Comments on: A note on the Eskimo snow thing http://savageminds.org/2007/04/18/a-note-on-the-eskimo-snow-thing/ Notes and Queries in Anthropology — A Group Blog Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:06:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Ethny http://savageminds.org/2007/04/18/a-note-on-the-eskimo-snow-thing/comment-page-1/#comment-73348 Ethny Sun, 29 Apr 2007 14:29:43 +0000 http://savageminds.org/2007/04/18/a-note-on-the-eskimo-snow-thing/#comment-73348 inuit inuit inuit... the people inuit
inuit
inuit…
the people

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]]> By: lmichael http://savageminds.org/2007/04/18/a-note-on-the-eskimo-snow-thing/comment-page-1/#comment-68344 lmichael Sat, 21 Apr 2007 21:53:53 +0000 http://savageminds.org/2007/04/18/a-note-on-the-eskimo-snow-thing/#comment-68344 There is an important sense in which the take-home message at the end of Rex's original post is right on. But there is another sense in which I think it reinforces one of the basic confusions driving the Eskimo Number of Words for Snow debate. As discussed in the Wikipedia article Eli mentions, in polysynthetic languages like those of the Eskimo family (to which, yes, the Inuit sub-family belongs), words show considerably more internal structure than words in a relatively isolating language like English. Words in such languages show a combinatorial power more reminiscent of English *sentences* than of English words. Consequently, one can build huge numbers of snow-related words, just like the following Yup'ik Eskimo word is one of a huge number of reindeer-related words: tuntussuqatarniksaitengquggtuq `He had not yet said again that he was going to hunt reindeer'. ( tuntu- is the part that means `reindeer'.) To say that "the Eskimo do not have 100/354/1,000 words for snow" obscures the fact that Eskimo words are a quite different kind of beast than English ones, and that this important fact renders moot the entire issue of counting Eskimo words for snow (or reindeer). I do not doubt that this is clear to *you*, Rex, but I felt that the "short version" could be misleading to some. There is an important sense in which the take-home message at the end of Rex’s original post is right on. But there is another sense in which I think it reinforces one of the basic confusions driving the Eskimo Number of Words for Snow debate.

As discussed in the Wikipedia article Eli mentions, in polysynthetic languages like those of the Eskimo family (to which, yes, the Inuit sub-family belongs), words show considerably more internal structure than words in a relatively isolating language like English. Words in such languages show a combinatorial power more reminiscent of English *sentences* than of English words. Consequently, one can build huge numbers of snow-related words, just like the following Yup’ik Eskimo word is one of a huge number of reindeer-related words: tuntussuqatarniksaitengquggtuq `He had not yet said again that he was going to hunt reindeer’. ( tuntu- is the part that means `reindeer’.)

To say that “the Eskimo do not have 100/354/1,000 words for snow” obscures the fact that Eskimo words are a quite different kind of beast than English ones, and that this important fact renders moot the entire issue of counting Eskimo words for snow (or reindeer).

I do not doubt that this is clear to *you*, Rex, but I felt that the “short version” could be misleading to some.

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]]> By: Jerk http://savageminds.org/2007/04/18/a-note-on-the-eskimo-snow-thing/comment-page-1/#comment-67811 Jerk Fri, 20 Apr 2007 20:01:29 +0000 http://savageminds.org/2007/04/18/a-note-on-the-eskimo-snow-thing/#comment-67811 Um they're called Inuit, more generally. They're alive and well, and often fluent in more than one language. Ask them how many words for snow they have. Anthropology, eh? Um they’re called Inuit, more generally.

They’re alive and well, and often fluent in more than one language. Ask them how many words for snow they have.

Anthropology, eh?

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]]> By: Eli http://savageminds.org/2007/04/18/a-note-on-the-eskimo-snow-thing/comment-page-1/#comment-67540 Eli Thu, 19 Apr 2007 15:08:04 +0000 http://savageminds.org/2007/04/18/a-note-on-the-eskimo-snow-thing/#comment-67540 There is a wikipedia article on the same subject. Maybe you could contribute your findings to their bibliography? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_words_for_snow There is a wikipedia article on the same subject. Maybe you could contribute your findings to their bibliography?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_words_for_snow

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]]> By: Jangari http://savageminds.org/2007/04/18/a-note-on-the-eskimo-snow-thing/comment-page-1/#comment-67525 Jangari Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:03:01 +0000 http://savageminds.org/2007/04/18/a-note-on-the-eskimo-snow-thing/#comment-67525 <a href="http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004377.html" rel="nofollow">Or</a> <a href="http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004353.html" rel="nofollow">these</a> as well. Or these as well.

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]]> By: Kerim http://savageminds.org/2007/04/18/a-note-on-the-eskimo-snow-thing/comment-page-1/#comment-67492 Kerim Thu, 19 Apr 2007 03:29:23 +0000 http://savageminds.org/2007/04/18/a-note-on-the-eskimo-snow-thing/#comment-67492 Don't forget <a href="http://savageminds.org/2005/05/17/the-great-eskimo-vocabulary-cartoon/" rel="nofollow">The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Cartoon</a>! Don’t forget The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Cartoon!

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]]> By: Jangari http://savageminds.org/2007/04/18/a-note-on-the-eskimo-snow-thing/comment-page-1/#comment-67484 Jangari Thu, 19 Apr 2007 01:43:29 +0000 http://savageminds.org/2007/04/18/a-note-on-the-eskimo-snow-thing/#comment-67484 Pullum's paper is also available online from <a href="http://web.mit.edu/jfitzpat/www/FoL/Pullum-Eskimo-VocabHoax.pdf" rel="nofollow">here</a>. Pullum’s paper is also available online from here.

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