Re: Fr/lat/ru tu-vous/tu-vos/ - : etymology ?

Franz Gnaedinger wrote:
On Oct 2, 1:05 pm, Harlan Messinger
<hmessinger.removet...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
As obvious as it is to you that it was of key importance to the alleged
Magdalenians to have separate words for the right and left eye, and as
pervasive as you believe these words to have been as etymological
ingredients in descendant languages, does it not occur to you that it's
slightly strange to you not to find one single example of a culture
speaking a descendant language that maintained this vital distinction
between the terms for the two eyes?

Early humans depended utterly on their body,
while we rely more and more on instruments.

You made this up just to answer my question, didn't you?

The modern IE languages have been around way longer than instruments have.

It wouldn't do anymore to say: a plane on the
right hand side, a plane in the sector of my
right eye, one says for example: plane at
one o'clock, as it is more precise. However,
language kept some distinctions, for example
in German _die Rechte_ can mean the right
hand, _die Linke_ the left hand. Consider
also that we use more and more things
that must be designated with words. More
words entering language require other words
being forgotten,

???

so that the language remains
manageable.

People don't consciously work to make their language manageable.

> German has three genders,
English has only one gender. German is too
complicated for becoming the lingua franca
of our time, while English made it.

Complexity has nothing to do with why English is a lingua franca and German isn't. Every step of the route through which English attained its modern status is heavily attested. And English is plenty complex. Check any forum where speakers of other languages post questions about English. Articles, prepositions, use of the present progressive versus the present tense--none of it is straightforward.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Is there an optimal sequence for language acquisition?
    ... > leuwarden> I do not know why abroad it is thought that the Swiss ... languages, unless they start learning from books or newspapers. ... You would also know that German and English are linguistically related ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Latvian Terrorists in Finland
    ... A useful conversation in all 4 Baltic area languages ... It is from our course in American English ... 'What's up, America?', which is available in Estonian, Latvian, ... the name is German. ...
    (soc.culture.baltics)
  • Re: Latvian Terrorists in Finland
    ... A useful conversation in all 4 Baltic area languages ... It is from our course in American English ... 'What's up, America?', which is available in Estonian, Latvian, ... the name is German. ...
    (soc.culture.baltics)
  • Re: Latvian Terrorists in Finland
    ... A useful conversation in all 4 Baltic area languages ... It is from our course in American English ... 'What's up, America?', which is available in Estonian, Latvian, ... the name is German. ...
    (soc.culture.baltics)
  • Re: Latvian Terrorists in Finland
    ... A useful conversation in all 4 Baltic area languages ... It is from our course in American English ... 'What's up, America?', which is available in Estonian, Latvian, ... the name is German. ...
    (soc.culture.baltics)
Loading