 76 of 97

30 May 2010 at 7:12am | IP Logged

Cherepaha wrote:

Russian also has a word "фраер". [...]
Wiktionary says that its origins are traced back to German "Freier"/adj."frei"(= free).

This proves once again that one cannot fully rely on Wiktionary, because "Freier" is not related to "frei". According to the Duden (the leading German spelling dictionary), it has been derived from Middle Low German "vrier" which in turn was derived from "vrien" (=asking for a girl's hand in marriage). BTW, in present-day German, it's only used to refer to the customers of prostitutes. This might explain the negative connotation both in German and Yiddish.
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Derian
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Message 77 of 97

30 May 2010 at 11:56am | IP Logged

lynxrunner wrote:

"You" used to be only plural (unless applied to one person) and now it serves as both plural and singular. Saying that "you" is a plural noun is a bit of a misnomer.

Duh! But that's totally beside the point.

Edited by Derian on 30 May 2010 at 11:58am
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Moogiechan
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Message 78 of 97

30 May 2010 at 1:50pm | IP Logged

Derian wrote:

iknowchristalen wrote:

English needs a word for "Ihr" (you, pural) because you all takes to long to say and ya'll sounds uneducated.

Haha, no. English needs the word for "Du" [you, singular], because 'you' is actually plural.

"Thou" is the the English singular 2nds person. We just don't use it much. It's as if the French started using "vous" exclusively, and stopped using "tu". If I'm correct, to use the OP's reference,it's also as if the Germans used "Sie" all the time, and stopped using "du".
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ladanoise
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Message 79 of 97

02 June 2010 at 5:25am | IP Logged

Danish also has words for aunts, uncles, and grandparents depending on whether they are related to the mother or father.
Danish also has a word that I love "boernerig" (sorry no keyboard) which means many children but is literally rich in children.
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Adamdm
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Australia
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Message 80 of 97

02 June 2010 at 10:00am | IP Logged

Moogiechan wrote:

Derian wrote:

iknowchristalen wrote:

English needs a word for "Ihr" (you, pural) because you all takes to long to say and ya'll sounds uneducated.

Haha, no. English needs the word for "Du" [you, singular], because 'you' is actually plural.

The word "yous" (sometimes transcribed as "youse") is sometines used (!) in Australia, although it is looked down on as a vulgarism or sign of ignorance. I however, see the word as having a real use, seeing that "you" now means "thou", and thou art no more to be heard.

I like to use yous whenever I have an opportunity (and remember) to do so, and I recommend its use to yous all, too.

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