Ancient Sounds 🔉

Not a flower as such, but a rather nice Robin's Pincushion, a feathery gall caused by the reaction of its Rose host (Sweet Briar, in this case, I think) to the larvae of a gall wasp. #wildflowerHour #wildflowers #wasps

A little Centaury on Hartland Way, an old medieval road - now just a track - across Hartland Moor, #Dorset#WildflowerHour

From Tuesday: Common Dodder, a hemiparasitic plant (here on gorse). Upton Heath, #Dorset . Many times I have walked there. #WildflowerHour #BigBigTrain

@brian_gettler@mas.to Groan. Send all those concerned the offprint of Prof. Bender's article! https://dair-community.social/@emilymbender/116885366454908070

By the way, and for the avoidance of doubt/suspicion: none of the "audio etymology" sequences that I've created and am posting here involve any use of AI, LLM's, neural nets, none of that. All are made from original audio recordings of real people speaking words in their various languages, which are then subjected to good old-fashioned signal processing (speech coding and synthesis). The continua of change are made using straightforward linear interpolation over the space of cepstrograms, which are 2 dimensional matrices encoding the acoustics of the original recordings. Using scripts that I wrote, by hand. #acoustics #phonetics #speech #synthesis #audio #maths #linear_algebra

@GetCarter@mastodonapp.uk 85 so far, so here's +1 more

@yvanspijk@toot.community 𝔮𝔲𝔢𝔠𝔨 😉

On the very windy Purbeck hilltop above the wood, a number of Early Purple-orchids struggling to grow vertically. #WildFlowerHour #wildflowers #bloomscrolling #orchids #wildOrchids

Some variety of cornsalad, on a wall. Quite a lot of it, round and about, right now. One has appeared in our front garden as well. #WildflowerHour

𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗘𝘁𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘆, 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 English "cow" comes from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeh₃-u-s [gwous], perhaps something like this (listen): 🔊 https://www.ancientsounds.net/eastern-origins/cow-from-PIE-gwous.wav which also developed into Dari گاو [gau] and Persian گاو [gov]: 🔊 https://www.ancientsounds.net/eastern-origins/PIE-gwous-to-Persian-gov.wav and very many other Indo-European languages, such as Ancient Greek βοῦς [bous]: 🔊 https://www.ancientsounds.net/eastern-origins/PIE-gwous-to-Ancient-Greek-bous.wav Image source: https://faradeed.ir/%D8%A8%D8%AE%D8%B4-%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%88-35/186305-%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%AF%D8%A6%D9%88-%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%DB%8C%DB%8C-%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%A2%D8%B0%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86-%DA%86%DA%AF%D9%88%D9%86%D9%87-%D8%B4%DB%8C%D8%B1-%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%88-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D9%BE%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B4%DB%8C%D8%AF%D9%86-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D9%BE%D9%86%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%84-%D9%85%DB%8C-%DA%A9%D9%86%D9%86%D8%AF @linguistics #linguistics #etymology #EnglishLanguage #AcousticPhonetics #phonetics #ProtoIndoEuropean #Iranian #Persian #Dari #AncientGreek

@iwritelike@mastodon.social “Thou” survives perfectly well in Northern English (pronounced “tha”), especially Yorkshire

@_thegeoff@mastodon.social @gahlord@post.lurk.org Yes, anti-resonance (aka damping, or spectral zeroes) is defo a thing in acoustics. It can be conceived of as a freq component travelling in the opposite direction from the direction in which the main wave is travelling, thus subtracting from energy in that freq. #acoustics

@iangclifton@androiddev.social @finner@appdot.net @dgar@aus.social Presumably via l-vocalization to w, i.e. [wownt]

@raphv@social.edu.nl @paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange @finner@appdot.net @dgar@aus.social It's not stealing when French was forced on the English at sword point 😉

@yvanspijk@toot.community So, La-la-land should really be just Land, no? 😉

@yvanspijk@toot.community Superb graphic (as usual), btw

@johnnyd_cm@mastodonapp.uk @FourT4@mastodonapp.uk An occasional table

@JeroenSH@lingo.lol Your own paper looks most interesting (to me ... I'm sure the others are also of interest to someone)

@Earl@mast.john1126.com No you can definitely have Android without Google, but it takes work: you'd need to flash e.g. Lineage and NOT include gapps (Google apps) or Google Play Services. I've done that on 3 phones, without the issues you've reported there

@kityates@mas.to Technically it should have been a tractor ride rather than a bus 😉

@JdeBP@toot.wales @lindasgoluppiart@mastodonapp.uk @keefeglise@mastodonapp.uk Seems that Lustleigh, Devon, know how to do it properly, complete with crowning of the May Queen https://lustleighmayday.com/

@JdeBP@mastodonapp.uk Yes! It's not just Warks though, it's the whole country putting off May 1st until Monday. (Jedi takeover?) Except Oxford, where May Morning is always on May 1st whatever day of the week it may fall on. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyp6kp0zd7o

@wiletha@mastodonapp.uk To be fair, there are some schools in Dorset that do it. But no public maypoles? A disgrace, I tell you, a DISGRACE. I should write to the Council. And the Dorset Echo. What is the world coming to? 😤😉

May Morning, and Up The Workers! But I am shocked - SHOCKED, I tell you - that there seems to be no maypole dancing in Dorset! In Oxfordshire, where we used to live, May Morning was definitely A THING. On-line research reveals maypoles today in Devon and Somerset, but Warwickshire, which has the biggest maypoles, also seems to be letting the Old Ways fade. 🙄 https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101382856-the-maypole-welford-on-avon

@Erased_Citizen@cupoftea.social Ah happy memories, we used to have the Virgin Railways version, and it looked smashing

𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗘𝘁𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘆, 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 The English word "ankle" comes from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eng-ul- [aŋgʊl], the stem *h₂eng- meaning perhaps "joint". Listen: 🔊 https://www.ancientsounds.net/eastern-origins/ankle-from-PIE-h2eng.wav In Persian *h₂eng- developed into انگشت angusht, "digit" i.e. finger or toe: 🔊 https://www.ancientsounds.net/eastern-origins/PIE-h2eng-to-Persian-angusht.wav @linguistics #linguistics #etymology #englishlanguage #acousticphonetics #phonetics #ProtoIndoEuropean #Iranian #Persian

@FourT4 Perish the thought

@iwritelike@mastodon.social Aah, 'tis indeed like a poem on that hill

@iwritelike@mastodon.social “Tha/thee” is the 2nd person singular *intimate/familiar* form, used with e.g. children, friends, other Yorkshire people. To use it to anyone else is somewhat rude (perhaps deliberately so), so as a visitor you might be glad not to hear it!

@movq@tilde.zone Very colourful

@GLaDTheresCake@todon.nl @vagina_museum@masto.ai Since we're diving into etymology in this thread, as a linguist I'd just like to point out that "wif" is grammatically neuter gender in Old English. Of course, since then, grammatical gender has been largely lost from English grammar, especially neuter gender. Grammatical gender not being the same as social gender identity, for sure.

@petersketch@toot.wales I have seen one in uncultivated grass meadowland adjacent to Cogden Beach, Dorset. I wonder if they were planted by squirrels or birds? We get quite a few horse chestnut seedlings in our lawn even though the nearest tree is quite some distance away, so we attribute them to squirrel planting, without any evidence.

@_thegeoff@mastodon.social @gahlord@post.lurk.org Ah, I see. Well that doesn't sound very likely, as harmonics are also resonant, hence additive not subtractive. Unless ...it's not wave addition in the air, but waves travelling up one string and down the other (opposite directions) ... but is that even possibly so? Now I'm out of my depth, so will shut up. Much more familiar with tubes of vibrating air.

𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗘𝘁𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘆, 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 English "bellows" and "belly" come via Anglo-Saxon beliġ and Proto-Germanic *balgi- from Proto-Indo-European *bʰólǵʰ- "bag", perhaps something like this (listen): 🔊 bellows-from-PIE-bholgh.wav This simulation of *bʰólǵʰ- has initial [b], not [bʱ], as it's computed from recordings of Irish bolg, "bag", also a cognate. The same PIE root developed into Persian بالش bālish "pillow", like this: 🔊 PIE-bholgh-to-Persian-balesh.wav Related words are found in other Iranian languages, e.g. Pashto بالښت balacht, Ossetian baʒ/baz, as well as in Slavic, e.g. Slovenian blazina. When I originally posted about this in November 2021, the linguist Magnus Pharao @magnuspharao.bsky.social pointed out that Danish bælg (seed pod of legumes and bellows) is also a cognate! @linguistics #linguistics #etymology #EnglishLanguage #AcousticPhonetics #phonetics #ProtoIndoEuropean #Iranian #Persian

Went twitching for the Bluethroat at Swineham (edge of Wareham, Dorset) and we actually saw it. Saw it a lot! So lovely. Met a guy who'd driven down from Anglesey! No photos, but some from earlier in the week: https://jwallfeatherfurphoto.blogspot.com/2026/04/bluethroat-red-spotted-13042026.html?m=1

@alexf24@mstdn.social Boosting this so that when the time comes we shall learn whether their prediction is accurate

@Nonilex@masto.ai “It’s hard to think of a time when the #UnitedStates suffered a total defeat in a conflict” lol Vietnam. Afghanistan. Hard to think?

@_thegeoff@mastodon.social @gahlord@post.lurk.org PS it's how noise cancellation works: flip the ambient spectrum upside down, thus turning ambient resonances into anti-resonances, then add that to the desired signal + ambient mix, and thus effectively subtract out the ambient noise

@FourT4 lol. Photos?

@Gargron Great shots. I love the Lakes

@rms A new winner for the epithet “explodamobile”?

@smutmag@mstdn.social Helloooo this is an international network, which country are reading about now?

@ergative@wandering.shop Well yeah but no but. This isn't speech, so ...

@maxpool@mathstodon.xyz @johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz Well, strictly, this cannot be refuted or proven. Intelligence is kind of a gradient continuum, but hard to be accurate about, probably bcs it's multidimensional. Consciousness even harder to grade/measure/quantify. So orthogonality can't be tested, therefore it's not a well-defined scientific hypothesis.

@ElenLeFoll@fediscience.org I think it's a great idea! Like the Fields medal for maths - made up by the field itself. There aren't enough high honours in linguistics. Time for a proper international academic committee to take it over, though.

@GetCarter@mastodonapp.uk That is good to hear!