<div>The list of Arctic people's words for snow that I provided a website for could have been fabricated or in error somehow. The reference for the list was a Julian Bentham, Adelaide Research Center, but I could not find any reference, as far as I searched, matching this source, though this does not prove the list is a fraud or in error:</div>
<div> </div>
<div><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.elements.nb.ca/kids/snow/snoword.htm" target="_blank">http://www.elements.nb.ca/kids/snow/snoword.htm</a></div>
<div>---------</div>
<div>Below read discussion from January, 2007 from the linguist you referenced, Geoffrey Pullum, about the nature of Arctic people's languages, explaining his position on the myth about "words" for snow:</div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004003.html">http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004003.html</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>I quote:</div>
<div> </div>
<div>"The point is that we want to count one for each family of derived words like <i>snow</i>, <i>snowy</i>, <i>snowing</i>, <i>snowlike</i>, <i>snowstorm</i>, etc.; if you don't do that, then Eskimoan languages not only have millions of words for snow, they have millions of words for fish, millions of words for coffee, millions of words for absolutely anything, which makes the whole discussion irrelevant to anything about snow."</div>
<div> </div>
<div>And:</div>
<div> </div>
<div><font color="#000099">"So where English uses separate words to make up descriptive phrases like "early snow falling in autumn" or "snow with a herring-scale pattern etched into it by rainfall", Eskimo languages have an astonishing propensity for being able to express such concepts (about anything, not just snow) with a single derived word."</font></div>
<div>---------</div>
<div>But looking for other sources to illuminate the debate about whether or not Arctic people's have dozens of words for snow, I found an even more extensive list of "snow words," and more discussion about what a "word" for snow linguistically speaking, really means, when comparing Arctic people's languages and English. English has a long list of words, according to this source, or lexemes, as they are called below, for snow:</div>
<div> </div>
<div><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/research/eskimo.html" target="_blank">http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/research/eskimo.html</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div> 6. English snow lexemes (22 for comparison)
<p>
<table cellspacing="2" cellpadding="0" width="290" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">avalanche</font></td>
<td width="50%"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">sleet</font></td></tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">blizzard</font></td>
<td width="50%"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">slush</font></td></tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">dusting</font></td>
<td width="50%"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">snow bank</font></td></tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">flurry</font></td>
<td width="50%"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">snow cornice</font></td></tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">frost</font></td>
<td width="50%"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">snow fort</font></td></tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">hail</font></td>
<td width="50%"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">snow house</font></td></tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">hardpack</font></td>
<td width="50%"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">snow man</font></td></tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">ice lens</font></td>
<td width="50%"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">snowball</font></td></tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">igloo (Inuit iglu 'house')</font></td>
<td width="50%"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">snowflake</font></td></tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">pingo (Inuit pingu(q) 'ice lens')</font></td>
<td width="50%"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">snowstorm</font></td></tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">powder</font></td>
<td width="50%"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">spindrift</font></td></tr></tbody></table></p>
<p><span><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">---------</font></span></p>
<p><span><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">And here is a list of "snow words" from Greenland from a researcher who appears to really exist, Michael Fortescue:</font></span></p>
<p><span><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2811250?lookfor=fortescue&offset=6&max=369" target="_blank">http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2811250?lookfor=fortescue&offset=6&max=369</a></span></p>
<p><span><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/research/eskimo2.html" target="_blank">http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/research/eskimo2.html</a></span></p>
<p><span>From website above:</span></p><span><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"></font></span></div>
<div><span><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">
<p><span><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Note that these lists include "ice". You might read through the list and decide how many words are specific to "snow" (and how much difference that might make to the argument). </font></span></p>
<span></span></font></span></div><span><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span></span>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">10 words for ice and snow from Labradoran Inuit<br>1.'ice' sikko<br>2.'bare ice' tingenek<br>3.'snow (in general)' aput<br>4.'snow (like salt)' pukak<br>
5.'soft deep snow' mauja<br>6.'snowdrift' tipvigut<br>7.'soft snow' massak<br>8.'watery snow' mangokpok<br>9.'snow filled with water' massalerauvok<br>10.'soft snow' akkilokipok<br>
<br>49 words for snow and ice from West Greenlandic<br><br><i>(word list taken from Fortescue's West Greenlandic grammar).</i><br><br>1.'sea-ice' siku (in plural = drift ice)<br>2.'pack-ice/large expanses of ice in motion' sikursuit, pl. (compacted drift ice/ice field = sikut iqimaniri)<br>
3.'new ice' sikuliaq/sikurlaaq (solid ice cover = nutaaq.)<br>4.'thin ice' sikuaq (in plural = thin ice floes)<br>5.'rotten (melting) ice floe' sikurluk<br>6.'iceberg' iluliaq (ilulisap itsirnga = part of iceberg below waterline)<br>
7.'(piece of) fresh-water ice' nilak<br>8.'lumps of ice stranded on the beach' issinnirit, pl.<br>9.'glacier' (also ice forming on objects) sirmiq (sirmirsuaq = Inland Ice)<br>10.'snow blown in (e.g. doorway)' sullarniq<br>
11.'rime/hoar-frost' qaqurnak/kanirniq/kaniq<br>12.'frost (on inner surface of e.g. window)' iluq<br>13.'icy mist' pujurak/pujuq kanirnartuq<br>14.'hail' nataqqurnat<br>15.'snow (on ground)' aput (aput sisurtuq = avalanche)<br>
16.'slush (on ground)' aput masannartuq<br>17.'snow in air/falling' qaniit (qanik = snowflake)<br>18.'air thick with snow' nittaalaq (nittaallat, pl. = snowflakes; nittaalaq nalliuttiqattaartuq = flurries)<br>
19.'hard grains of snow' nittaalaaqqat, pl.<br>20.'feathery clumps of falling snow' qanipalaat<br>21.'new fallen snow' apirlaat<br>22.'snow crust' pukak<br>23.'snowy weather' qannirsuq/nittaatsuq<br>
24.'snowstorm' pirsuq/pirsirsursuaq<br>25.'large ice floe' iluitsuq<br>26.'snowdrift' apusiniq<br>27.'ice floe' puttaaq<br>28.'hummocked ice/pressure ridges in pack ice' maniillat/ingunirit, pl.<br>
29.'drifting lump of ice' kassuq (dirty lump of glacier-calved ice = anarluk)<br>30.'ice-foot (left adhering to shore)' qaannuq<br>31.'icicle' kusugaq<br>32.'opening in sea ice imarnirsaq/ammaniq (open water amidst ice = imaviaq)<br>
33.'lead (navigable fissure) in sea ice' quppaq<br>34.'rotten snow/slush on sea' qinuq<br>35.'wet snow falling' imalik<br>36.'rotten ice with streams forming' aakkarniq<br>37.'snow patch (on mountain, etc.)' aputitaq<br>
38.'wet snow on top of ice' putsinniq/puvvinniq<br>39.'smooth stretch of ice' manirak (stretch of snow-free ice = quasaliaq)<br>40.'lump of old ice frozen into new ice' tuaq<br>41.'new ice formed in crack in old ice' nutarniq<br>
42.'bits of floating' naggutit, pl.<br>43.'hard snow' mangiggal/mangikaajaaq<br>44.'small ice floe (not large enough to stand on)' masaaraq<br>45.'ice swelling over partially frozen river, etc. from water seeping up to the surface' siirsinniq<br>
46.'piled-up ice-floes frozen together' tiggunnirit<br>47.'mountain peak sticking up through inland ice' nunataq<br>48.'calved ice (from end of glacier)' uukkarnit<br>49.'edge of the (sea) ice' sinaaq<br>
<br><br><strong>Miscellaneous.</strong><br><br>While English "igloo" meaning 'snow house' comes from Inuit, "iglo" (or "illu") more generally means 'house' or home' in most dialects. Sometimes houses are constructed of peat[3,4]. English "kayak" comes from Intuit "qayaq" (means the same)[3,4].<br>
The stereotypical Eskimo name Nanook corresponds to "nanuq" 'polar bear'</font></p>
<p><span><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><i>Ref:Stuart P. Derby from The AFU and Urban Legend Archive Language</i></font></span><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"><br></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">And Mark Halpern adds:</font></p>
<p>The following letter appeared on page 8 of New York magazine for June 13, 1994: </p>
<p>
<table cellspacing="4" cellpadding="4" width="95%" align="center" bgcolor="#ffcc99" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<p><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">In the "Fast Track" piece "The Very, Very Tiresome Season of Storms" [by Steven J. Dubner, February 28], Dr. Steven Pinker of MIT is quoted as saying that Eskimos don't really have hundreds of different words for snow. He states, "They have exactly as many or perhaps two or three more words than English speakers." <br>
I have spent the past 22 years living in an Inupiat Eskimo community. According to the North Slope Borough's Inupiat History, Language, and Culture division, the Inupiats have more than 30 words for snow, and more than 70 for ice. In the Arctic, the specific conditions of snow and ice are critical to hunting and survival; two or three words would hardly cover our needs.</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">Elise Sereni Patkotak <br>Public Information Officer <br>North Slope Borough <br>Barrow, Alaska </font></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br></p>
<div></div></font></span>------------------------------------------
<div>Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett<br><br> </div>
<div><span class="gmail_quote">On 5/14/09, <b class="gmail_sendername">Don Coombs</b> <<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:mushroom@moscow.com" target="_blank">mushroom@moscow.com</a>> wrote:</span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid"><br><br>Ted Moffett wrote:<br>> I recall that Arctic peoples have dozens of words for different kinds of<br>
> frozen precipitation--<br>><br><br>Ted not only recalled, but cited a number of the words.<br>Another view is presented in Geoffrey K. Pullum's<br>"The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax (and other irreverent<br>
essays on the study of language)" (University of<br>Chicago Press, 1991).<br><br>Pullum suggests that at least in West Greenland there<br>are only two basic terms, one for "snow in the air" and<br>one for "snow on the ground."<br>
<br>Pullum is (or was) a professor of linguistics and dean<br>of grad studies at U. Cal Santa Cruz, and for years<br>wrote a regular column in "Natural Language and<br>Linguistic Theory." The book is a collection of his<br>
columns.<br><br>He makes the point that the story about the many<br>words for snow makes so much sense that it will go on<br>forever, whether true or not.<br><br>Ted's citations suggest that at least in some cold<br>white lands, they do have many words.<br>
<br>Don Coombs<br><br><br><br>=======================================================<br>List services made available by First Step Internet,<br>serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br> <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.fsr.net/" target="_blank">http://www.fsr.net</a><br>
mailto:<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com" target="_blank">Vision2020@moscow.com</a><br>=======================================================<br></blockquote>
</div><br>