If '666' is The Number of the Beast, what does '999' stand for?
(and I mean metaphysically, I know it's an emergency telephone number)
(and I mean metaphysically, I know it's an emergency telephone number)
Is English an inferior language?
You don't normally use that scientific names in everyday life. They also contain some Greek, as you admited.
Yes, I like this date, too! It would be the 09.09.09 in German.
Yes, I like this date, too! It would be the 09.09.09 in German.
1. If you turn the Beast upside down, it's head will become red and swollen, surely that must be funny
2. If you laugh at the Beast, surely you don't take it seriously
3. If you don't take it seriously, surely the Beast must be even more dangerous
4. So, the number 999 is surely more fatal than number 666
5. Surely
2. If you laugh at the Beast, surely you don't take it seriously
3. If you don't take it seriously, surely the Beast must be even more dangerous
4. So, the number 999 is surely more fatal than number 666
5. Surely
"Basically, yes - it [Latin] is [an easy language], and about as regular and phonetic as they come, and quite easy to pronounce..."
Wow, stupidity never dies. How can you say that Latin is easy to pronounce when you've never heard it being spoken by a native speaker? Perhaps you pronounce the "c" in "Caesar" and "Cicero" like /s/ when the actual Latin pronunciation would've been something like /k/. Or perhaps you've studied what is known about Latin pronunciation without realizing that it's all just approximation.
"And Latin really is alive and kicking as well so no more talk about it being a dead language..."
A dead language is language that doesn't have native speakers alive anymore. Latin has no native speakers and therefore it's a dead language. So simple is that.
Latin is not used in science as a language; only "Latin" names and other words derived from Latin are used. Furthermore, the so-called Latin names are often also Greek, so it's very misleading to call them "Latin names".
Wow, stupidity never dies. How can you say that Latin is easy to pronounce when you've never heard it being spoken by a native speaker? Perhaps you pronounce the "c" in "Caesar" and "Cicero" like /s/ when the actual Latin pronunciation would've been something like /k/. Or perhaps you've studied what is known about Latin pronunciation without realizing that it's all just approximation.
"And Latin really is alive and kicking as well so no more talk about it being a dead language..."
A dead language is language that doesn't have native speakers alive anymore. Latin has no native speakers and therefore it's a dead language. So simple is that.
Latin is not used in science as a language; only "Latin" names and other words derived from Latin are used. Furthermore, the so-called Latin names are often also Greek, so it's very misleading to call them "Latin names".
Yes, Hexakosioihexekontahexaph, it's 333 points more dangerous if it raises hell.
When the Beast is on vacation down-under it says 999 on his head, silly Hexakosioihexekontahexaph.
So, it's 9. september 2009 only in the northern hemisphere, down-under it's 6. july 2006. Cool.
"Actually my name is Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia. I'm a girl."
Lol. I really did laugh out loud.
Lol. I really did laugh out loud.
<<There is a theory. Only easy languages can be really World languages: Latin, Spanish, French and English were/are the World languages the last XX centuries.>>
<<Yes. It is true, there are 4 superior languages: English, French, Spanish and Latin.
There is also an interesting point. German, Russian, Chinese, etc are difficult languages and never could be the most powerful language during at least a century.
Only 4 languages can be considered superior (the most important language during at least 100 years). >>
Yeah right. The hardness of those language has nothing to do with how important they were or how long they were important.
The people in an Empire would have to learn the language of the Empire, hard or not. Did you forget about the Uzbekis, Turkmens, Kirgizis, Tadjiks, Tatars, Georgians, Azeris, Armenians, Chechens, Dagestanis, Kazakhs, Abkhazians, Osetians, Bashkirians, Yakuts, Chukchis etc (all languages which are completely unrelated to Russian) who spoke Russian for centuries? I guess the hardness didn't bother them... Chinese was also learnt by all kinds of ethnic groups throughout China. I guess the hardness didn't bother them. If China colonised the USA the Americans would have to learn Chinese and the hardness wouldn't bother them either...
<<Yes. It is true, there are 4 superior languages: English, French, Spanish and Latin.
There is also an interesting point. German, Russian, Chinese, etc are difficult languages and never could be the most powerful language during at least a century.
Only 4 languages can be considered superior (the most important language during at least 100 years). >>
Yeah right. The hardness of those language has nothing to do with how important they were or how long they were important.
The people in an Empire would have to learn the language of the Empire, hard or not. Did you forget about the Uzbekis, Turkmens, Kirgizis, Tadjiks, Tatars, Georgians, Azeris, Armenians, Chechens, Dagestanis, Kazakhs, Abkhazians, Osetians, Bashkirians, Yakuts, Chukchis etc (all languages which are completely unrelated to Russian) who spoke Russian for centuries? I guess the hardness didn't bother them... Chinese was also learnt by all kinds of ethnic groups throughout China. I guess the hardness didn't bother them. If China colonised the USA the Americans would have to learn Chinese and the hardness wouldn't bother them either...
I happen to speak German and I don't find it hard at all. People like to complain about noun gender, but in reality, if you don't know the gender of a noun, then you really do not know the word, as you are then unable to use it in a sentence properly.
<<If China colonised the USA the Americans would have to learn Chinese and the hardness wouldn't bother them either... >>
If China colonized the US, they'd want the land and resources, not the people. The Americans would "disappear" long before they had and chance to learn Chinese.
If China colonized the US, they'd want the land and resources, not the people. The Americans would "disappear" long before they had and chance to learn Chinese.
>>I happen to speak German and I don't find it hard at all. People like to complain about noun gender, but in reality, if you don't know the gender of a noun, then you really do not know the word, as you are then unable to use it in a sentence properly.<<
One usual logic of many non-Chinese about Chinese: Chinese is very hard with all those characters.
Another usual logic of many Anglophones about German (or other languages with declensions): German has genders and cases and stuff like that. Harder than Spanish and English and so on.
If you combine both, you can get: Chinese is even harder than German for various reasons.
I happen to speak Chinese and I don't find it hard at all. People like to complain about characters, but in reality, if you don't know the characters, then you really don't know the word, and you can't use it in any way properly.
Although China is still developing, illiterate people are becoming the minority through the years. But even among illiterate people, like women as young as 40 something in Hong Kong, they can usually recognize the Chinese we have on newspapers, in the market, etc. My parents were born and raised in those unfortunate years and their education was never recognized in (post-)colonial Hong Kong, and yet they can both write decent letters to the government.
Do you see the logic? :)
AJATT raised the issue of the adult illiteracy problem - when your language is limited, you can't write and read at all, you're just in the middle of the way, and you shouldn't feel frustrated. Many average language learners have exactly this problem. But then, I wonder, what are you, Chinese learners, going to do, so that your level is comparable to my parents? Many of them, as I've witnessed, simply can't do it. It's up to you, take your time, to do this task well.
One usual logic of many non-Chinese about Chinese: Chinese is very hard with all those characters.
Another usual logic of many Anglophones about German (or other languages with declensions): German has genders and cases and stuff like that. Harder than Spanish and English and so on.
If you combine both, you can get: Chinese is even harder than German for various reasons.
I happen to speak Chinese and I don't find it hard at all. People like to complain about characters, but in reality, if you don't know the characters, then you really don't know the word, and you can't use it in any way properly.
Although China is still developing, illiterate people are becoming the minority through the years. But even among illiterate people, like women as young as 40 something in Hong Kong, they can usually recognize the Chinese we have on newspapers, in the market, etc. My parents were born and raised in those unfortunate years and their education was never recognized in (post-)colonial Hong Kong, and yet they can both write decent letters to the government.
Do you see the logic? :)
AJATT raised the issue of the adult illiteracy problem - when your language is limited, you can't write and read at all, you're just in the middle of the way, and you shouldn't feel frustrated. Many average language learners have exactly this problem. But then, I wonder, what are you, Chinese learners, going to do, so that your level is comparable to my parents? Many of them, as I've witnessed, simply can't do it. It's up to you, take your time, to do this task well.
"I happen to speak German and I don't find it hard at all"
You are partially right. I guess you are very clever, and you speak several languages. So, if you study a third language is not very difficult.
Anyway, if you can study German in 4 years, other languages like Spanish or Italian, with the same effort, you will know in 2 years...
You are partially right. I guess you are very clever, and you speak several languages. So, if you study a third language is not very difficult.
Anyway, if you can study German in 4 years, other languages like Spanish or Italian, with the same effort, you will know in 2 years...