Post-nominal Article

Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are Germanic languages, but unlike English and German, they have post-nominal articles. In these languages, the definite article is placed after the noun and not before. This is relatively rare in the languages of the world.

The English definite article is placed before the noun. This can be seen in the book, the car, the house, the street and the wind. However, this is not the case in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. Here are the phrases in these respective languages:

the book, the car, the house, the street, the wind

Danish: bogen, bilen, huset, gaden, vinden
Norwegian: boken, bilen, huset, gaten, vinden
Swedish: boken, bilen, huset, gatan, vinden

With common nouns, the suffix variant is -en, and with neuter nouns, it is -et. In these languages, the majority of nouns have common gender. However, the suffix variant is different for plural nouns. Here is a list of words for the cars, the days, the dogs, the houses and the streets.

Danish: bilerne, dagene, hundene, husene, gaderne
Norwegian: bilene, dagene, hundene, husene, gatene
Swedish: bilarna, dagarna, hundarna, husen, gatorna

Though Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are Germanic languages closely related to English and German, their use of post-nominal articles is quite rare in the languages of the world. They suffix the definite article to the noun. This suffix has three variants- one is for common nouns, one for neuter nouns, and another for plural nouns.

Latin Word Order

Latin word order is very different from that of English. The reason is that Latin uses case to indicate the function of words in a sentence. The result is that Latin word order is far more flexible.

Consider the sentence A dog bites a man. The noun dog is the subject and man is the object. This is determined by the position of the words in the sentence. If we changed their positions in the sentence and uttered A man bites a dog, we'd have a very different meaning. In Latin, however, the same sentence can be stated in six different ways.

The sentence A dog bites a man is Canis mordet virem in Latin. The Latin sentence only has three words because no articles are used in Latin. The word canis (dog) has the ending -is to indicate that it is the subject of the sentence, and virem (man) has the ending -em to indicate it is the object.

The result is that the sentence A dog bites a man can be expressed in Latin with different word orders. Here they are:

Canis mordet virem.
Canis virem mordet.
Virem canis mordet.
Virem mordet canis.
Mordet canis virem.
Mordet virem canis.

The usual word order of Latin is SOV. This corresponds to Canis virem mordet. However, as we have seen in the previous examples, the sentence A dog bites a man can be expressed with six different sentences. In contrast, only one sentence is possible in English.

English is classified as an SVO language. We see this in the sentence A dog bites a man. In Latin the usual word order is SOV. However, Latin is a language which marks nouns with subject and object endings. The result is a flexible word order.

Kir

Kir is the name of a popular French cocktail. It is very simple to make and has only two ingredients. To make it you need white wine and blackcurrant liqueur known as creme de cassis.

Here is the recipe:

Put two tablespoons of cassis in a wine glass. Add a 3/4 cup of dry white wine and stir.

Traditionally it is made with a white wine from the Burgundy regjon of France, but other wines are also used. If champagne is added instead of white wine, it's called a kir royal.

Similarity of Romanian and Spanish to Latin

Romanian and Spanish are both Romance languages. They are descended from Latin and show a number of similarities to Latin and to one another. Here is a list of ten words with the Latin, Spanish and Romanian equivalents:

chair sella silla scaun
cloud nubes nube nor
flower flos flor floare
fruit fructus fruta fruct
gold aurum oro aur
milk lactis leche lapte
sun solis sol soare
table mensa mesa masa
time tempus tiempo timp
tooth dente diente dinte

Most of the words on the list are very similar. The exceptions are the Romanian words scaun and nor. With the exception of the Spanish word oro, all the words begin with the same letter. A few Spanish and Romanian words are almost identical- they include mesa/masa (table), tiempo/timp (time), diente/dinte (tooth) and fruta/fruct (fruit).

The Spanish words for chair, cloud and sun show more similarity to Latin than do the Romanian words. The Romanian word for gold reflects greater similarity to Latin than does the Spanish word. With the remaining six words, both languages have words similar to Latin.

Romanian has word-final consonant clusters which do not occur in Spanish. These clusters occur in fruct and timp. Nine of the Spanish words end in a vowel, but only four of the Romanian words do.

The vocabulary list shows that Spanish and Romanian are descendants of Latin. The three languages share many similar words. In contrast to Spanish, Romanian permits word-final consonant clusters.

Apple Crisp

Apple crisp is delicious and easy to make. It's a great alternative to apple pie. Here's a simple recipe:

6 apples, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup oats
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
Mix the apples with sugar and cinnamon and put into a baking dish.
Mix the sugar, oats, flour and cinnamon in a separate bowl.
Mash the butter into the mixture until it resembles crumbs.
Spread evenly over the apples in the dish.
Bake in the oven until golden brown for about 40 minutes.

The Mystery

Sarah Teasdale wrote The Mystery. Here is her poem:

The Mystery

Your eyes drink of me,
Love makes them shine,
Your eyes that lean
So close to mine.

We have long been lovers,
We know the range
Of each other's moods
And how they change;

But when we look
At each other so
Then we feel
How little we know;

The spirit eludes us,
Timid and free--
Can I ever know you
Or you know me?

The poem consists of four stanzas. Each stanza has four verses and the second and fourth verses of each stanza rhyme. The poem ends with a question: Can I ever know you or you know me?

The first stanza expresses the intimacy of the couple. This is revealed in their eyes that lean closely to one another. In the second stanza the reader learns that they have been together for a long time and know how their moods change. The third stanza explains that even though they know each other well, they feel they know little about each other. The fourth verse is connected to the title. Love can be a mystery. Even though the two have been together long, there is so much they don't know about one another.

Sarah Teasdale tells the reader that relationships are complex and develop over time. Regardless of how long couples have been together, they'll never know everything about one another. In this regard, relationships are like a mystery.

Victory in 18

In a game of chess my opponent resigned after 18 moves. He was apricotshandy of Australia. In this game I played white. Here are the moves of the game with my commentary:

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 exd
4. Bc4 h6

I decide to develop rather than capture the pawn. Black's move fails to develop a piece.

5. 0-0 Bd7

Black should develop a piece on the kingside so that he can castle quickly.

6. e4 dxe

My aim is to open the centre of the board.

7. Nxe5 Be6
8. Bxe6 fxe6

The black king is exposed.

9. Qh5+ Ke7
10. Qf7+ Kd6
11. Bf4 Nc6
12. Ng6+ Kd5

I use a discovered check to win the black rook on h8.

13. Nxh8 Nf6
14. Ng6 Nh5
15. Bxc7 Qg5

I win a pawn.

16. Qf3+ Kc5
17. Nxf8 Nf6

I win a piece. Black wants to capture my knight.

18. Nxe6+

My knight check forks the king and queen, so black resigns.

I force an early resignation with my quick development and material advantage. Black makes a number of mistakes in the game. His most critical is probably Bd7. It fails to develop his kingside and keeps his king in the centre.