Tolkien as linguist

AlisaGoldielock · Oct 24, 2005

Re: well

Excuse me my being absent!Let's carry on.What are your professions?May be all of your are linguists as me.If it is so--no quiestions.To know About Chomsky & Potebnia is your duty.
Revenons a nos moutons!In Russia many linguists think Tolkien as neither good linguist,nor good writer.GREAT linguist must create a fundamental theory or make an outstanding discovery.

Gothmog · Oct 24, 2005

Re: well

AlisaGoldielock said:
Excuse me my being absent!Let's carry on.What are your professions?May be all of your are linguists as me.If it is so--no quiestions.To know About Chomsky & Potebnia is your duty.
Revenons a nos moutons!In Russia many linguists think Tolkien as neither good linguist,nor good writer.GREAT linguist must create a fundamental theory or make an outstanding discovery.

I have already answered you question as to what I am. Seems that you could not find the post. It is four posts above this one.

Well each person is entitled to make up their own mind as to the value of the linguistic work of Tolkien and also that of his other books. However, personally I am not the least bit interested in hearing vauge second-hand comments about 'many linguists in Russia' none of which are on-site to confirm the claim.

Perhaps you would be willing to provide us with your own personal view of Tolkien as a Linguist, Philologist and writer.

Views on what is 'Greatness' vary greatly.

Walter · Oct 24, 2005

Re: well

AlisaGoldielock said:
Excuse me my being absent!Let's carry on.

No problem...

How about - for a start - you carefully re-read this thread? You will find that you have been asked some questions in return. And then - maybe - you could grace some of us with an answer?

AlisaGoldielock · Oct 26, 2005

I am a

future interpretress!But who are all of you?Engineers?teachers?computer programmers?And by, the way not to answer my riddles?especialy last one is a kind of disgrace.Not to know your history...

Gothmog · Oct 26, 2005

Re: I am a

AlisaGoldielock said:
future interpretress!But who are all of you?Engineers?teachers?computer programmers?And by, the way not to answer my riddles?especialy last one is a kind of disgrace.Not to know your history...

Why is it important to you what each of us are?

And by the way, not to answer your 'riddles' is not a disgrace of any kind. It was a choice. They were un-connected to Tolkien or this thread.

As for your personal questions, each answered in the manner they prefered either with comments or silence.

I will repeat my answers in this post as you seem not to have noticed them.

So on to your questions.
what are you?
A person of small knowledge and less wisdom.

Where have you found out information about outstanding linguists and their theories?
I have no knowledge of any outstanding linguists nor indeed what constitutes such a being. As for theories, I have never read nor commented on any.

Why are you interested in this subject?
I am not. I was interested in the manner in which you first posted.

Why are you fond of philosophy?
It helps to fill in that portion of the space/time between what we refer to as birth and death. It also helps give my thumbs a rest from twiddling.

Perhaps my answers in some way disqualify me from participating in this discussion? If so perhaps you could tell me why?

Walter · Oct 26, 2005

I have also issued a few questions in a previous post, Alisa

As soon as you have answered them, I'll gladly go on conversing with you...

Walter said:
Hello AlisaGoldielock

Well I for one certainly did consider Tolkien an outstanding linguist. But even more so an outstanding philologist...

But then again, I am easily impressed, dimwit that I am, when someone says something that sounds clever or learned.

Was I mistaken, was my assumption regarding Tolkien's renown as a linguist and philologist unwarranted?

Now I don't even dare trying to spell one of those tongue-breaking words, but maybe you can enlighten us some, what these fundamental theories are and when something is a considered a "fundamental theory"?

Oh ... and when you mention Potebnia, why not Barfield or Cassirer? Or why Chomsky and not Ogden and Richards? I'm just curious...

And have you perchance read Tolkien's essay "A secret vice" or maybe his article 'Sigelwara Land' published in Medium Aevum (1932 resp. 1934)? Did you get an idea what it was, Tolkien was after?

I would love to hear what a learned linguist has to say about Tolkien's approach to language, its origins and its connexion to the early myths. And also why his approaches regarding this - or also regarding artificial languages - should not be considered a "fundamental theory"?

Also, I was of the impression that Tolkien's various artificial languages - if not complete - get a lot of attention. I don't know whether or not Esperanto gets more...

Looking forward to your elaborations...

----
Edit:

P.S.: That one term of yours "glo..." "glosso..." ... anyway, that word next to H(j)elmslev ... had me quite puzzled. "Glosso" & "semantics" tried to figure the meaning of "tongue-semantics"...

Luckily glossematic did the trick for me, then...

AlisaGoldielock · Nov 1, 2005

It seems to me

that you are NOT ENGLISHMEN AT ALL!I think all of you are my former compatriots.Gotmog is from Moscow,Thorondor is from Saint-Petersburg,Barliman Butterbur is a Tatar from Kazan and Inderjit is from Ulan-Ude.Englishmen who are not linguists can know nothing about Potebnia and Chomsky.

Gothmog · Nov 1, 2005

Re: It seems to me

AlisaGoldielock said:
that you are NOT ENGLISHMEN AT ALL!I think all of you are my former compatriots.Gotmog is from Moscow,Thorondor is from Saint-Petersburg,Barliman Butterbur is a Tatar from Kazan and Inderjit is from Ulan-Ude.Englishmen who are not linguists can know nothing about Potebnia and Chomsky.

Well you are correct that I am not an Englishman. However, I am not one of your former compartiots and am not from Moscow. I am infact Welsh and come from South Wales in the UK.

While I do know nothing about Potebnia and Chomsky myself, there are many on this board who's wide-ranging interests do. I am however willing to learn of new ideas about Tolkien and his works.

Thorondor_ · Nov 1, 2005

Gotmog is from Moscow,Thorondor is from Saint-Petersburg,Barliman Butterbur is a Tatar from Kazan and Inderjit is from Ulan-Ude

Say what??

Tolkien as linguist

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