Doc Rat: Well, I was close.
Sep. 22nd, 2010 01:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theoldwolfIn my last post, I wondered what the ultimate lapine insult really sounded like. Using some basic linguistic principles of euphony, I came up with "Simbioth Gruata". As it turns out, the actual phrase is
"Bh'angh-hruront pwúl-plobba!"
As Dani described it, the "gh" is a pharyngeal fricative, probably voiced, and the ú indicates a rising tone.
And for lapine, a language full of light, smooth front vowels and sibilant consonants, a phrase like this which is chock-full of back vowels, aspirated consonants, harsh fricatives and long stops is just downright uncharacteristic and harsh.
Probably means "Your mother is a meat-eater and mates with badgers!" or some such...
"Bh'angh-hruront pwúl-plobba!"
As Dani described it, the "gh" is a pharyngeal fricative, probably voiced, and the ú indicates a rising tone.
And for lapine, a language full of light, smooth front vowels and sibilant consonants, a phrase like this which is chock-full of back vowels, aspirated consonants, harsh fricatives and long stops is just downright uncharacteristic and harsh.
Probably means "Your mother is a meat-eater and mates with badgers!" or some such...
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no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 07:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 08:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 09:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 10:10 pm (UTC)It could be that the English translation of the lapine phrase barely even sounds like an insult.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-23 02:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-23 04:11 am (UTC)There's a scene in an Anne McCaffery story where a pilot tears into a clumsy mechanic for about five minutes in an unknown vitriolic language. She confesses later that all she did was give him the recipe for chicken paprikash. In Hungarian.
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Date: 2010-09-23 05:24 am (UTC)Tʼááłáʼí naaki, Joseph Smith tááʼ dį́į́ʼ ashdlaʼ, sniffle sob hastą́ą́ tsostsʼid Jesus tseebíí, náhástʼéí neeznáá...
Only later did the new ones learn the trick of counting from one to ten, with feeling, to impress the next batch of greenies...
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Date: 2010-09-23 09:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-23 10:33 am (UTC)BTW, I have seen a rabbit eating meat. It was on the side of the road eating an already dead rabbit. 8=0
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Date: 2010-09-23 05:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-23 06:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-23 06:54 pm (UTC)Had a math teacher once who recited a version which had us all in stitches. The true origins, sadly are lost in the mists of time.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-23 09:25 pm (UTC)