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Professor suspended for saying 那个 nà ge

languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu

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Re: Professor suspended for saying 那个 nà ge

#121

Post by DC-3 »

lordnacho wrote: post #85
DC-3 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm currently studying Danish and can't help but be amused when every 'lyt og gentag' exercise ends with 'slut'. But just as in the OP, it's not even the same vowel as the English word, so the resemblance is only passing. How absurd that careers may be ruined by using the wrong two consonants next to each other. How absurd that we call it progress.

Have you come across a "fartkontrol" yet? Or taken a lift with a light that says "i fart"?

Sadly not - I am studying from England and have not spent too much time in Denmark yet. I look forward to these delights :-)

Re: Professor suspended for saying 那个 nà ge

#122

Post by coldtea »

himinlomax wrote: post #33

I've always found the US obsession with taboo words quite baffling. I used to tease Americans of my acquaintance by pretending to be offended when they said "oh my god" (dildo in French) or nick (fuck.) Context matters a lot in linguistic, and the Sapir-Worff hypothesis is not just unproven, it's almost certainly completely wrong.

>I've always found the US obsession with taboo words quite baffling

Once a puritan, always a puritan. Religion inspired worldviews get dilluted into the general culture and inspire even those that don't believe (and in the US, where assimilation is everything, even those that come from other cultures).

Re: Professor suspended for saying 那个 nà ge

#123

Post by andi999 »

This is obviously a prank/joke trying to fool you.... right? ... i mean right?... it has to... omg ..

On a more cynical note, i am surprised they sacked him on a misunderstanding and not on cultural appropiation charges for using a foreign language.

Re: Professor suspended for saying 那个 nà ge

#124

Post by himinlomax »

neilv wrote: post #115
himinlomax wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> would've anticipated the problem, and been more sensitive to it. People who aren't racist don't anticipate that kind of "problems" because we don't obsess about race. Furthermore, while the words may sound "problematic" to a non Chinese speaker, anyone with some fluency would probably not even notice the similarity. Let's do an experiment. Read the following aloud (the louder the better), preferably to another pers…

The person who uttered it is a professor lecturing on language and culture. So it's unfortunate if they weren't aware of that aspect of cultural sensitivity in language, or accidentally missed it this time. As I said, I think this could be a constructive learning moment for a lot of people. (Though it might not be, if all dialogue is shouted&voted down by a team rivalry: between those who want to cancel everything th…

> I think this could be a constructive learning moment for a lot of people

Please.

Re: Professor suspended for saying 那个 nà ge

#126

Post by drevil-v2 »

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance

I am really afraid this is another sign of the death throes of Liberal values and institutions.

They need to realise that pragmatism and nuance are acceptable and desirable attributes of a sustainable and long lasting civilisation.

Re: Professor suspended for saying 那个 nà ge

#127

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

ipsum2 wrote: post #18
chenzhekl wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ponounciation of "那个" in Chinese is similar to "nigger", which makes some students unhappy.

One note - there's no hard r in 那个 unless you're speaking a Beijing dialect. In that case there's hard r's (儿) after basically every word. Edit: TIL there's a Wikipedia article dedicated to the "r after every word" in Beijing dialect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhua

Black Americans don't pronounce the R either. Donald Glover has a funny bit about learning how to say it right due to his strict upbringing.

Re: Professor suspended for saying 那个 nà ge

#128

Post by sam_lowry_ »

himinlomax wrote: post #33

I've always found the US obsession with taboo words quite baffling. I used to tease Americans of my acquaintance by pretending to be offended when they said "oh my god" (dildo in French) or nick (fuck.) Context matters a lot in linguistic, and the Sapir-Worff hypothesis is not just unproven, it's almost certainly completely wrong.

What is more baffling is that this attitude is exported internationally.

When I was a kid, it would never occur to me that the Russian word негр has negative connotations.

Now, the word негр disappeared from public use.

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