Difference between revisions of "Talk:2421: Tower of Babel"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Jump to: navigation, search
Line 6: Line 6:
  
 
Wait, how could a linguist exist before there were languages to study and compare? Is this the omphalos hypothesis popping up again? [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 02:36, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
 
Wait, how could a linguist exist before there were languages to study and compare? Is this the omphalos hypothesis popping up again? [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 02:36, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
 +
:They have one language. Presumably, she attempts to thoroughly study that one. This would technically make her a grammarian, but since they don't have contact with any other language, this proto-language wouldn't need make any distinction between grammarians and linguists, so "linguist" would be an appropriate translation. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.49|162.158.79.49]] 05:55, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

Revision as of 05:55, 6 February 2021


So is Gretchen McCulloch xkcd's resident linguist now? Is there going to be character page for her like Cory Doctorow? 172.68.129.136 23:00, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

I'm hoping so! We could call it "Gretchen McComics." 172.69.34.74 23:24, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
That's probably not in compliance with whatever stylebook we have here but I love it. Captain Video (talk) 04:24, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

Wait, how could a linguist exist before there were languages to study and compare? Is this the omphalos hypothesis popping up again? GreatWyrmGold (talk) 02:36, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

They have one language. Presumably, she attempts to thoroughly study that one. This would technically make her a grammarian, but since they don't have contact with any other language, this proto-language wouldn't need make any distinction between grammarians and linguists, so "linguist" would be an appropriate translation. --162.158.79.49 05:55, 6 February 2021 (UTC)