From an e-mail I received (talk about having fun with semiotics).We all know those cute little computer symbols called 'emoticons' where:) means a smile and :( is a frown.Well, how about some 'ASSICONS?'Here goes:(_!_) a regular ass(__!__) a fat ass(!) a tight ass(_*_) an ass hole{_!_} a swishy ass(_o_) an ass that's been around(_x_) kiss my ass(_X_) leave my ass alone(_zzz_) a tired ass(_13_) an unlucky ass(_E=mc2_) a smart ass(_$_) money coming out of his ass(_?_) dumb ass(_~_) a latin ass(... Read Full Story
When it comes to determining whether a conjunction that joins clauses is a coordinating conjunction or a subordinating conjunction, there is a simple syntactic movement test that will reveal the answer.To start with, coordinating conjunctions join independent clauses and the conjunction doing the joining is not attached to either clause. (The above "and" is a coordinating conjunction)Subordinating conjunctions join dependent clauses to independent clauses and the conjunction doing the joining... Read Full Story
Just spotted this verb subcatagorization blunder in a magazine ad for the 2010 Winter Olympics-bound U.S. Ski Team."Some gates bend, and some just lay down in fear."To refresh your memory, transitive verbs take objects, intransitive verbs don't. "Lay" is a transitive verb and there is not a direct object following "lay" in this sentence. In other words, the framework of this sentence, minus the second verb, requires an intransitive verb.I sure hope the U.S. Ski Team doesn't lay an egg at the ... Read Full Story
"Colorless green ideas sleep furiously."-Noam ChomskySyntactically sound but semantically senseless sentence created by Noam Chomsky in 1957 to demonstrate the need for more structured models of grammar.
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The correct answer to the First in a Series of Occasional Linguistics Quizzes is b.English and Spanish have different phonotactic constraints.While the /sk/ consonant cluster is perfectly acceptable to English speakers and is not usually even given a second thought, the cluster is not a psychological reality to Spanish speakers. Because Spanish speakers do not recognize the cluster, their phonotactic constraints do not allow the /sk/ cluster to appear in the same syllable. The result is Spani... Read Full Story
The fact that native Spanish speakers have difficulty pronouncing the English word "skate" indicates that English and Spanish______a. are prescriptive languages.b. have different phonotactic constraints.c. are nearly impossible to learn.d. are not rule governed.For answer click here.
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