Re: why the -s in English verbs?

On Feb 29, 8:22 pm, Nathan Sanders <nsand...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

What is "enough" correlation?  Have you actually conducted statistical
tests and calculated this "correlation"?

No, not my field. But I know neural nets and I know non-linear effects
when inputs interact. For pattern recognition, I find quite a bit of
analogy between the role of the -s ending with variables in this
field.

Similarly, I gave you a list of nouns, and I also told you verb/noun
confusion problem in Chinese is at around 10% level of English:

Ah, so you have calculated it!  Care to explain your methodology and
calculations?  (Don't worry, I have a degree in math, so I'll
understand your formulas.)

Nice. Don't worry, I did not use any Lie algebra nor fiber bundles.
Where I come from, we work with order of magnitude all the time. I
gave a list of nouns in English. Assuming statistical independence
between nouns in Chinese and English. Out of these nouns, about 10% of
them can be used as verbs in Chinese. Just take the list of nouns I
have provided, translate into Chinese, see which ones can be verbs and
which one cannot. Done. (Specificly: clip, fire, lock, card: 4 out of
39, colloquially. If you allow some twist at literary layer, you might
pump it up to like 20%, but that's a stretch.)

You don't need to use formulas (and you probably know I use many more
formulas than most people here have ever used), you just need to know
the language. Chinese nouns just don't become verbs easily. On the
contrary, virtually ALL mundane nouns in English can be used as verbs,
if one really chooses to. E.g: the term "verb" is listed as noun-only
in dictionaries, yet one easily finds this sentence via Google:

"Oh, you mean when people decide to verb a noun?" (http://
beaglewriter.com/writings/verbs.php)

English once upon a time did not have this verb/noun confusion
problem, and its verb conjugation fit a pattern the "markedness
theory" suggests as universal. But one day its speakers decided to go
the other way, and it became the only language I know that can "verb"
nouns, at will.

---

On the side, could you help me with one question? What's the defining
characteristic of lax phonation (as opposed to tense)? I did some
rough spectrum analysis once upon a time and couldn't see much
difference in the formant structure. The literature is confusing. I am
inclined to think the difference comes from the white noise part
(breathiness), but I am not sure. (I also thought about Doppler
effect, but I find it hard to believe this is the main
characteristic.) It's OK if this is not of your interest.

-- Ekki
.

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