http://www.darrellbuchanan.ca/2009/12/19/dressed-in-a-toboggan/ Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:14:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://www.darrellbuchanan.ca/2009/12/19/dressed-in-a-toboggan/comment-page-1/#comment-351 Christopher Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:14:43 +0000 http://www.darrellbuchanan.ca/?p=436#comment-351 The comment regarding words in a language having a correlation with the land and weather is certainly true. I think that most people know this intuitively in the least, but I'm always surprised at the extent in which it manifests itself. While I was still trying to learn some Gaelic, I was surprised to find that there were nearly 40 different words for "hill". Big, small, bare, grassy, inland or near the shore, each combination had its own name. I think that the Inuit have a large number of words for snow, probably following a similar pattern. The highly nomadic culture of the Australian Aboriginals has influenced a language which forces its speakers to "conjugate" verbs with regards to how the action is facing with respect to north (maybe south, they might have well chosen a different cardinal system). The comment regarding words in a language having a correlation with the land and weather is certainly true. I think that most people know this intuitively in the least, but I’m always surprised at the extent in which it manifests itself.
While I was still trying to learn some Gaelic, I was surprised to find that there were nearly 40 different words for “hill”. Big, small, bare, grassy, inland or near the shore, each combination had its own name. I think that the Inuit have a large number of words for snow, probably following a similar pattern.
The highly nomadic culture of the Australian Aboriginals has influenced a language which forces its speakers to “conjugate” verbs with regards to how the action is facing with respect to north (maybe south, they might have well chosen a different cardinal system).

]]> http://www.darrellbuchanan.ca/2009/12/19/dressed-in-a-toboggan/comment-page-1/#comment-334 Barry Gessner Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:39:00 +0000 http://www.darrellbuchanan.ca/?p=436#comment-334 Yes we just finished using it on Grandpa's hillLove Victoria and now we are making pancakes Yes we just finished using it on Grandpa's hillLove Victoria and now we are making pancakes

]]> http://www.darrellbuchanan.ca/2009/12/19/dressed-in-a-toboggan/comment-page-1/#comment-354 Anonymous Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.darrellbuchanan.ca/?p=436#comment-354