User brass tacks

69

votes

12

answers

24k

views

What characteristics are unique to English (or at least rare among language as a whole)?

Dec 19 '18 at 17:41 iBug 367

64

votes

10

answers

14k

views

Why did early Indo-European languages seem to be morphologically complex?

historical-linguistics morphology language-change indo-european

Jul 25 '19 at 5:13 Jenny Blank 21

53

votes

13

answers

14k

views

Do unschooled people use cases correctly, e.g. in Germany and in Russia?

language-change sociolinguistics cases german russian

Aug 27 '19 at 11:11 Anixx 5,867

40

votes

9

answers

12k

views

What is word order used for in "free word order" languages?

syntax cross-linguistic linguistic-typology word-order

Nov 27 '16 at 6:38 Ken Graham 263

40

votes

10

answers

3k

views

Languages that are gaining morphological distinctions

historical-linguistics morphology language-change

Aug 25 '16 at 18:49 Adam Bittlingmayer 6,494

37

votes

5

answers

3k

views

Why does speech speed seem to vary between different languages?

cross-linguistic prosody perception production speed

May 25 '20 at 20:10 jk - Reinstate Monica 22.6k

34

votes

4

answers

2k

views

Why are certain there-sentences infelicitous in English?

syntax english pragmatics

Sep 29 '11 at 12:37 kgr 559

34

votes

2

answers

12k

views

Why is “ß” not used in Swiss German?

orthography written-language germanic-languages german

Sep 9 at 14:42 alecxe 303

32

votes

6

answers

6k

views

Is there any evidence to support the claim that English grammar is unusually straightforward?

english complexity

May 30 at 3:11 bytebuster 8,105

31

votes

5

answers

7k

views

What languages lack personal pronouns, and why?

japanese pronouns word-classes

Sep 23 '19 at 16:00 Xwtek 191

30

votes

5

answers

8k

views

Is future tense in English really a myth?

english tense tense-aspect-mood

Sep 7 '19 at 3:07 brass tacks 15.3k

26

votes

5

answers

1k

views

Which Romance languages have reflexes of the Latin nominative in nouns?

historical-linguistics list-of-languages latin romance-languages romanian

Dec 16 '18 at 18:59 Community♦ 1

26

votes

8

answers

6k

views

American English : are [ə] and [ʌ] different phonemes? (schwa vs. chevron)

phonology phonemes american-english allophones

Apr 29 '20 at 17:42 Jose 1

25

votes

9

answers

5k

views

Are there any languages or cultures that have genderless given names?

gender names list-of-languages

Feb 25 '19 at 15:43 Lưu Vĩnh Phúc 682

25

votes

4

answers

701

views

Why was מֹשֶׁה‎ transliterated as [moʊzɨz]?

names transliteration hebrew

Jul 24 '12 at 19:38 Community♦ 1

23

votes

6

answers

8k

views

Why is constituency needed, since dependency gets the job done more easily and economically?

syntax phrase-structure dependency-grammar

Nov 20 '18 at 6:24 Greg Lee 12.1k

22

votes

23

answers

24k

views

Is there a language whose writing is 100% phonemic?

phonetics orthography list-of-languages

Jul 19 '20 at 23:20 Alexandre Xavier Casanova Domi 1

22

votes

4

answers

3k

views

Why do Polish and Belarusian have an atypical greeting if compared to other Slavic languages?

syntax evolution polish

Feb 18 '13 at 15:43 ymar 172

22

votes

3

answers

1k

views

How do linguists distinguish between case endings and postpositions, especially in languages which have both and/or have no traditional grammar?

morphology cases inflection adpositions

May 18 '18 at 14:40 Artemij Keidan 2,381

22

votes

8

answers

8k

views

Does Japanese have determiners?

japanese determiners

Apr 17 '20 at 21:14 nivvf 9

21

votes

3

answers

3k

views

Reversal of kinship terms when speaking to a child

terminology cross-linguistic arabic turkish kinship-terms

Sep 27 '19 at 12:51 Community♦ 1

21

votes

2

answers

1k

views

Paucal number without singular

morphology grammatical-number paucal linguistic-universals

Nov 18 '11 at 1:25 Community♦ 1

20

votes

3

answers

1k

views

Are there any fundamental differences in personal pronoun acquisition across languages?

language-acquisition psycholinguistics pronouns reference-request

Sep 23 '19 at 17:25 Community♦ 1

20

votes

1

answer

1k

views

How powerful is literacy to slow down language change?

language-change sociolinguistics literacy

Jan 13 '12 at 12:50 Floating Tone 2,110

20

votes

2

answers

32k

views

Why is /h/ called voiceless vowel phonetically, and /h/ consonant phonologically?

phonology phonetics

Mar 31 '19 at 15:26 Carl Dombrowski 292

20

votes

7

answers

3k

views

Are the Japanese and Korean subject particles known to be related in any way, including by Sprachbund?

etymology cross-linguistic japanese korean particles

Aug 5 '20 at 11:03 Mitsu Hadeishi 21

19

votes

9

answers

3k

views

Are there languages that distinguish between inclusive and exclusive "or"?

semantics list-of-languages conjunctions

Aug 16 '17 at 6:28 bytebuster 8,105

18

votes

4

answers

2k

views

Are there any languages that mark nouns as mass?

morphology syntax grammatical-number semantics countability

Nov 26 '14 at 12:44 user0721090601 876

18

votes

1

answer

409

views

Are there any languages that don't permit instrumental subjects?

syntax

Oct 2 '12 at 6:23 Mr. Wizard 86

18

votes

2

answers

7k

views

What is the function of the soft sign (Ь) in Russian?

phonetics orthography consonants russian palatalization

Jun 10 '19 at 10:55 Yellow Sky 14.3k

Stack Exchange Network

current community

your communities

more stack exchange communities

Next badge

678 Bookmarks

What characteristics are unique to English (or at least rare among language as a whole)?

Why did early Indo-European languages seem to be morphologically complex?

Do unschooled people use cases correctly, e.g. in Germany and in Russia?

What is word order used for in "free word order" languages?

Languages that are gaining morphological distinctions

Why does speech speed seem to vary between different languages?

Why are certain there-sentences infelicitous in English?

Why is “ß” not used in Swiss German?

Is there any evidence to support the claim that English grammar is unusually straightforward?

What languages lack personal pronouns, and why?

Is future tense in English really a myth?

Which Romance languages have reflexes of the Latin nominative in nouns?

American English : are [ə] and [ʌ] different phonemes? (schwa vs. chevron)

Are there any languages or cultures that have genderless given names?

Why was מֹשֶׁה‎ transliterated as [moʊzɨz]?

Why is constituency needed, since dependency gets the job done more easily and economically?

Is there a language whose writing is 100% phonemic?

Why do Polish and Belarusian have an atypical greeting if compared to other Slavic languages?

How do linguists distinguish between case endings and postpositions, especially in languages which have both and/or have no traditional grammar?

Does Japanese have determiners?

Reversal of kinship terms when speaking to a child

Paucal number without singular

Are there any fundamental differences in personal pronoun acquisition across languages?

How powerful is literacy to slow down language change?

Why is /h/ called voiceless vowel phonetically, and /h/ consonant phonologically?

Are the Japanese and Korean subject particles known to be related in any way, including by Sprachbund?

Are there languages that distinguish between inclusive and exclusive "or"?

Are there any languages that mark nouns as mass?

Are there any languages that don't permit instrumental subjects?

What is the function of the soft sign (Ь) in Russian?