14. 4 Features From Other Languages That We Wish English Had

This article talks about four interesting features from several languages that would be great if they were implemented into English. In the video the author presents, Youtuber Tom Scott talks about the four features he wishes were found in English. The first is time-independence; he explains how whenever a verb in English is used, one has to say when it happened or when it will happen. In Chinese, on the other hand, doesn't require verb-tense; sentences can be perfectly made without conjugation of verbs. The second feature is clusivity. He complains how in English, the word "we" can be both inclusive and exclusive, making several sentences confusing depending on the context. IN other languages however, there are different words for "we" which indicate whether the listener is included or not. The third one is absolute direction. In Guugu Yimithirr, a native language from Austrilia, words for left, right, forward, and backward don't exist. Instead, they always refer to cardinal directions which is north, south, east, and west. He finds it cool and would love it if he always knew what direction was north and etc. Fourth and last feature is evidentiality. He explains how evidence is baked into sentences of languages around the world, yet English ones don't require this. He adds that keeping these minor languages alive is what gives insight to our human minds. The author concludes the article by talking about how fascinated he was about the inclusive and exclusive "we."
Gretchen McCulloh, author of this writing, wrote a very interesting and informative article. Most of the explanation she does is through the video she adds right at the beginning of the paper. It is quite humorous and the explanations of the feature are very clear. She also starts off with a very catching question that would make the readers want to watch the video to find out what these "alien" features are. McCulloh goes on to explain why she'd love if the features were implemented into the English language, especially the exclusive and inclusive "we" one.She also adds a map showing where in the world are the languages with and without the distinction of the word "we." Overall, it's a very interesting, informative and thorough article even though it's short.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2014/10/24/_4_fantastic_features_from_other_languages_that_we_wish_english_had_especially.html