Wiktionary

User: msh210

My Web site had all my non-Wiktionary-related stuff: this page is devoted to Wiktionary-related stuff.

Please don't edit this page; you can leave me a message on my Talk page.

And who shall calculate the immense influence upon social life—upon arts—upon commerce—upon literature—which will be the immediate result of the great principles of electro-magnetics!
—Edgar Allan Poe, "The Man That Was Used Up", 1839

As to the mental health of contributors, how can any of us question other people's mental health without questioning our own based on the simple facts of our colossal, unrecompensed labors ?

—DCDuring, Wiktionary Beer parlour, 2009

My languages

I was raised speaking English by two educated parents who were raised speaking English. That's the only language I speak natively. As to my dialect, I was raised in New York City in the 1980s by parents who were, in turn, raised in New York City, but I now live in St. Louis, Missouri.

I know Hebrew to some extent. To the extent Biblical/medieval/rabbinic and modern Hebrew can be distinguished, I know Biblical/medieval/rabbinic Hebrew pretty well, but it's primarily a written language; as far as modern Hebrew is concerned, I have a good grasp of the syntax, conjugation, etc., and a fairly good grasp of old vocabulary, but I don't know many modern words or modern idioms. (Note that Biblical/medieval/rabbinic Hebrew is the language used in writing many Jewish religious texts through to today, though (as far as I'm aware) it was never since Biblical times used much as a spoken language until it was revived in the form of modern Hebrew.)

I know Talmudic Aramaic (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic) to a small extent: mostly vocabulary, with little understanding of the grammar. I cannot, for example, conjugate verbs in this language. As with Biblical Hebrew, my knowledge comes to a large extent from having studied ancient texts in grade school (and beyond). I can only read (or write) Aramaic using the Hebrew alphabet.

I took three semesters of American Sign Language in college, and have forgotten, unfortunately, much of what I've learned, but still have some knowledge of the syntax and vocabulary of ASL. I do not, however, know any of the standard transcription methods of ASL, such as Stokoe, ASCII Stokoe, or SignWriting.

And I know a few words each and maybe a bit of syntax — but that's about it — of various languages, including Yiddish and Hungarian.

Things other than languages

I have some knowledge of the International Phonetic Alphabet, so can almost always transcribe my own speech (certainly in English). (Not being trained linguistically, I might not be able to accurately listen to someone else's speech for the purpose of transcription, especially if I'm listening to a recording (and thus unable to watch the person or ask him to repeat the word).)

In case a question of content comes up, it might be good to bear in mind that I'm somewhat knowledgeable in mathematics and Judaism (although obviously I know something of some other topics).

Some of my thoughts

These are some of my past thoughts, not all of which do I necessarily agree with now.

DCD-style cats

  • cognate expressions contain two or more non-identical terms derived from a common source. by the by, sightseeing, bag and baggage
  • metonyms use an object/quality to refer to a larger object. by steam
  • pro-forms refer to something not contained in the sentence of which they are a part. tomorrow
  • subordinate clauses cannot stand alone as a sentence, but function as either a noun, adjective or adverb in a sentence. if it's all the same, when the cat's away
  • clausal phrases phrases containing clauses. any way one slices it
  • sentences
  • imperatives i.e. verbs. make hay while the sun shines
  • ellipses good morning, if pigs had wings, when the cat's away
  • allusions allude to literature or the like. sour grapes, cross the Rubicon
  • non-constituents
  • coordinates consist of a coordinator and a head (usually a noun, verb, adjective or adverb). and then some, et cetera, or words to that effect
  • predicates include a verb and a complement. Excluded are phrasal verb entries (see Category:English phrasal verbs), which may sometimes be complete predicates. blow a fuse, sell like hot cakes, be taken ill
  • discourse markers anyway, now hear this
    • sentence adverbs modify a whole sentence. [currently empty except for subcats]
      • speech-act adverbs modify clauses or sentences (possibly elliptical). They relate not to the meaning of the sentence, but to some aspect of how it is intended to be understood. anyway, all kidding aside, with all due respect, seriously
      • modal adverbs: used to express the speaker's view of the truth value of a proposition (a clause or sentence) with which it is associated. allegedly, in point of fact, surely
      • evaluative adverbs express the speaker's evaluation of an associated statement. admirably, suspiciously
      • domain adverbs provide the domain to which the clause or sentence modified applies. scientifically, weatherwise
  • conjunctive adverbs nevertheless, for example, incidentally
    • sequence adverbs: expressing temporal or spatial sequence. before, penultimately, chronologically, on the other hand
  • duration adverbs express a duration. briefly, ever since, around the clock, until Hell freezes over
  • focus adverbs ???
  • frequency adverbs off and on, quarterly, repeatedly, never
  • manner adverbs express the manner, way, or style with which something occurs or is performed. foolishly, disorganizedly, likewise
  • temporal location adverbs refer to points or intervals of time in which an action or event takes place. now, nocturnally
  • degree adverbs: adjective- and adverb-modifying adverbs. Many of those derived from an adjective "X" can be paraphrased "to an X degree". flipping, ever so, alarmingly, abnormally
  • intensifiers sofa king, myself, en-, so
  • deixes depend on a previous speech or text for their meaning to be understood

old discussions

Things to finish immediately, preferably within the hour

my lists


Things to keep an eye on that I can't watchlist

Please note

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