I've got this friend who's producing a book on one of the notable grammatical features of the Slovene language - the dual number.
For those of you unaware of this (you've obviously not spent time in Slovenia where it is mentioned to foreigners twice a day), it is simply that as well as the familiar singular and plural number, verbs and nouns (etc.) in Slovene also have dual forms.
e.g. singular - pivo, dual - pivi, plural - piva.
Anyway they need a catchy title for this work so please post your suggestions...
Here's a "couple" to set off with:
The Glory of the Dual of Carniola
Just the Two of Us: Studies in the Slovene Dual
Dual to the Death: A Study of the Reported Decline in Dual Declensions
D'y'all Use the Dual? A Double Dose of Slovene Grammar
ResiDuals - A Slovenian Case Study
A Case of Two Halves
-- Edited by Golcar CC at 12:58, 2007-03-29
-- Edited by Golcar CC at 19:46, 2007-03-29
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I particularly like 'Just The Two Of Us' and 'Midva Is Murder'
But it's going to be 'Harry Potter & The Dual to the Death', in a transparent bid to push it to the top of the amazon charts. Assuming we can avoid a MASSIVE lawsuit from the JK Rowling (or Joanne Kathleen Rowling as I've seen her referred to here).
There is a kind of precedence here. When Lucien Tesniere's seminal L'atlas du duel en slovene' was published in Paris in 1925, it became a surprise bestseller -- most of those who placed orders were apparently expecting to read about dualling in Slovenia ...
Actually, I have to say I'm enjoying the job a lot. A very nicely written original and some fairly deep research.
My past sniffiness about the dual (based largely on wilful ignorance), has been replaced by a sly respect. Regarding its pointlessness, well, yeah; but then the Chinese don't have number at all, so they probably regard singular and plural as a bit pointless. It certainly doesn't raise the language above others that don't have it -- which is an opinion frequently encountered here -- but it's there, it's a tool, it's not going anywhere.
joel wrote:It certainly doesn't raise the language above others that don't have it -- which is an opinion frequently encountered here -- but it's there, it's a tool, it's not going anywhere.
Absolutely - it's no more pointless than our beloved present perfect, or our sixteen ways of expressing the future. If the Slovenes actually used it as much as they enthused about it though, I would respect it a little more.
Only just cottoned on to the fact that it's you who's writing this. Golcar's "I've got this friend..." didn't make it too clear. Or are you his only friend?
Muppet wrote: Absolutely - it's no more pointless than our beloved present perfect, or our sixteen ways of expressing the future. If the Slovenes actually used it as much as they enthused about it though, I would respect it a little more.
Only just cottoned on to the fact that it's you who's writing this. Golcar's "I've got this friend..." didn't make it too clear. Or are you his only friend?
I think he was being facetious I was sat next to him at the time he posted the thread, perhaps he thought it was a bit weird to refer to me by name
As far as not using the dual more, well it's mandatory in the standard language and colloquial Slovene, but it varies very greatly in dialects. Certainly in Ljubljana, for people who come from elsewhere (as most of them seem to), dual use will not be uniform.
Stuff like 'gremo' and 'se vidimo' for two people, they've just become that exceed the confines of the dual, perfectly naturally.
Luxury wrote: joel wrote: Stuff like 'gremo' and 'se vidimo' for two people, they've just become that exceed the confines of the dual, perfectly naturally. Do you want to run that by us again?
The word 'phrases' should come between the words 'become' and 'that'. Strange, I can remember typing it.
(grabs coat and leaves thread)
