Listened to @timnitGebru on AI this week — e.g. here: techwontsave.us/episode/151_do… — and thought:
Funny how, in Semitic languages like Tigrinya, not only can verbs "become" nouns—nouns can also “become” verbs. This results in beautiful proverbs like: በዓል ሓድሽ መተርኣስ፡ ኣብ መገዲ ይተርኣስ። (~ “The owner of a new pillow even ‘pillows’ while on the go.”) to emphasise overuse of novel things (same root; sounds pretty snappy).
Sadly, Indogermanic languages can’t quite pull this off with the same elegance.
#KI #AI
... Show more...Listened to @timnitGebru on AI this week — e.g. here: techwontsave.us/episode/151_do… — and thought:
Funny how, in Semitic languages like Tigrinya, not only can verbs "become" nouns—nouns can also “become” verbs. This results in beautiful proverbs like: በዓል ሓድሽ መተርኣስ፡ ኣብ መገዲ ይተርኣስ። (~ “The owner of a new pillow even ‘pillows’ while on the go.”) to emphasise overuse of novel things (same root; sounds pretty snappy).
Sadly, Indogermanic languages can’t quite pull this off with the same elegance.
#KI #AI
Sebastian Hagedorn
in reply to Awet Tesfaiesus, MdB • • •Sebastian Hagedorn
in reply to Sebastian Hagedorn • • •@timnitGebru
Awet Tesfaiesus, MdB
in reply to Sebastian Hagedorn • • •Awet Tesfaiesus, MdB
in reply to Sebastian Hagedorn • • •Jens Bannmann ⁂
in reply to Sebastian Hagedorn • • •@hagedose68
Same here. The phrase I heard is "A rubber-band ponytails" which I find quite elegant. But I totally understand that semitic languages (which I know nothing about) have an advantage here.
I imagine it's like no matter how lovely a piece of calligraphy with latin alphabets is, it can't even come near the flowing beauty of arabic calligraphy. (I guess there's a specific term for the latter but I don't know it.) To me it feels like that writing system is _designed_ for beauty.
@AwetTesfaiesus @timnitGebru
#Language #Writing #Calligraphy
Awet Tesfaiesus, MdB
in reply to Jens Bannmann ⁂ • • •@tynstar @hagedose68
I understand it is hard to wrap your head around when you learn a semitic language with an Indo-Germanic background with stems (correct term? machen -> ge-mach-t). With semitic roots you can have things pop up with an element of surprise and impishness. Hard to describe.
In French there is this thing where they abruptly leave out the rest of a sentence and people's minds step in to fill the gap (forgot what is called). Imagine it similar.
Anyway: listen to @timnitGebru
Awet Tesfaiesus, MdB
in reply to Jens Bannmann ⁂ • • •@tynstar @hagedose68 Understanding Arabic is pretty easy, speaking requires attention, but reading (let alone writing) arabic is a bit of a hustle for me. It'll eventually work somehow.
The Ge'ez writing system of East Africa is different to Arabic (it's more like this Japanese writing... AIUEO? Is it called Silbenschrift in German?)
Sebastian Hagedorn
in reply to Awet Tesfaiesus, MdB • • •Awet Tesfaiesus, MdB
in reply to Sebastian Hagedorn • • •@hagedose68 @tynstar
#SmartupSaturday
Still: seems similar
Elischeva91
in reply to Awet Tesfaiesus, MdB • •@Awet Tesfaiesus, MdB @Jens Bannmann @Sebastian Hagedorn @Timnit Gebru (she/her).
I'm easier with hebrew writing than speaking, with arabic I'm like you, but Not as good as Hebrew though. Nethertheless you catch the similarities between those semitic languages. Maybe because you don't need to.remember as many Hebrew letters and forms than arabic script with their connected forms. And Hebrew letters are quite good to distinguish. So as soon as you can recognize the root, you can guess the meaning.
Awet Tesfaiesus, MdB likes this.
Awet Tesfaiesus, MdB
in reply to Elischeva91 • • •@elischeva @tynstar @hagedose68 I have been told that by the Jewish part of my family, too.
There are few letters I know in Hebrew, and to me it is less intelligible than Arabic which shares a lot of sounds with Tigrinya, while Ivrit shares sounds with French and German which (oddly) makes it harder to understand for me, since I should be familiar with both.
They say: that's totally similar to Tigrinya obviously (e.g. Genesis, counting). Can't you hear that? But I hardly can. In Arabic: easy
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Elischeva91
in reply to Awet Tesfaiesus, MdB • •@Awet Tesfaiesus, MdB @Jens Bannmann @Sebastian Hagedorn
Funnily, knowing Hebrew makes it easier to pronounce Greek. The Letters in Greek are very often very similarbto the latin ones. But otherwise Greek is a quite different world. The grammar of greek is somewhat similar to German or english, but quite Hard to remember, which tense is what. And you need to explicitely Lears vocabulary. Some words you might recognize from science and history, but... The challenge remains.
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Awet Tesfaiesus, MdB
in reply to Elischeva91 • • •Awet Tesfaiesus, MdB
Unknown parent • • •Awet Tesfaiesus, MdB
Unknown parent • • •spiegel.de/kultur/zwiebelfisch…)
Zwiebelfisch: Bei zuen Gardinen und ausem Licht
Bastian Sick (DER SPIEGEL)Torsten
in reply to Awet Tesfaiesus, MdB • • •Awet Tesfaiesus, MdB
in reply to Torsten • • •