Re: OT: Eskimo words for snow (Re: what's a "froplet"?)
Re: OT: Eskimo words for snow (Re: what's a "froplet"?)
- Subject: Re: OT: Eskimo words for snow (Re: what's a "froplet"?)
- From: Michael Grant <email@hidden>
- Date: Sun, 04 Aug 2002 14:50:13 -0500
On 8/4/02 12:09 PM, "Alex Robinson" <email@hidden> wrote:
>
Speaking of anthropological canards, no discussion of language and thought
>
> would be complete without the Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax. Contrary to
>
> popular belief, the Eskimos do not have more words for snow than do
>
> speakers of English. They do not have four hundred words for snow, as has
>
> been claimed in print, or two hundred, or one hundred, or forty-eight, or
>
> even nine. One dictionary puts the figure at two. Counting generously,
>
> experts can come up with about a dozen
Multilingual Computing actually printed a list of thirty-odd Inuit words for
snow a while back. They included glosses on the distinctions among them, and
they're definitely nuances that we don't pay much attention to in balmier
climes. It seems that the real hoax is the meme that the Eskimos "don't
really" have that many words for snow.
Michael
--
"I am mindful of the difference between the executive branch and the
legislative branch. I assured all four of these leaders that I know the
difference, and that difference is they pass the laws and I execute them."
- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 18, 2000
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