Linguistics

I speak five.

• I am Portuguese, born to Portuguese parents in a Portuguese family (although a part of it is of German, Swedish, Spanish, etc descent). So Portuguese is my mother tongue. 1 language.
• I moved to Catalunya, Spain, at 7. Catalunya is a bilingual region in Spain, so I learnt Spanish and Catalan at the same time. 3 languages.
• In school, English is compulsory. I picked an interest in it and studied/practiced it on my own. 4 languages.
• In high school I was given the option of learning French. I had spoken some French as a child, so it was easy to pick it up. 5 languages.

Immigration, interest in foreign languages, school… There’s many ways of mastering several languages.

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Grammar

If 'I' is a pronoun, what is the noun in this sentence - "I killed the animal”?

Richard P. Morrall, former Teacher, Librarian, retired. (1964-2002)

Updated Apr 30

OK; all the answers I have read make me cringe.
You have been misled by teachers who have taken four perfectly good words, with distinct meanings, and lumped them together in a large ball which then allows them to be lazy and confuse and miseducate their students!
 Two descriptors which apply to words are Parts of speech and Parts of a sentence. They are not the same! The part of speech of a word applies to the word itself, by itself. Standing alone, not in any phrase, clause, or sentence, a word may be described by naming its part of speech. Is the word a NOUN, a PRONOUN, a VERB, an ADJECTIVE, an ADVERB, a CONJUNCTION, a PREPOSITION, a VERBAL, or an INTERJECTION? These describe the word itself.
The Part of a sentence tells what a word does in a sentence. Is it the SUBJECT, the PREDICATE, the OBJECT, or a MODIFIER? These describe how the word is used.
You will note that none of the Parts of Speech have the same name as the Part of the sentence.
Except in lazy and ill-educated teachers' classrooms.
There teachers call subjects "nouns" and ask students for the noun in the sentence, while they call predicates "verbs" and ask students to find the verb in the sentence. No wonder students don't understand grammar!
When you asked "What is the noun in this sentence, I knew immediately what had happened. Someone had taught you that noun could mean a noun or a subject. This is not true.
Let me ask your question using the correct terms: If "I" is a pronoun, what is the subject in this sentence - "I killed the animal"?
Parts of speech of each word: I = pronoun; killed = verb, past tense, active voice, indicative mood; the = article ; animal = noun.
Parts of the sentence of each word: I = subject; killed = predicate; the = modifier; animal = object.
In this sentence, the subject is I.
Now let me define some of these parts of speech. A noun is a word which names a person, place, thing, or concept (idea). A noun is NOT a person, place, or thing, no matter how many people make this error or how many teachers teach it! A noun is not even the "name of a person, place, or thing." NO. A noun is a WORD.
A pronoun, as you can see by the Latin prefix, is a word which stands in for or takes the place of a noun. It is not a noun by another name. It is not the same as a noun. It is a word which may be used in place of a noun because it stands "for" the noun. Guess what pro means in Latin. Yes! Pro means for, on behalf of, or in place of.
By the way, please learn the word "substantive" and try to get your teachers to learn it.
A substantive is a word which could be used as the subject of a clause or sentence. These would include nouns, pronouns, and two of the three verbals in English - gerunds and infinitives. One word rounds up all of the possible parts of speech which could properly be used as the subject of a clause or sentence.
After four years at a prestigious university as an English major, one of my student teachers had never heard of the word! This was most likely because the university would grant a degree in the study of the English language without requiring even one course in grammar!

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Do narcissists care that they hurt people? Does their need for narcissistic supply override their ability to be nice?

Alex Gray

Answered Apr 23

First of all, Overt narcissists can be charming and act nice—and occasionally do nice things, but they are likely motivated to do this for the attention. They will tell their friends how generous t...

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Language

What are dogs saying when barking? Is it like their language?

Is it a simil-primitive language with phrases like:”HI”, “OUT OF MY TERRITORY” and stuff like that?

Denise Pascal, Co-founder,YOUR NUZ.com

Answered Wed

DOGS DEFINITELY UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER here’s how I know.

My first Kuvasz, though well behaved and obedient was fiercely protective of my husband and I. We absolutely hated taking her to the vet because it was beyond embarrassing.

The vet had too small a waiting room for how popular he was. On a Saturday it was always crowded. You would see a person or dog in every chair in a very tiny room.

A Kuvasz is a giant breed guard dog. We would enter the vet and ask Nikki to sit. She would, usually on my feet (therefore guarding me; by feeling my movement). Every dog tiny and equal size would look at her. Almost like guys sizing each other up at a fight. As each one looked her way, she would raise her head and just softly go “Grrrr”.

Every single dog would either turn away, shiver, try to hide under its chair or climb into its mother’s lap. It was embarrassing but it was clear what “Grrrr” meant. It meant “look over here again and I will take you out.”

It was mortifying but it happened every single time.

There is a dog next door who has negligent owners. You can tell he wants to come in. He makes this pitiful whine. Whenever he makes that sound, my current dog who is a pal; runs to the fence and cocks his head and let's out a higher pitch then normal yelp. It's as though he is trying to help get their attention and make his buddy feel better.

Have you every noticed in a neighborhood when a dog gets out that all the other dogs, house by house if they are out will create utter chaos in the yard? They make a racket. One after the other as the loose dog moves. It's so obvious they are saying “hey, come look! Somebody? That guy is loose!”

I know it sounds whacky but I have talked to the bunny in the yard, birds by my car. They don't run, if you sound gentle enough I think they understand.

I believe every species has a language. We know whales do but I know for sure dogs do because Nikki only said “Grrr” but it meant something and every dog there knew it wasn't good.

Nikki aka Damara Magyar’s Great Garbo

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Were all generals who were tried at the Nuremberg trials actually guilty?

Julio Pino, Historian, Bad Hombre at Kent State University (1992-present)

Answered Tue

No. The Americans invented a crime that had never existed before “waging aggressive war” and then applied it ex post facto to German generals and admirals. Funny, this crime was not attributed to t...

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How do you have a heart-to-heart talk with a narcissist?

Adelia Benitez, Writer + Emotional & Narcissistic Abuse Survivor

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Attempting to have a “heart-to-heart” talk with a narcissist is like attempting to punch through a solid brick wall with your fist. No matter how many times you try, you’re not going to punch throu...

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German (language)

Do Germans mind if someone learning German makes a lot of mistakes while speaking to them?

Diniel Patel, lived in Germany

Answered Mar 30

Take this from someone who has lived in Germany for almost 4years and running and is still learning the language by doing (no books or audio books or classes), by daily practice by just speaking an...

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Why do some cancer patients decide not to do chemo therapy?

Carol Bishop DeJong, former Dean at Solano Community College (1970-2010)

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My first husband had a PhD in toxicology. He had worked with poisons all his life. When he got in his car and drove off and could not find his way home I guessed Alzheimers. Wrong. It was grade 4 g...

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Are Spaniards from Spain white?

Mithur Sheridan, I'm spanish, so I know a bit of my country.

Answered Apr 26

Look, we are european. Yes, we have some more mix than, let’s say, french, and we live in a sunny place, so most of us (well, not me, I’m white as a sheet of paper) are a bit more dark skinned than...

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From Your Quora Digest

Did humans kill Neanderthals?

Claire Jordan, works at Carer

Answered Apr 24

Mostly, modern humans just seem to have absorbed them. You can see the same thing happening at the moment with the Scottish wildcat, which is being diluted out of discrete existence by cross-breedi...

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