she/they

  • 0 Posts
  • 429 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
cake
Cake day: June 12th, 2023

help-circle




  • Okay, but dolphins don’t have writing or any other means of storing arbitrary information. If an alien had that capability, which they will if they are a civilization, things might be very different

    Because we would live in a shared reality, if both species were to try to achieve communication, we would start out with something as simple as the basic building blocks of reality, like, say, the elements of the periodic table, to build out the foundation of communication. Then you would incorporate stuff like math and logic, and then it’s downhill from there

    There are ways to build up a system of communication even though the two sides are as different from each other as they can be, because ultimately, as we share the same reality, we have an objective basis to base our method of communication on. And that’s all you need. It doesn’t matter if we speak and they use odors, if we can both agree that hydrogen is hydrogen, and we can both perceive that we are in presence of hydrogen














  • If course, ultimately language is about (efficient) communication. And as long as that is satisfied, grammar is secondary. Like if there is ambiguity, asking for clarification is very much not pedantic

    There is of course some nuance and leeway, but I still think it’s fairly obvious where the line goes

    But ultimately, yes, language is nuanced and constantly evolving, it’s very neat though



  • SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zonetoScience Memes@mander.xyzLinguistic Perscriptivists
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    32
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    edit-2
    1 month ago

    I don’t think it’s that hard, the line is mainly “is this hard to understand?” If yes then correcting or discussing it is not prescriptivism, if no, then you’re just being pedantic

    Just take texting or internet comments for example, how many are missing punctuation? How many are using slang terms or shortenings of words? How many are straight up omitting/skipping words? How many are making liberal use of language to either express themselves or have some emotional impact? Or just don’t put in the effort to do grammar

    After all, I miss punctuation in this very comment as well, especially at the end of paragraphs, in addition to skipping words or making liberal use of language like “do grammar”. Is that grammatically correct? Absolutely not, but you understand what I mean

    Assuming informal communication, of course. Formal communication is more about being proper, and ties into cultural norms of formality etc