[deleted]
The architecture of “not bad”: Decoding the Chinese source code of the void
151–154 of 154 posts
Re: The architecture of “not bad”: Decoding the Chinese source code of the void
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is pretty unanimously agreed by linguists that all language is equally expressive, which makes sense considering they were all made by humans to do the same thing.
Are there any languages in existence that lack a facility for counting numbers, to your knowledge?
"idiotsecant" is clueless but according to Daniel Everett's studies/research the Pirahã language lacks a proper numeral system - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirah%C3%A3_language#Numerals_...
Re: The architecture of “not bad”: Decoding the Chinese source code of the void
#153This makes me think of a tool from semiotics called the Greimas square where you can have opposing concepts e.g. A and B (ugly & beautiful, for & against, legal & illegal). At the surface level they can appear as binaries, but the negation of A is not equivalent to B and vice versa (e.g. illegal is not equivalent to not-legal) and encourages the consideration of more complex meta-concepts which at surface level seem…
> I've not been able to communicate what I mean As a native Chinese speaker that's always my confusion when communicate in English as I would feel that the word/phrasing can not express the meaning in my heart.
That's beautiful. E.g., I have Chinese coworkers and now I realize what they meant with "that's not wrong". I felt those expressions like humbleness, but now I realize they were trying to keep their authenticity. Mind blowing.
Re: The architecture of “not bad”: Decoding the Chinese source code of the void
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I've not been able to communicate what I mean As a native Chinese speaker that's always my confusion when communicate in English as I would feel that the word/phrasing can not express the meaning in my heart.
That's beautiful. E.g., I have Chinese coworkers and now I realize what they meant with "that's not wrong". I felt those expressions like humbleness, but now I realize they were trying to keep their authenticity. Mind blowing.
Just want to add more context here:
For me personally, it's the uncertainty dealing with non native languages. I can see that for my own language it is so hard to take full control of all cases for even a simple word, that gives me nerve to think before I say anything non native, as I learn, there are more complex cases that makes a single word fitting to more and more scenarios. Although I totally understand that the native speakers will definitely understand even if I do it wrong, but still, I feel that nerve every time.