From: adam@address.invalid   
      
   unruh wrote:   
   > On 2012-05-19, Adam  wrote:   
   >> Wolfgang Schelongowski wrote:   
      
   >>> We never had Bachelor's/Master's degrees until a few years ago.   
   >>   
   >> I'm confused -- were only doctorates awarded before that?   
   >   
   > Diplom (somewhere between Bachelor and masters) Habilitation (greater   
   > than PhD)   
      
   Thanks, Bill!  Does "Habilitation" require a Ph.D. first?  And how   
   far (in credits or years) beyond a Ph.D. is that?  I've noticed a   
   few unfamiliar degrees in the faculty listing in college and   
   university catalogs, including a few "certificates" from foreign   
   institutions.   
      
   >>> The o-Umlaut is pronounced similar to the vowel in girl but it's the   
   >>> first name which is difficult.   
   >   
   > Actually different from girl. No real equivalent.   
      
   I didn't think any of the sounds of ä ë ï ö ü occurred in English,   
   not anywhere in the English-speaking world.  I know that usually in   
   English they're represented by a following "e", as in Müller becomes   
   Mueller, with the exception of the name that started this discussion   
   where Heinrich Böll becomes simply Boll.   
      
   > And the rolled r-- either gutteral or tongue tip.   
      
   Are you referring to German?  I gather the French rolled R is a   
   gutteral which I can't pronounce, while the tongue tip rolled R   
   makes me think of a Scottish burr.   
      
   My acoustics professor said that after roughly age 18 or so, people   
   lose the ability to pronounce new sounds, or to lose a local or   
   regional accent.   
      
   >> That reminds me of the English "less" and "fewer", where "fewer" is   
   >> only used for things that can be counted (AFAIK).   
   >   
   > Yes, and less should not be used for those-- it is for continuous   
   > quantities (water and time are less, and people and ants are fewer).   
      
   I stand corrected.  As a native English-speaker (USA variety), I   
   generally don't consciously think about which forms to use when I   
   speak or write.  I understand time is "less", but what about minutes   
   or other specific units of time?  Tonight it took me 35 minutes to   
   drive somewhere, but only 30 to drive back.  That is five minutes   
   [less/fewer?].  Hmmm... I'd say "less".  My hunch is that in a   
   century or two the distinction will have disappeared from common usage.   
      
   >>> Now it's even worse due to women's lib and political correctness.   
   >>> Generic terms are usually of male gender, so PC-speak appends   
   >>> In (sing.) / Innen (pl.). I usually call such GutmenschInnen   
   >   
   > Or plural. In English the use of the plural to designate the   
   > indeterminate singular apparently goes back to the at least the 17th   
   > century.  (their for his/her for example).   
      
   But a plural pronoun for a singular object?  "Each student should   
   put their assignment on my desk" doesn't sound right to me.  Does   
   the King James bible (early 17th c.) do that?   
      
   Adam   
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