Over the weekend I was talking with a friend of a friend who was thinking of getting a new tattoo of the Tibetan for 'courage'.
She said she'd been having trouble finding a source on the internet, and I said that I had a few Tibetan books that I could look up. Given how close the languages I work on are to Tibetan I have had vague plans for a while now to learn some of it - especially as it has a history of literature and its own script it's in a far better position than most of the languages in the family. To date, this has only extended to me purchasing books and leaving them on my shelf, which is where most of my good intentions dwell.
So today I did a bit of reading and photocopying and sent off the word, in Tibetan and also its pronunciation. It was the first time in a long time I felt I'd done something distinctly practical and useful with the knowledge I've accumulated this past year.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
He is a total douche....
Now I've been home for a while and am no longer living in my very insular little Nepali Linguistics universe, I thought I would try and make an effort to post every Friday-ish on general linguistic topics that tickle my fancy.
This week's has occurred because my sister has taken to using the phrase 'douche canoe' as a term of disparagement, and the other week I was reading a column in the Good Weekend where someone was referred to as a 'douche banjo' (at least I think it was banjo, I'm still trying to track that one down if anyone out there keeps old copies of the paper floating around).
I am more than familiar with the offensive term 'douche bag'. A douche bag is actually an item of medical use - it's the bag on the douche (itself taken from the French for shower) where fluid is kept. The whole get up is to clean out any bodily orifices, although people generally seem fixated on the vagina (as usual).
The Oxford English Dictionary gives its usual useful but dry definition as:
2. (b) U.S. slang, a general term of disparagement, esp. for an unattractive or boring person;
I'm not sure that captures it for me - I tend to use it more for idiots that are trying to punch above their weight and failing miserably, often while drunk. Also, unlike the OED, I'm quite happy to use the word douche in isolation as still mean basically the same thing.
But until a couple of weeks ago, I'd never heard any combination other than douche bag. My unprofessional opinion is that 'douche bag' was picked up as a term of insult, reduced to 'douche', then people forgot that a douche bag was a read piece of medical equipment, and began assuming it was just a random conjunction and added what they felt like.
Does anyone else use douche canoe, or douche banjo? Or are there any other wacky combinations that you use? Also, does your definition of douche differ from mine or the OED?
This week's has occurred because my sister has taken to using the phrase 'douche canoe' as a term of disparagement, and the other week I was reading a column in the Good Weekend where someone was referred to as a 'douche banjo' (at least I think it was banjo, I'm still trying to track that one down if anyone out there keeps old copies of the paper floating around).
I am more than familiar with the offensive term 'douche bag'. A douche bag is actually an item of medical use - it's the bag on the douche (itself taken from the French for shower) where fluid is kept. The whole get up is to clean out any bodily orifices, although people generally seem fixated on the vagina (as usual).
The Oxford English Dictionary gives its usual useful but dry definition as:
2. (b) U.S. slang, a general term of disparagement, esp. for an unattractive or boring person;
I'm not sure that captures it for me - I tend to use it more for idiots that are trying to punch above their weight and failing miserably, often while drunk. Also, unlike the OED, I'm quite happy to use the word douche in isolation as still mean basically the same thing.
But until a couple of weeks ago, I'd never heard any combination other than douche bag. My unprofessional opinion is that 'douche bag' was picked up as a term of insult, reduced to 'douche', then people forgot that a douche bag was a read piece of medical equipment, and began assuming it was just a random conjunction and added what they felt like.
Does anyone else use douche canoe, or douche banjo? Or are there any other wacky combinations that you use? Also, does your definition of douche differ from mine or the OED?
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Confirmed!
Sorry, this post has been a little slow in the writing - I'll attribute it to some kind of post-confirmation-brain-slush.
For those that I neglected to properly explain this process to the first time, confirmation is rather like going from being an L-Plate researcher to being a P-plater. It involves writing a 12,000 word paper on work to date (and with a field trip under my belt I had a lot to write), as well as a presentation in front of the department, and a meeting with my supervisory panel.
Given that the document was longer than my honours thesis, and written in less than two months, it was always going to be very much a work in progress. It's a good point at which to sit down, and really force some of those ideas that have been kicking around to become a little less vague.
As an overall process it's been good. I certainly feel a bit more focused that I was before-hand. It's been a bit of a strange process though. Normally you hand in a paper, or an honours thesis and it's done and finished. But with confirmation there is an immediate barrage of feedback. Not that that's a bad thing - there's still another 2 years work of work to do. But it means that any complement paid is balanced with a wealth of ways to start looking forward. The report and presentation have not only made clear all those vague thoughts I've had for the last year or so, but it's also illuminated the mind-numbing amount of work that needs to be done before my thesis begins to sound even half convincing.
For those that I neglected to properly explain this process to the first time, confirmation is rather like going from being an L-Plate researcher to being a P-plater. It involves writing a 12,000 word paper on work to date (and with a field trip under my belt I had a lot to write), as well as a presentation in front of the department, and a meeting with my supervisory panel.
Given that the document was longer than my honours thesis, and written in less than two months, it was always going to be very much a work in progress. It's a good point at which to sit down, and really force some of those ideas that have been kicking around to become a little less vague.
As an overall process it's been good. I certainly feel a bit more focused that I was before-hand. It's been a bit of a strange process though. Normally you hand in a paper, or an honours thesis and it's done and finished. But with confirmation there is an immediate barrage of feedback. Not that that's a bad thing - there's still another 2 years work of work to do. But it means that any complement paid is balanced with a wealth of ways to start looking forward. The report and presentation have not only made clear all those vague thoughts I've had for the last year or so, but it's also illuminated the mind-numbing amount of work that needs to be done before my thesis begins to sound even half convincing.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Tutoring
This semester I'm breaking up my own work with a bit of tutoring.
Today was the first lecture. It was surreal sitting in an undergrad lecture for a course I took about five years ago and having the lecturer ask your opinion of things as the lecture progressed. I think I preferred the anonymity of being a student, although I am looking forward to tutorials starting next week.
Today was the first lecture. It was surreal sitting in an undergrad lecture for a course I took about five years ago and having the lecturer ask your opinion of things as the lecture progressed. I think I preferred the anonymity of being a student, although I am looking forward to tutorials starting next week.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Verbal Abuse
It was never a realistic delusion that I would be able to write my verb phrase chapter in only one week... but two and a half weeks in to writing all about the verb and the various bits that attach themselves to it (tense, aspect, auxiliaries; all those things you learned or never learned in language classes school) and I'm beginning to feel there is no end in sight.
This isn't surprising - it's one of the most difficult chapters to write, and every exception needs to be accounted for. I've already got a massive list of things to ask about/check/check again for my next field trip.
It wouldn't be so bad, except that I know that when it's done and looks all shiney I'll wonder to myself how it ever seemed to messy and horrid and complected. Let this post stand as testament to how whiny and petulant I am being in this endeavor...
This isn't surprising - it's one of the most difficult chapters to write, and every exception needs to be accounted for. I've already got a massive list of things to ask about/check/check again for my next field trip.
It wouldn't be so bad, except that I know that when it's done and looks all shiney I'll wonder to myself how it ever seemed to messy and horrid and complected. Let this post stand as testament to how whiny and petulant I am being in this endeavor...
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The Hole Truth
Today I went to visit my dentist for the first time since spending three months in Nepal bathing my teeth in sugar tea. I was so excited to find out that I have no cavities that I almost fell out of the chair.
A big hazzah for fluoridated water!
A big hazzah for fluoridated water!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Slow Mail Month
Yesterday, my handsome Australian penpal received a letter from me that I sent a few weeks before leaving Nepal.
Most mail took 2-3 weeks to get to its destination, but this correspondence wandered around for two months before finishing its journey. It made me think how glad I am that we live in a world of telephones (and skype), instead of relying on letters alone.
Most mail took 2-3 weeks to get to its destination, but this correspondence wandered around for two months before finishing its journey. It made me think how glad I am that we live in a world of telephones (and skype), instead of relying on letters alone.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
No TB for me
Yesterday I got the results of my post-trip TB test, having spent the preceding 72 hours staring at the test site on my forearm waiting for a reaction ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantoux_test ).
Given that almost half of the population of Nepal has tuberculosis, and spitting is the second favourite national pass-time - pipped only by eatting daal and rice - I'm rather glad to not have a TB sized souvenir from the trip.
Given that almost half of the population of Nepal has tuberculosis, and spitting is the second favourite national pass-time - pipped only by eatting daal and rice - I'm rather glad to not have a TB sized souvenir from the trip.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
It's Not Always That Difficult
As predicted, now that I'm home in a country where I generally understand what's happening, and there is not a flood of data nor chances to embarrass myself during sessions, blog-worthy events have tailed off.
I'm currently writing out my phonology of the language (ie - what sounds people use to speak). It's very slow going, but satisfying to be finally ironing out some of the quirks that have been troubling me from the outset.
One thing that has been troubling me is the word for meat, which sometimes sounds to me like 'sha' and other times like 'shya'. I was playing them through for the supervisor, explaining how my ear can't cope with making the distinction. It was suggested I just put both of them in the phonology and explain they are in free variation (ie. speakers can use which ever they want and others will still still understand them).
It reminded me that just because an answer is simple doesn't mean it's wrong. Unfortunately, not all my phonological problems are going to plan out so easily.
I'm currently writing out my phonology of the language (ie - what sounds people use to speak). It's very slow going, but satisfying to be finally ironing out some of the quirks that have been troubling me from the outset.
One thing that has been troubling me is the word for meat, which sometimes sounds to me like 'sha' and other times like 'shya'. I was playing them through for the supervisor, explaining how my ear can't cope with making the distinction. It was suggested I just put both of them in the phonology and explain they are in free variation (ie. speakers can use which ever they want and others will still still understand them).
It reminded me that just because an answer is simple doesn't mean it's wrong. Unfortunately, not all my phonological problems are going to plan out so easily.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
In The Dark
I'm slowly beginning the process of pulling my massive mess of data into some kind of format that other people can understand... and perhaps I can understand better as well. For the last two days I've been going though session recording, cutting out individual words so I can analyse them using Praat (Pratt is a phonetic analysis program that, while constantly updated, still looks like it's from the late 1990s).
I have to start also pulling together the syntactic rules of of the language (such as, that the order of words is Subject, Object then the Verb - English, by comparison, is Subject, Verb, Object), and relate the whole thing to current theories about such things as typology (what features occur in different languages), Tibeto-Burman linguistics (the family in which my language belongs) and social cognition (the area I'm really interested in - how people use language in a with other people to create ideas about the world they live in).
I'm trying to work as hard as I can - but unlike in Nepal, I have more of a life here, so it can be easier to be distracted (I've certainly not has a 10 hour working day since I got home). I can say that I miss Nepal at the moment though, the enforced power cuts known as 'load shedding' have gone up from 5-6 hours a week when I left to 9 hours every day:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/25306890/Load-Shedding-Schedule-Kathmandu-Nepal-17th-January-2010
I have to start also pulling together the syntactic rules of of the language (such as, that the order of words is Subject, Object then the Verb - English, by comparison, is Subject, Verb, Object), and relate the whole thing to current theories about such things as typology (what features occur in different languages), Tibeto-Burman linguistics (the family in which my language belongs) and social cognition (the area I'm really interested in - how people use language in a with other people to create ideas about the world they live in).
I'm trying to work as hard as I can - but unlike in Nepal, I have more of a life here, so it can be easier to be distracted (I've certainly not has a 10 hour working day since I got home). I can say that I miss Nepal at the moment though, the enforced power cuts known as 'load shedding' have gone up from 5-6 hours a week when I left to 9 hours every day:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/25306890/Load-Shedding-Schedule-Kathmandu-Nepal-17th-January-2010
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