Speaking 2 languages may delay getting Alzheimer's

[sparkchaser]

Example from class last night:

Hochdeutsche: Nein, wir haben kein Brot nicht. (No, we do not have any bread.)

Frankonian: Na, mir ham ka Brot net.

 

[Polly Parrot]

Hmm, I wouldn't know if that counts as two languages. The article in the first post isn't clear on it either.

 

[sparkchaser]

Hmm, I wouldn't know if that counts as two languages. The article in the first post isn't clear on it either.

 

[Polly Parrot]

Why the phallic face?

 

[sparkchaser]

It's not phallic. Although he could use arms.

 

[Polly Parrot]

I think I'll step away from the phallic-or-not-discussion.

 

[sparkchaser]

Good idea.

 

[chiangmaifalcon]

That was a joke. I have to stop doing that. Isn't Bialystok the name of the guy in the comedy movie, The Producers? Did he study alzheimers disease? Did he have alzheimer's disease? That would explain the movie. Oh no I did it again. I cannot help myself.

 

[sparkchaser]

How many genders do the nouns have in Thai? How many grammatical cases does it have?

 

[chiangmaifalcon]

Sorry sparks, but I do not even know how many genders the nouns have in English. However,Thailand has 3 genders of people: male, female, and katooey. I have no clue what a grammatical case is. I think this is a case of I do not remember much about grammar. Perhaps I should return to the alzheimer section.

 

[sparkchaser]

English doesn't have genders for their nouns. It is always the car, the table, the serial killer, the banana. That's one reason why English is awesome.

Spanish (and Italian and hopefully the other Romance languages as well) has two (masculine and feminine): la mesa, el libro, la cocina, el dia.

German has three (masculine, feminine, neuter): der Tag, die Hand, das Boot, die Katze, das Brot, der Hund.

Does Thai use the same version of "the" for their nouns?

 

[Landslide]

When is the neuter used?

 

[sparkchaser]

Das is neuter. Just like with Spanish (and presumably the rest), there is no rhyme or reason to when der, die, or das is used. You just have to memorize the article when you learn the word.

 

[chiangmaifalcon]

In that case Thai does not have this. They do not even have a word like the. Like there is no, "the car", it is just "car."

 

[Landslide]

So there's not really a rule? Some words use it and others don't and you have to memorize which ones do?

 

[abecedarian]

"If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it's good enough for Texas schoolchildren."
- credited to Miriam "Ma" Ferguson, Governor of Texas

Now you know this can't be right; how many Texas schoolchildren actually learn to speak King James English? Thee and Thou does not mix with y'all. Ma Ferguson is a false prophet...:lol:

 

[beer good]

So there's not really a rule? Some words use it and others don't and you have to memorize which ones do?

There are some rules - for instance, words that end in E are usually feminine, words that start with Ge- are usually neuter, etc. But yeah, for the most part you have to remember which is which. And then it multiplies since both the gender and the case affect the adjectives... German is fun.

 

[sparkchaser]

In that case Thai does not have this. They do not even have a word like the. Like there is no, "the car", it is just "car."

Cool. Russian is like that, too. I think.

 

[sparkchaser]

So there's not really a rule? Some words use it and others don't and you have to memorize which ones do?

In German all nouns have a gender and you just have to remember which gender they are. It's a pain and the one thing I struggle with the most.

 

[sparkchaser]

There are some rules - for instance, words that end in E are usually feminine, words that start with Ge- are usually neuter, etc. But yeah, for the most part you have to remember which is which. And then it multiplies since both the gender and the case affect the adjectives... German is fun.

"Usually".

I don't even want to think about what the language was like before it was reformed.