Editing 1709: Inflection
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
+ | {{incomplete|More on Latin conjugation...?}} | ||
− | While walking, [[Megan]] tells [[Cueball]] that in {{w|inflected languages}} | + | While walking, [[Megan]] tells [[Cueball]] that in {{w|inflected languages}} -- such as {{w|German language|German}} -- changes in the spelling of a word changes its' meaning, in a predictable way. Megan exemplifies this with how {{w|plural}} forms of {{w|nouns}} are created by sticking an 's' at the end, and {{w|past tense}} of a {{w|verb}} is done by the suffix 'ed'. Megan then explains that this works well in {{w|languages}} which build on {{w|alphabets}}. |
− | She continues to explain that their {{w|Indo-European languages|language family}} belongs to those that are inflected, but the {{w|Modern English|English branch}} is becoming less inflected than it used to be. Specifically this explains why English | + | She continues to explain that their {{w|Indo-European languages||language family}} belongs to those that are inflected, but the {{w|Modern English|English branch}} is becoming less inflected than it used to be. Specifically this explains why English do not have so many {{w|Latin conjugations}}. |
− | + | Cueball then asks ''Could that mean that English writing might be ripe to become more pictographic?'' Instead of using traditional words, Megan replies with three {{w|emojis}} "Thumbs up" (like), "Applause", and a smiley -- thus showing a pictographic version of the writing which has become more popular in the last years. | |
− | + | The writing systems of many languages have both {{w|pictographic}} and {{w|ideographic}} origins. "Pictographic" means that they are pictures of some thing that will remind the reader of either the pronunciation or the meaning of the word. The letter 'A', for example, originated from a word meaning "ox", but was meant to remind readers of the sound of a vowel like what we pronounce today as 'A'. 'Ideographic' means that they are designed, through pictures, to illustrate some idea. In fact, the three emojis used in the third panel of this cartoon are all ideographic, not pictographic, under this definition. "Thumbs up" (like), "Applause", and the smiley, are all emojis that remind us of a concept of approval. | |
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− | The writing systems of many languages have both {{w|pictographic}} and {{w|ideographic}} origins. "Pictographic" means that they are pictures of some thing that will remind the reader of either the pronunciation or the meaning of the word. The letter | ||
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− | + | {{w|Egyptian hieroglyphics}} contain many pictorial elements, some of which are pictographic in the sense that they are meant to represent the thing that they picture, but many are more abstract (ideographic) or are used for their {{w|phonetic}} value (as 'A' was used in early alphabetic systems). Similarly, in the {{w|Chinese character}} writing system, many of the elements have pictographic or ideographic origins; but they are often, and even usually combined in ways that are phonetic and not related to the pictures that were the origins of the characters. | |
− | + | Early modern English (think Shakespeare or the KJV Bible) used more forms for the tenses than we do today, which can help illustrate the trend away from inflected forms. In contrast, verbs in English today are often conjugated with auxiliary verbs. See below for a details on [[#Modern verb conjugation in English|modern verb conjugation in English]]. | |
− | + | The title text points out that some intentional misspelling are used in Internet slang to alter the meaning of a word: "what" becomes "[https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wat wat]" to [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/wat express] confusion, disgust or disbelief. The title text also uses the intentional misuse of grammar to emphasize the word MORE by using all capital letters. Such emphasis is difficult to show with inflected language alone. | |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
:[Cueball and Megan, holding a hand up, are seen walking together from afar in silhouette.] | :[Cueball and Megan, holding a hand up, are seen walking together from afar in silhouette.] | ||
− | :Megan: Inflected languages change words to add meaning, like "-s" for plurals or "-ed" for past tense. | + | :Megan: Inflected languages change words to add meaning, like "-s" for plurals or "-ed" for past tense. |
:Megan: Alphabets—where symbols stand for sound instead of words—work well for them, since you can show the changes through spelling. | :Megan: Alphabets—where symbols stand for sound instead of words—work well for them, since you can show the changes through spelling. | ||
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==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
===Modern verb conjugation in English=== | ===Modern verb conjugation in English=== | ||
− | + | Here a sample of a modern verb conjugation in English: | |
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{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
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|would have been being walked | |would have been being walked | ||
|} | |} | ||
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+ | In all of these conjugations, the only inflections on the main verb "walk" are "-s", "-ed", and "-ing". (The highly irregular helper verbs, "be" and "have", have somewhat more interesting inflections.) And although this table shows only the third person, the first and second person would not introduce any additional words whatsoever; similarly, the table shows only the indicative mood, but the subjunctive and imperative moods would not introduce any additional words, and the conditional mood would only introduce the helper verb "would" (an inflection of the irregular helper verb "will") without any additional inflections on the main verb "walk". If instead we made this table in Spanish (for example), then there would be many more inflections on the main verb (12 in the third-person indicative alone, 45 including all persons and moods, if I didn't miscount). | ||
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Comics with color]] | [[Category:Comics with color]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | ||
[[Category:Language]] | [[Category:Language]] | ||
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