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From what I understand that 100 words for snow thing isn't really true, it's just that the language uses compound words like german, so it's just that an adject

From what I understand that 100 words for snow thing isn't really true, it's just that the language uses compound words like german, so it's just that an adjective + noun is rolled into one word (e.g. powder snow would also be pulverschnee in german, but it's really just the word for powder and snow without the space)

yosito 2y ago
Often people claim that Hungarian has over 50 words for "you" (https://dailymagyar.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/daily_magyar_2019_05_15-1.jpg https://dailymagyar.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05...) But even the concept of what is a "word" in Hungarian is complex. Words have so many different forms depending on the context. As a Hungarian speaker, I perceive three forms of you (te, ön, maga) and one ending that is added to other words to to form a second person form of the word (-d), but even that is a complete oversimplification. I don't think there is any reason why whale languages would have a concept of discreet words like we have in English.
- hnbad 2y ago
  Fun fact: That is why linguists are more interested in spoken language than written language. Written languages are ultimately "amateur" attempts to codify spoken (natural) languages. Spoken language consists of utterances not letters, words or sentences. Analyzing language requires grouping sounds into compounds that serve specific functions or carry specific semantics but for spoken language the structure will be a lot fuzzier and more complex than for the simplified written language even if the author attempts to replicate spoken language in writing. Even phonemes don't tell the full story.
ralegh 2y ago
Phrases, then.
pavlov 2y ago
Ok, so let’s say there are ten qualifiers and ten base words for snow. That makes 100 compound words. It’s still substantially more snow-related vocabulary than in German, it seems to me.
FabHK 2y ago
More than you ever wanted to know: The snow words myth: progress at last - https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004003.html https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/... Bad science reporting again: the Eskimos are back - https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4419 https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4419 "Words for snow" watch - https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3497 https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3497 The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax - https://web.archive.org/web/20181203001555/http://users.utu.fi/freder/Pullum-Eskimo-VocabHoax.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20181203001555/http://users.utu.... "Eskimo Words for Snow: A Case Study in the Genesis and Decay of an Anthropological Example" - https://www.jstor.org/stable/677570 https://www.jstor.org/stable/677570 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_words_for_snow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_words_for_snow
- wavefunction 2y ago
  As a brief aside, I think "Inuit" is the preferred term for people mistakenly called Eskimo.
  - FabHK 2y ago
    As the first article linked to explains: > the language family is generally called Eskimo or Eskimoan, because it includes the Yup'ik languages of Siberia and Alaska as well as the Inuit languages from the northeastern half of Alaska across Canada to Greenland
  - emmelaich 2y ago
    And I've heard Eskimo is a preferred collective term for North American indigenous arctic dwellers, because Inuit is just one tribe/ethnicity among a few! So it goes.
    - thaumasiotes 2y ago
      Just think about it from the other direction. To most Australian Aborigines, whites are called "Hollanders". How much are you offended by that?
robocat 2y ago
A list of 65 English words/phrases for types of snow by a skier: https://skimo.co/words-for-snow https://skimo.co/words-for-snow but missing a few "spring snow", "Sierra cement".

yosito 2y ago

Often people claim that Hungarian has over 50 words for "you" (https://dailymagyar.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/daily_magyar_2019_05_15-1.jpg https://dailymagyar.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05...) But even the concept of what is a "word" in Hungarian is complex. Words have so many different forms depending on the context. As a Hungarian speaker, I perceive three forms of you (te, ön, maga) and one ending that is added to other words to to form a second person form of the word (-d), but even that is a complete oversimplification. I don't think there is any reason why whale languages would have a concept of discreet words like we have in English.

hnbad 2y ago
Fun fact: That is why linguists are more interested in spoken language than written language. Written languages are ultimately "amateur" attempts to codify spoken (natural) languages. Spoken language consists of utterances not letters, words or sentences. Analyzing language requires grouping sounds into compounds that serve specific functions or carry specific semantics but for spoken language the structure will be a lot fuzzier and more complex than for the simplified written language even if the author attempts to replicate spoken language in writing. Even phonemes don't tell the full story.

ralegh 2y ago

Phrases, then.

pavlov 2y ago

Ok, so let’s say there are ten qualifiers and ten base words for snow. That makes 100 compound words. It’s still substantially more snow-related vocabulary than in German, it seems to me.

FabHK 2y ago

More than you ever wanted to know: The snow words myth: progress at last - https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004003.html https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/... Bad science reporting again: the Eskimos are back - https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4419 https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4419 "Words for snow" watch - https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3497 https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3497 The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax - https://web.archive.org/web/20181203001555/http://users.utu.fi/freder/Pullum-Eskimo-VocabHoax.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20181203001555/http://users.utu.... "Eskimo Words for Snow: A Case Study in the Genesis and Decay of an Anthropological Example" - https://www.jstor.org/stable/677570 https://www.jstor.org/stable/677570 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_words_for_snow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_words_for_snow

wavefunction 2y ago
As a brief aside, I think "Inuit" is the preferred term for people mistakenly called Eskimo.
- FabHK 2y ago
  As the first article linked to explains: > the language family is generally called Eskimo or Eskimoan, because it includes the Yup'ik languages of Siberia and Alaska as well as the Inuit languages from the northeastern half of Alaska across Canada to Greenland
- emmelaich 2y ago
  And I've heard Eskimo is a preferred collective term for North American indigenous arctic dwellers, because Inuit is just one tribe/ethnicity among a few! So it goes.
  - thaumasiotes 2y ago
    Just think about it from the other direction. To most Australian Aborigines, whites are called "Hollanders". How much are you offended by that?

robocat 2y ago

A list of 65 English words/phrases for types of snow by a skier: https://skimo.co/words-for-snow https://skimo.co/words-for-snow but missing a few "spring snow", "Sierra cement".