Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 10:46:36 +0100
From: Stefano Moretti <S.Moretti@agora.stm.it>
To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
Subject: Re: baidarka vocabulary and techniques
Joshua Coxwell wrote:
>
> On Sat, 7 Nov 1998, Stefano Moretti wrote:
>
> > You may be wrong on thois point Gene.. I just read an article where it
> > was said that Inuit had more than 20 words for snow (melting snow, hard
> > surface, thick, crushy etc).
>
> I think that every child in the US hears this story about Eskimo's having
> 20? 50? or 100? words for snow. I have also read a convincing article
> dispelling this as a myth. Unfortunately, I can't remember who wrote this
> rebuttal, but I remember finding it convincing primarily because I
> respected the author. Are there any linguists out there that can actually
> name 20 Inuit words that mean snow. I am completely ignorant of these
> languages, but I would think that conjugations or tenses could not be
> counted as distinct words.
The article I read was on a french newspaper and the words - although
not intelegible to me - were listed with their translation.
After all we italians have more than 90 words for something that you may
just call "pasta".
Want a few ??
Maccheroni, penne, mezze zite, tortellini, spaghetti, vermicelli,
orecchiette, farfalle, bombolotti, bucatini, capellini, ravioli,
trenette, etc. etc.
For the translation step into an italian restaurant and find out...
>
> Just asking because I've pondered this before. 20 doesn't really sound
> that unreasonable
No, it doesn't
Stefano