quick fact about Eskimos:
quick fact about Eskimos: they dont actually have a crazy amount of words for snow, i think its actually less than 20. their language is composed mostly of pre-fixes and suffixes. meaning they have a base word then they add a BUNCH of pre-fixes and suffixes to said base word. these additions then make sentences etc. its kinda hard to get because that method of speaking is totally foreign to any Latin based language (all we do is add a pre-fix or suffix to modify a singular word and change the tense. they may do more but im an engineer, not an languages person). therefore they may take the root word for snow and then modify with any one or several of a huge number of modifiers. so yes, they describe snow with probably thousands of different meanings, but actually have relatively few actual words for snow.
I read this information in a book of common misconceptions, although i dont remember what i was called, therefore im sorry i cant give a source for this info. I found it rather interesting, hope y'all do to.
quick fact about Eskimos: they dont actually have a crazy amount of words for snow, i think its actually less than 20. their language is composed mostly of pre-fixes and suffixes. meaning they have a base word then they add a BUNCH of pre-fixes and suffixes to said base word. these additions then make sentences etc. its kinda hard to get because that method of speaking is totally foreign to any Latin based language (all we do is add a pre-fix or suffix to modify a singular word and change the tense. they may do more but im an engineer, not an languages person). therefore they may take the root word for snow and then modify with any one or several of a huge number of modifiers. so yes, they describe snow with probably thousands of different meanings, but actually have relatively few actual words for snow.
I read this information in a book of common misconceptions, although i dont remember what i was called, therefore im sorry i cant give a source for this info. I found it rather interesting, hope y'all do to.