snoboy Posted November 2, 2003 Share Posted November 2, 2003 Dru said: How many words does ENGLISH have for snow? 1)Snow 2)Blizzard 3)Flurry 4)Neve 5)Styrofoam 6)Corn snow 7)Flakes 8)Spindrift 9)Pow-pow 10)Freshiez 11)White chunks 12)Dusting etc etc And that got me wondering... Here's a few more: 13)elephant snot 14)windslab 15)cold smoke 16)cascade cement 17)corduroy 18)sastrugi 19)depth hoar 20)death cookies 21)white gold 22)whitewater 23)firn 24)sugar 25)graupel 26)boilerplate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 Is Avalanche a word for Snow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gapertimmy Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 (edited) 27) GNAR 28) GNAR GNAR 29) More Plabio for the Stabio 30) Fakiez (man made snow) Edited November 3, 2003 by gapertimmy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 (edited) 31)slushiez Edited November 3, 2003 by snoboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 (edited) Hmm. The all important 32)Packed Powder is missing Edited November 3, 2003 by snoboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neversummer Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 (edited) cj001f said: Hmm. The all important 32)Packed Powder is missing Hmmmm... 33)POWDER is missing... Edited November 3, 2003 by snoboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snoboy Posted November 3, 2003 Author Share Posted November 3, 2003 34)softpack 35)hardpack 36)machinegroomed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 (edited) 37)drifts 38)breakable crust 39)surface hoar 40)cornice 41)double-cornice 42)gargoyled 43)mushroomed Alaskan 44)strawberry 45)snorkel 46)facetted 47)slop Edited November 3, 2003 by snoboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
layton Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 is this thread in reference to that stupid fact that the eskimos have a shitload of words for snow, passive aggresively hinting at the fact we don't, which we in fact do? If so, it's time someone spoke up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
layton Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 48. masspowpowonthegnargnarbra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snoboy Posted November 3, 2003 Author Share Posted November 3, 2003 michael_layton said: is this thread in reference to that stupid fact that the eskimos have a shitload of words for snow, passive aggresively hinting at the fact we don't, which we in fact do? If so, it's time someone spoke up. yup. The gimp wins the prize! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 49) avalanche 50) debris 51) firnspiegel 52) raincrust 53) suncups 54) funcups 55) faceshots 56) MOGULS lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 57) pinwheels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelawgoddess Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 gapertimmy said: 27) GNAR 28) GNAR GNAR "pow pow gnar gnar" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatskiclimbsail Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 Watta watta watta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott_J Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 Does "Eskimo" REALLY have some megaboss number of words for snow? Well that depends on what "megaboss" means, of course. And it also depends on what language you decide is "Eskimo". The dialects spoken by coastal native peoples from the east of Siberia to Greenland are classed as Eskimo, but many scholars divide them into two languages, Yupik and Inuit, with some scholars further sub-dividing these dialects. Inuit (also called Inupik) is the best candidate from a folkloric point of view, being spoken most widely, from Greenland to northeastern Alaska, having been written earlier (1742), having about twice as many speakers, and having had longer and greater contact with "Western Civilization". (Greenlandic Inuit contains 4 words borrowed from medieval Norse.[1]) Another complication to the issue is simply the notion of "word". Languages vary quite drastically in how the base units of meaning (morphemes) are combined into words, if they're combined at all, and our common notion of "word" needs clarifying. For example, in English, are "book" and "books" two SEPARATE words? I would guess that most of us would think not. (What about "book", "handbook", "guidebook", "workbook"?) However, many languages are "isolating", wherein one word corresponds to one element of the situation, and would use two separate words to say "books". A speaker of such a language might well regard "book" and "books" as two separate words. The Eskimo languages are at the other extreme, and are the prototypical example of a polysynthetic language[2], wherein one word contains several elements of the situation. This allows very complex ideas to be expressed in one word, e.g. 'tikitqaarminaitnigaa' "he(1) said that he(2) would not be able to arrive first"[1]. Thus "my snow", "your snow", etc., would each be one word in Inuit, a stem form with a possessive affix. The Eskimo languages use derived words extensively, and there are fewer than 2,000 base stems in the West Greenlandic dialect[1] With all that said, I'll just present some word lists and let everyone come up with their own opinion... 10 words for ice and snow from Labradoran Inuit[3] This word list is extracted from an Eskimo to English "dictionary" and is definitely not comprehensive. This was the worst such compilation I have ever worked with; among other problems, the compilers' attempts to alphabetize things, even short indices, failed miserably (e.g. "snow" before "seasons"). Consider also this from the preface: Be it noticed beforehand that the Eskimo are not agreed in the use of their language with reference to many words -- not only that in the South here and there other expressions are used, and also that to many a word another meaning is given than in the North, but even in one and the same place not infrequently such differences are found. And frequently the female sex has again its peculiar expressions. With regard to the latter, not much notice has been taken in composing this dictionary, because the men often only laugh about them; ... 'ice' sikko 'bare ice' tingenek 'snow (in general)' aput 'snow (like salt)' pukak 'soft deep snow' mauja 'snowdrift' tipvigut 'soft snow' massak 'watery snow' mangokpok 'snow filled with water' massalerauvok 'soft snow' akkilokipok 49 words for snow and ice from West Greenlandic[4] This word list is taken from a book on West Greenlandic grammar is almost certainly not comprehensive. I've entered the list as it appears in Fortescue's "West Greenlandic". Note that in Fortescue 'q' corresponds to 'k' in Peck. 'sea-ice' siku (in plural = drift ice) 'pack-ice/large expanses of ice in motion' sikursuit, pl. (compacted drift ice/ice field = sikut iqimaniri) 'new ice' sikuliaq/sikurlaaq (solid ice cover = nutaaq.) 'thin ice' sikuaq (in plural = thin ice floes) 'rotten (melting) ice floe' sikurluk 'iceberg' iluliaq (ilulisap itsirnga = part of iceberg below waterline) '(piece of) fresh-water ice' nilak 'lumps of ice stranded on the beach' issinnirit, pl. 'glacier' (also ice forming on objects) sirmiq (sirmirsuaq = Inland Ice) 'snow blown in (e.g. doorway)' sullarniq 'rime/hoar-frost' qaqurnak/kanirniq/kaniq 'frost (on inner surface of e.g. window)' iluq 'icy mist' pujurak/pujuq kanirnartuq 'hail' nataqqurnat 'snow (on ground)' aput (aput sisurtuq = avalanche) 'slush (on ground)' aput masannartuq 'snow in air/falling' qaniit (qanik = snowflake) 'air thick with snow' nittaalaq (nittaallat, pl. = snowflakes; nittaalaq nalliuttiqattaartuq = flurries) 'hard grains of snow' nittaalaaqqat, pl. 'feathery clumps of falling snow' qanipalaat 'new fallen snow' apirlaat 'snow crust' pukak 'snowy weather' qannirsuq/nittaatsuq 'snowstorm' pirsuq/pirsirsursuaq 'large ice floe' iluitsuq 'snowdrift' apusiniq 'ice floe' puttaaq 'hummocked ice/pressure ridges in pack ice' maniillat/ingunirit, pl. 'drifting lump of ice' kassuq (dirty lump of glacier-calved ice = anarluk) 'ice-foot (left adhering to shore)' qaannuq 'icicle' kusugaq 'opening in sea ice imarnirsaq/ammaniq (open water amidst ice = imaviaq) 'lead (navigable fissure) in sea ice' quppaq 'rotten snow/slush on sea' qinuq 'wet snow falling' imalik 'rotten ice with streams forming' aakkarniq 'snow patch (on mountain, etc.)' aputitaq 'wet snow on top of ice' putsinniq/puvvinniq 'smooth stretch of ice' manirak (stretch of snow-free ice = quasaliaq) 'lump of old ice frozen into new ice' tuaq 'new ice formed in crack in old ice' nutarniq 'bits of floating' naggutit, pl. 'hard snow' mangiggal/mangikaajaaq 'small ice floe (not large enough to stand on)' masaaraq 'ice swelling over partially frozen river, etc. from water seeping up to the surface' siirsinniq 'piled-up ice-floes frozen together' tiggunnirit 'mountain peak sticking up through inland ice' nunataq 'calved ice (from end of glacier)' uukkarnit 'edge of the (sea) ice' sinaaq Conclusions Does Eskimo have some megaboss number of words for snow? It depends on how you count, but they certainly have more than English. Some miscellany. While English "igloo" meaning 'snow house' comes from Inuit, "iglo" (or "illu") more generally means 'house' or home' in most dialects. Sometimes houses are constructed of peat[3,4]. English "kayak" comes from Inuit "qayaq" (means the same)[3,4]. The stereotypical Eskimo name Nanook corresponds to "nanuq" 'polar bear'[4]. Scholars sure do have understated ways of sniping at each other: "In fact Bourquin's tendency to describe the Labrador dialect by quoting at length from Kleinschmidt's description of Greenlandic is unavoidably a major methodological impediment for present-day researchers.[5]" References [1] Encyc. Britannica,15th Ed.,1984, ISBN 0-85229-413-1. Macropaedia Vol. 6, p962-964, "Eskimo-Aleut Languages". [2] Historical Linguistics: An Introduction, 1973, Winfred P. Lehman, ISBN 0-03-078370-4.p46-49 [3] Eskimo-English Dictionary: Compiled from Erdman's Eskimo-German Edition of 1864, 1925, Rev. Edmund J. Peck, D.D. (C.M.S. Missionary, Apostle to the Eskimos). We don't need no stinkin' ISBN! [4] West Greenlandic,1984, Michael Fortescue. ISBN 0-7099-1069-X [5] Eskimo Languages: Their Present Day Conditions, 1979, Basse&Jensen, eds., p.94. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beck Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 dust... and a reference online for inuit language... www.realduesouth.com/Nation-Snow.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 my inuit source could beat up your inuit source! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 #60-something: "Dump" as in "a good dump" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunglehead Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 (edited) 61)Cocaine powder? Edited November 4, 2003 by snoboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-rock Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 (edited) 62)chunder 63)fluff 64)wind-fuck 65)granular 66)mystery meat Edited November 4, 2003 by snoboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beck Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 67) variable... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 snoboy said: Here's a few more: 13)elephant snot 14)windslab 15)cold smoke 16)cascade cement 17)corduroy 18)sastrugi 19)depth hoar 20)death cookies 21)white gold 22)whitewater 23)firn 24)sugar 25)graupel 26)boilerplate technically I think it is cascade CONCRETE, and sierra CEMENT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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