docoflove1974

I believe that they were all killed, so as to ensure that there would be no heirs to cause trouble later on. As for 3 kids...I thought she had 3 kids with Julius Caesar, not Marcus Antonius?

Yeah and as a tough agent he'll take his money and run... first opportunity he gets he'll be off to the States to sign his gladiators up with LA Galaxy!!! Sheesh...a bit bitter, are we? (LA SUCKS DONKEY....um...yeah...I'll be quiet now)

I knew about the other days of the week, and was pretty sure about dimanche, but since my good dictionaries are packed away, I couldn't say 'without a doubt'. Thanks for the confirmation, A!

I don't know about the religious history of this, but linguistically, the Romance languages use a form of dominus for the name of their 'Sunday': Spanish and Portuguese domingo, Italian domenica, Rumanian duminică , French dimanche (I believe that's the etymology of the French term, but I could be wrong here). Now, it could be that this is a later relationship--that the day of worship = the day of the Lord--with Sun god cults, but the names of the day isn't in relationship with the word 'sun'.

Thanks for your recent contributions...and hope that this next year is as good, if not better, than the last!

Pertinax...you great agent...surely you know by now how temperamental athletes are. They think that they can get away with everything! Just remember...you'll always get your cut

I do...sorry about that!

I recently saw a documentary on the History Channel that discussed both Nero and Caligula. It was suggested that because Caligula saw what Nero did to his family, and it made him into a ruthless bastard, basically. This isn't to say that there wasn't a chemical alteration which changed him, too, or at least helped him along, but if one saw their entire family taken away at such a young age, perhaps it would alter your perspective on life.

Cool, Nephele...that makes much more sense. 'Wad' is the Arabic word for 'river' (or, it's a corruption of it), so any Spanish name of a river that starts with 'Guad' (the Spanish adaptation of 'wad') is of Arabic extraction; this is used also by the Conquistadores who names rivers in the New World. To really go off topic: The cult of Mary of Guadalupe--the Spanish one, not the Mexican one--is powerful. The Marian cults in general of western Europe had a big influence on religious-based literature, so for 'Guadalupe' to be so 'popular' a name isn't surprising. There, I won't go off topic more!

Actually, no, the article is an overview of the role of human sacrifice of the Aztec-based cultures of Mexico and Central America. It's a good article, noting that sacrifices of all kinds were primarily seen as a 'payment of debt', and that Mexica myths bear reference to sacrifice for this reason. It does make mention that there have been evidence of these sacrifices, mostly on 'writings' and sculptures.

Yep. The -ez -- and also -es -- ending on Spanish surnames indicates a patronymic. For example, the name "Gonz

hehehe, It would be funny hear a french reading in latin with their prononciation, due to that latin is a very diptongal and triptongal language and french tend to simplify three or two vowel in one only sound, also the "r" of french which is told from the throat, and more and more things that make french to sound as particular as it sounds It's quite a scene, I tell you...I have a French friend who, when she tries to say Latin words with as 'correct' a pronunciation as she can, just muddles things. French phonetics are perhaps the most innovative of all the Romance languages, with the vowel fronting and decided loss of pronunciation in many word-final environments. She usually gives up, sighs, and mimics a more English-inspired pronunciation. By the by...I would imagine that the Portuguese-inspired pronunciation would be quite interesting...quite a few nasalized vowels!

Nah...I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm still trying to dry out my garments...and my liver...

Yes, its included in the same language family. However, whether or not the Britons ought to be considered Celtic in other ways has been the subject of much debate. They were never called Celts by the Romans and had a distinctly different culture from most other Celtic groups - including use of the chariot and featuring the druidical religion, which they had begun to export to northern France but was totally unknown throughout the rest of the Celtic world. I was under the impression that the Celtic cultures of the Brittish Isles, not just the Britons, were different from the Continental Celts, and that we have little written by the Continental Celts themselves, but (later) documents from those from the Brittish Isles. Is this not correct? I think the question of 'Celtic' culture/language/etc. is so hard to answer. A culture which seemingly did little-to-no documentation of their own, and is left to the devices of its enemies, is never quite represented.

Salve,E! Nope and nope. Brytthon were celtic. Picts no. Ah but Picts were Brythonic - they spoke a Brythonic language and had the same material culture. The Romans don't distinguish them culturally, but politically (as a confederation of tribes). "Pict" is actually etymologically related to "Briton" via the earliest term, Pretani. It means "the people who paint themselves" in both cases. FYI: Brythonic is a branch of Celtic! This site by the Linguistics Research Center at the University of Texas does a good job of breaking down the Indo-European languages. As for Pict as a language, there is much controversy about its relationship. Some would claim that it's an early Celtic language, which was replaced by Scots Gaelic in the 9th century. Others claim that it's not an Indo-European language, and is confused with early forms of Scots Gaelic. I'm not a Celticist, so I don't know much more than that.

There are a couple of these theories, with Nostratic perhaps the most known. It's an idea that is fantasy, for me and my professors. The concept is easy enough to understand: if we all came from the same ancestor, then there must have been one language. And I think that, intuitively, this is true. However, the methods of reconstruction cannot accurately create the lexicon, let alone the morphosyntactic rules and semantic restrictions. It's hard enough to reconstruct 3,500-5000 years of language without controversy; just the controversy on Proto-Indo-European alone has filled volumes upon volumes of studies for more than 200 years. Beyond that time frame, there is much more controversy and little accepted 'truth'.

Thanks is truly in order to you, PP and Moon for donating your time to make this place run, and to Ursus for being 'The Enforcer'. Having been an admin on a large board myself, I know how much time and energy it can take. Thank you for making UNRV run as smooth as it does!

Jeez...at 5'8, I would have been a giant!

Catnip, eh? If it doesn't work on mosquitos, at least my Bella will like it!

I knew there was a reason Miguel, yes, there are 'bug zappers' here...but the range seems to be limited. Same with citronella candles. DEET...Off! is a good brand...yet I swear that those damn things will go on kami kaze missions just to get to me, even when I use a product with DEET. I've heard the B-complex/Thiamin argument before...and I'm living proof that it doesn't always work! I take a multi-vitamin and a B-complex vitamin, plus eat a balanced diet...I dunno what it is, but they don't care. As for my blood...I guess I'd better be wary of Dracula and his buddies? Then again, I do eat a fair amount of garlic...

There are aspects to summer that everyone can count on. The sweet smell of blooms in the garden. The salty air experienced on a vacation at the coast. Watching lightning bugs flicker in the evening darkness. For me...I can count on the fact that I'm not just mosquito fodder, but I'm a gormet meal. Well, I must be...it doesn't matter what I do, I'm bitten. I've yet to find a product, either natural or chemical, which keeps the suckers off of me. I've been offered all sorts of remedies--clothing, balms, sprays, types of food or vitamins--which are all supposed to keep the bothersome bugs at bay. Nothing works. They find ways to eat me alive. There's one sure thing that works: stay indoors at dawn and dusk. This doesn't always work...sometimes, a girl's gotta go! Case in point: I teach from 3-5 and 6-8pm, and during that break between 5-6pm, I eat dinner and 'use the facilities' on campus. Yep, at dusk...but I don't have a choice! This campus is, well, oddly laid out; many buildings don't have restrooms, but there are glorified outhouses--buildings that are only restrooms--sprinkled all over campus. (No, this is not typical for a college campus.) Around campus there are several redwood trees, which are famous for attracting mosquitos. So, Monday at break I went to the glorified outhouse...and was the proud recipient of 'love bites' on my forehead and chin. Yes, they do bite people on the face. Tuesday there were two 'tokens of affection' on my left shoudler. Yes, they went through my shirt sleeve and bit me. Yesterday I received another 'token of affection': on my neck, right along my trachea!!! When I used to live in Texas, all I would have to do is go outside for 20 minutes, and I'd come back inside with 15-30 bites all over me. It's like I'm a 7 course meal complete with fois gras, caviar, filet mignon, lobster, and a few Bordeaux all rolled into one. As for itch-relief, I can say that Benadryl maximum-strength gel works decently...and doesn't stink to high Heaven. I'm still looking for a better remedy; the spray isn't as good, I'll tell you that. Now I'm wondering how and where they're gonna get me tonight. Ah, yes, the special feelings *scratch scratch* of summer!

I don't know about other cats, but mine doesn't exactly produce an [m]! Perception...I didn't even think of that!

Welcome to the blog world here at UNRV, miguel!

Can you give some examples? I thought that consonants with bilabial sounds include only b, p, m and f. It is true that different languages have different ways of pronouncing words. Anyway, can you recall what is the very first word you said when you were a baby? [b, p, m] are all bilabial stops; there are also bilabial fricatives--air can pass through the mouth only slightly impeded--both voiced and voiceless. Spanish 'v/b' is an example of the voiced bilabial fricative; I can't recall with confidence, but I believe that the Greek 'phi' is a voiceless bilabial fricative. That's pretty much it for bilabials. So the thought would be that the majority of babies would first say something like 'ma ma', 'ba ba', even before 'pa pa'; voiceless sounds takes control of the vocal chords, and that would develop later. Labiodental sounds use both the lips and teeth; [f, v] are the two examples here, and there is a nasal sound, too. As for myself, I supposedly said 'mama' as my first word; and supposedly the same with my brothers. I have no idea what my second word was...knowing me and my stomach, it was probably 'ba ba' (bottle)!