docoflove1974

Sadly most of those links don't work...just the first one and the secondary castle one. But I can imagine it...and it sounds lovely! A place to visit in future, to be sure!

Awesome! The first item I had published (a paper I co-authored with a professor of mine), once it came out, I think I mailed copies to every living soul I knew...well, not quite, but the feeling was there. Congrats, and many more to come!

Is that so? Damn, no wonder...Lazy Ass me has been going about this the wrong way...I thought it was Opportunity that has to present itself...but you must recognize it and make of it what you will. Well, back to the drawing board....

Eh, it seems better today; I don't smell the 'firewood' smell right now. But my sinuses are definitely more 'unhappy' than normal, which means it's back to the saline solution treatment for a couple of days. I know that the last couple of days have been officially 'unhealthy' as far as the air quality, but it's been cloudy and cool all day, so I haven't noticed it. Thankfully I don't sleep with the windows open, so I don't have to worry too much about it, but I'm sure others do. BTW, officially they're at 25% contained, but 3400 acres burnt. Keep up the fight, boys.

ROFL! That puts everything into perspective, Don Tomato!

If you haven't heard, there's a decent-sized wildfire burning near me (Click here for more info). It's not going to threaten San Jos

With or without copious quantities of wine? Um, duh...

I think you're in need of some good luck. When I find some, I'll post it your way.

We'd get thrown out! Not if we sing (Roman) nursury rhymes.

I think you've turned into Mr. Cranky Pants, and need some time on the swing, or on the jungle gym, or better still playing tag, just to get that crotchetiness out of your system.

GLI AZZURRI!!!! (Because if not, I will not receive my citizenship...or something like that...)

Quite true, and I didn't mean to put them on exactly the same plane.

No, it doesn't. You can't judge a person's character from his actions under duress. Cicero 'flipflopped' because he was threatened. Curio 'flipflopped' because he was bribed. Don't you think these circumstances suggest that there is a world of difference between their two characters? Not everyone in the republic was a Cato who would literally stand up to an armed mob throwing stones and tell them all to shod off. To take this a step further, I think this is exemplary of modern politics. Politicians 'flip flop' for various reasons; perhaps physical threats aren't as prevalent nowadays, but career assassinations are. Politics is about the same, in that sense.

I'm going to say that the Wings will take it in 6. It's going to be a tough series, but Detroit is just too physical.

This list from Oris Latinus.com is similar to the one from Ethnologue...but organized/labeled a bit more accurately*. What should be noted is that many are labeled as 'dialects', as there is some mutual intelligibility. Creoles are often inserted, but I tend to treat them as being different; while there are various Romance-based creoles, they don't quite pattern like the Romance language family, therefore I don't include them below. But as for true language distinctions, the list would probably break down thusly (languages would be italicized: Latin > Ibero-Romance > Northern Iberian Romance > Aragonese, Asturian, Catalan, Castilian (Spanish), Galician, Portuguese Southern Iberian Romance > Mozarabic (extinct) Gallo-Italic > Gallic > French, Occitan/Proven

Many of my students have recommended the movie highly, with the caveat that it's quite a dark movie. It's on my Netflix list, and I will get to it soon.

Point #1: I think that's quite a literature-centric definition; see my previous post as to what a linguistic definition of a language is. Point #2: Nope, in this case Mozarabic is the brand of Spanish that was spoken by the mozarabes, those Iberian people who, upon the Moorish Conquests, changed their ways to be more in line with their conquerers; it also describes the language of the Jews (mostly Sephardic) who lived in Iberia in this time. When the Catholic Monarchs kicked out the mozarabes and Jews in 1493, they brough this language with them, and it's essentially the Spanish of the 16th century. It's still spoken by many Sephardic Jews around the world.

Quite controversial...I would say that the list at that link describes both languages and recognized dialects of the languages. 47 is quite a large number, too big for my taste, and I would imagine the same would be true for the colleagues I research with. The number for us would probably be closer to 20. The basic definition for a 'language' in the linguistic sense is that there is little-to-zero mutual intelligibility between the two linguistic groups. If there is some, then they are dialects. It's a slippery definition, to be sure, one which leads to various interpretations and lists, like the one you posted.

47!!?? That's quite a number!

Now we just need Jeremy and the boys to finish off this discussion!

I think there are two different dates to consider: 1. Early-Mid 5th century (depending on which date you wish to use): Rome is continuously sacked, and is no longer viewed as a central/important city in the Empire (regardless of the fact that Constantinople was the 'capital'). To me this is the end of Rome, but not of the 'Roman Empire' 2. 1453 CE: Constantinople is sacked, end of the Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. I tend to use 410 for #1 above, with the sack of Rome...for me, this is the beginning of the very last chapter of Rome (the city) as a 'great city'. After continuous sacking, rampaging, etc., the city of Rome is quite disorderly and chaotic, and one can see the beginning of the 'Dark Ages' or 'Medieval' period in the 5th century. Certainly for my research, this makes sense; after the Roman centralizing stability has faded into the proverbial sunset, Western and Central Europe move away from the traditional Roman way of life into one which resembles a hodge-podge of Roman, Germanic, and 'native' culture, government, and the like. The Christian Church (can we call it Catholic by this point?) becomes the 'beacon of light' (even if it's a self-placed moniker) for the local communities, and what is considered to be feudal state starts to take root. To be sure, much of this could be placed during the decline of the (Western) Empire, but the 5th century is a crucial time. However, as others have stated above, this does not diminish the next 1000 or so of the Roman Empire; it simply means that Western and Central Europe were not part of the Empire.

Ooooooooooooooh...such a complicated maneuver! Don't know if I could pull that off! Nah, just make me the bartender. I'll be happy there

*summoning Graham Chapman's Army General* This post has gotten entirely too silly. I resent the representation of this topic as being anything but good, wholesome, and straight forward. Now, when I give the cue, return to the normal programming. Reading for the cue...and?...wait for it...

Outstanding news about the job! No offense, Neph, but I've been a lifeguard...I don't want that anymore. I'd rather play around in the water than watch the toddlers creep into the pool while mommy's too busy talking with her friends, instead of watching her yung'un practically drown. Nope, no thanks. As for this tropical resort bit...I might have to take a trip down to KiwiLand!

Hah! Dream on. When it comes to punning, I graduated magma cum laude. (That one was especially for you, Doc, our dear, rumbling Magistra.) -- Nephele I gotta fissure out a way to not spew out a lava nonsense. (we'll see how that goes over...)