Dr. Word Person's avatar

Dr. Word Person

@drwordperson.bsky.social

42 followers 209 following 165 posts

Linguist of various dead languages (Ancient Greek, Hittite, Sanskrit, Latin...) Besides that, I enjoy lutes, plants, and rocks.


Reposted by Dr. Word Person

Darcie Little Badger's avatar Darcie Little Badger @littlebadger.bsky.social
[ View ]

A lot of “Native territory” maps pin the Lipan Apache to a small region, but we were all over Texas (and elsewhere). Save this for your land acknowledgements in Texas, which actually do help us, IMO, since we’re actively fighting erasure and making strides in political rights.

1 replies 16 reposts 68 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

I wish it were possible to talk about more of my linguistic work on here but it's mostly (A) coding and (B) top-secret until published, so, instead, have some vineyards!

0 replies 0 reposts 1 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

I sort of feel like this was a badly designed choice of loanwords?

0 replies 0 reposts 2 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

I absolutely love Flannery O'Connor's short stories. You're in for such a treat! (Or will find them totally off-putting. Never can tell in advance!)

1 replies 0 reposts 1 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

...and that's why 'thumbed up' comes off as ungrammatical.

1 replies 0 reposts 0 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

'I thumb my nose at you' etc. But if you're using thumbs up as a verb, the noun + verb are clearly being treated as the same accentual unit (compare 'Could you thumbs up that proposal' with 'Could you blow up that proposal,' 'up' in the first doesn't get an access but 'up' in second does...

1 replies 0 reposts 1 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

I feel like the correct form would be 'thumbs uped.' It's like they're treating 'thumbs up' as a phrasal verb with 'thumb' as the verb (cf. 'the most blown-up fireworks shop')...which isn't entirely terrible given that 'thumb' exists as a verb in somewhat archaic usage...

2 replies 0 reposts 2 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

Do enchiladas count? You can do stacked enchiladas with the tortillas and fillings layered like pancakes, and a fried egg on top!

1 replies 0 reposts 1 likes


Reposted by Dr. Word Person

Romancing the Vote's avatar Romancing the Vote @romancingthevote.bsky.social
[ View ]

Including a language in your fiction? This linguistic world-building consult with linguist Dr. Christina Skelton should absolutely be on your radar.

www.32auctions.com/o...

1 replies 4 reposts 5 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

The auction is live! Go bid! (On this, and all of the other wonderful offerings as well.)

0 replies 0 reposts 0 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

Help me pick my airplane reading, y'all! I have too many good options.

1 replies 0 reposts 0 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

That happened to me, once. I read the job posting, mathed out the subway fare/gas money, and...the pay was not even enough to cover *those* expenses. It was only an hour commute.

1 replies 0 reposts 1 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

You know how to live dangerously, my friend!

0 replies 0 reposts 0 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

Sandra is a badass of logistics, creativity, and general awesomeness and I'm so excited for this!!!

1 replies 2 reposts 2 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

Definitely agree. There have absolutely been places where I've needed the wide angle because of the elevation differences involved (Death Valley, the Pacific Coast Highway), but some of my favorite landscapes have been with my 77mm prime (on APS-C). 21mm + 77mm covers practically anything.

0 replies 0 reposts 1 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

I have not heard them! But I'm super curious. My own opinion is that the artist, not the tools, makes the art, and so sometimes I'll go out hiking with just one prime lens in a very surprising focal length and challenge myself to notice things at a scale I otherwise wouldn't.

1 replies 0 reposts 1 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

Behold! Here is that scene auf Deutsch.

0 replies 0 reposts 1 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

May I recommend watching She-Ra with the German subtitles on? I've been doing that to pick up more German vocabulary, and, let me tell you, besides learning fantastic new words like Pirat (pirate) and Abenteuer (adventure), some of the screenshots are absolutely choice.

2 replies 0 reposts 2 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

Please enjoy some rain lilies! I'm not sure what species, but they were given to me by a Texas friend who does native plant rescues...maybe one of you can help?

0 replies 0 reposts 2 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

I enjoyed Paladin's Grace also and this is an excellent endorsement!

0 replies 0 reposts 1 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

...the only Sanskrit dictionary I had on hand. Also, FYI, as far as dictionaries go, Pierre Chantraine's etymological dictionary of Greek has by far the most detail of any Greek dictionary I've used, and is generally my go-to. archive.org/details/dict... (For this writeup I also used Beekes.)

0 replies 0 reposts 0 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

cf. Latin argentum 'silver,' Hittite harki- 'white, brilliant' but also the Sanskrit cognate (apparently) has both 'white' and 'nimble' as cognates. (I say "apparently" because only Beekes mentions it, and I was unable to confirm with Graßmann's dictionary of the Rig Veda, which was...

1 replies 0 reposts 0 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

In fact, I was very much struggling to find examples of 'white' as the only intended meaning, apart from any reference to swiftness or changeability. argós is for lightning, dogs, feet, clouds, the ship the Argo, and so on. It's inherited from Indo-European...

1 replies 0 reposts 0 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

As a linguist who works on ancient Greek-- yes, exactly this. I'd draw particular attention to 'sparkliness' as a quality in Greek color terms, where argós = 'shimmery white' but also 'nimble, swift.' In fact, most of the examples I was able to identify have primarily the latter meaning...

1 replies 0 reposts 1 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

Aaaaah, I love it!!! One time I was walking across a square in Italy and overheard someone doing Italian-language Jolene and it was A W E S O M E.

0 replies 0 reposts 2 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

I literally just followed you but I am sending you good wishes with all of my being!

1 replies 0 reposts 0 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

An Unkindness of Ghosts was soooo good! Can't wait to check out the other authors on the list. Thanks for compiling it!

0 replies 0 reposts 0 likes


Dr. Word Person's avatar Dr. Word Person @drwordperson.bsky.social
[ View ]

Some vandal spray-painted "Romani Ite Domum" on a section of Roman wall in Cologne, Germany!

1 replies 12 reposts 22 likes