this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2024
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Linguistics Humor

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Do you like languages and linguistics ? Here is for having fun about it


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[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

They do convey thoughts, which is why you know what they mean.

I'm sorry but even as a joke, this is just way too wrong. The examples given of "Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" and "Aaaarfgfhfhrhhhh" have no meaning. They are, at best, sounds. Making them onomatopoeias.

[โ€“] otp -1 points 1 week ago

Mmmm is something that people (English-speakers?) say when something tastes good, seems appetizing, or is interesting or arousing or something. It's not exactly a word, but it's not an onomatopoeia.

"Aaaarfgfhfhrhhhh" would be an example of someone typing frustratedly into the keyboard (or mashing their keyboard) because something didn't go their way. It's an arrangement of letters to express frustration. It isn't even necessarily a sound that anyone would vocalize. So it's an arrangement of letters that conveys a thought but isn't a word.