Tag Archives: linguistics

Racism: Where Young Earth Creationism and Afrocentrism Meet

Posted on May 2, 2009 by Santi Tafarella

In the New York Times today is an article on the overwhelming evidence that our first human ancestors were from either southeast or southwest Africa, and they resembled the San Bushmen. In other words, they were black.  More than a … Continue reading →

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The Greatest Pearl of the Night Sky’s Tribe

Posted on January 9, 2009 by Santi Tafarella

Will there ever be a “final language” (I’m thinking in terms of a scientific one) that corresponds perfectly with the TRUTH of what all of reality IS? And should that language then be held up as “superior” to all other ways of … Continue reading →

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What Are Languages For?

Posted on January 9, 2009 by Santi Tafarella

I agree with the philosopher Richard Rorty that languages are tools. And in the context to which these tools are applied, their value—including their truth value—can then be judged. You fly airplanes with scientific language, and you fly romances with poetic … Continue reading →

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“You have to be wired / In a way of being”: Hart Seely Takes Sarah Palin’s Opaque, Syntax-Strained Statements, Gives Them Line Breaks, and Turns Them Into “Poetry”

Posted on October 7, 2008 by Santi Tafarella

Slate.com’s Hart Seely debases the English language (or rather, Sarah Palin does): “On Good and Evil” It is obvious to me Who the good guys are in this one And who the bad guys are. The bad guys are the … Continue reading →

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A Grammarian at Slate.Com Tries to Diagram a Muddled Sentence of Sarah Palin’s—And Fails

Posted on October 7, 2008 by Santi Tafarella

At Slate.com, a grammarian (Kitty Burns Florey) tries her hand at deciphering, through traditional diagramming, Sarah Palin’s peculiar way of putting together “sentences.” In the example below, Florey can’t do it: From the Charlie Gibson interview: “I know that John McCain will … Continue reading →

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“That Powerful Instrument of Error and Deceit”: John Locke on the Dark, Spell-Casting Art of Rhetoric—and What It Means for Us Today

Posted on July 13, 2008 by Santi Tafarella

Rhetoric, the art of persuasion, is like alcohol. It can be used responsibly, but too frequently it’s not, and so it has a dodgy reputation, and deservedly so. It shows up in too many places that you wouldn’t want to … Continue reading →

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