Timeline for Why don't currently spoken languages have words for everything they encounter?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Nov 13, 2023 at 5:28 | comment | added | Graham H. | This is one of the many questions about language that can really only be answered as "that's just the way the cookie crumbled" unless you want to look at every single common idea for which a natural language doesn't have a dedicated lexeme. They don't have those words because they don't have those words. | |
| Nov 13, 2023 at 2:15 | comment | added | Lance Pollard | ChatGPT was less harsh in receiving my question, maybe I'll start asking it from now on... "The phenomenon you're describing — where some languages lack words for certain concepts that are common in others — is a fascinating aspect of linguistic diversity and evolution." Obviously I am English-biased, but I wasn't aware I wasn't allowed to ask such questions. | |
| Nov 13, 2023 at 2:09 | vote | accept | Lance Pollard | ||
| Nov 13, 2023 at 1:58 | comment | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | I’m guessing the downvotes are primarily due to the fact that you’re asking about various other languages from an English-centric point of view, when in fact English is probably the most famous example of a language doing exactly what you’re describing: borrowing words piecemeal instead of making up new words from indigenous roots and words. Consider that at least two of the words you use as examples (penguin and turkey) are not of English origin (though the precise origin of penguin is uncertain). | |
| Nov 13, 2023 at 1:52 | answer | added | user6726 | timeline score: 3 | |
| Nov 13, 2023 at 1:52 | answer | added | Draconis♦ | timeline score: 2 | |
| Nov 13, 2023 at 1:48 | comment | added | Draconis♦ | Where do you think the word "penguin" came from? | |
| Nov 13, 2023 at 0:50 | history | asked | Lance Pollard | CC BY-SA 4.0 |