As mentioned in an earlier post, English is a mostly analytic language, while Czech is mainly synthetic. The core difference is how grammar is expressed. In analytic languages, grammar is indicated mostly through separate words and strict word order, which you can see in English. Synthetic languages express grammar mostly through changes to the words themselves (endings, prefixes, inflections). Neither English nor Czech is 100% one or the other, but Czech’s mainly synthetic qualities make it less likely that sentences are ambiguous.
Consider some of these humorously ambiguous English examples found in publications:
“Dr. Tackett Gives Talk on Moon”
“The summary of information contains totals of the number of students broken down by sex, marital status, and age.”
On a related note, here are some English sentences that go in a different direction than you as a reader might be expecting at first:
“The man who hunts ducks out on weekends.”
“The cotton clothing is usually made of grows in Mississippi.”
“The prime number few.”
“Fat people eat accumulates.”
(all found in The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker)
This might make you think that Czech is therefore reliably logical. But at least in their use of double negatives, I daresay otherwise! Consider the phrase “Neni ti nic.” Literally it means “It’s not nothing to you.” Which would seem to mean that it’s something, since it’s not nothing, but nope, double negatives just emphasize the negativity — “There’s nothing wrong with you!” Get over yourself, haha.
I really miss good Mexican foods already. I mainly ate at Nachos & Beer, Taco Billy, Eggs Rancheros, and Chipotle when in Asheville. I even went to Taco Bell a few times on road trips, wow! Also, Rocky’s Hot Chicken is pretty darn tasty. If someone opens a genuinely good Mexican place here, they’ll make a killing! Or maybe it’s here, and I just haven’t found it yet… Hopefully. Con un poco de suerte. ¡Desafío aceptado!
I’ve learned that there are very few chiropractors in all of the Czech Republic. I sometimes experience back, shoulder, and/or neck tightness and pain, and I definitely have on this visit to Prague. Massages and chiropractic adjustments can help in these situations, so I got a 90-minute Thai massage for $64(!), and then I looked up chiropractors. Since there are so very few, I easily found the sole American and sole female chiropractor in the country. She was even the chiropractor of the US women’s hockey team last year. Anyway, she told me that there were only three chiropractors in all of Czechia when she started her practice a handful of years ago, and it hasn’t really caught on. There must be dozens of chiropractors in Asheville, a city a fraction of the size of Prague! Apparently there used to be Russian body workers, and they would do manipulations, and it seems like physical therapists are mainly what folks here visit for getting the body comfortable nowadays. The doctor I visited advertises to tourists in English, and gets a regular stream of American visitors wanting an adjustment after a long flight. 💆♂️
More photos from the city:
Side note: I’ll soon be leaving Prague to travel for one month around parts of Asia and Australasia. I’m scheduled to fly back to Prague in April from Singapore via Dubai. The Middle East seemed like a logical layover on the way back, so as to break the trip up in half. I wonder how that’s going to pan out with the regular bombing attacks there? How will I actually get back in practice? TBD. But that’s a minor concern compared to life for all those living in that region. Such as my friends in Abu Dhabi, who say they hear explosions and feel the reverberations every day. They mostly stay inside, but when they go outside, they keep watch on the skies. So stressful.
Today’s music video:
I thought I was done sharing Epica videos on this site, but I’m getting excited for seeing them live in concert next weekend in Prague, so I have added a good one here — but no symphony this time.
Today’s Stoic quote:
“It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinions than our own.” ~ Marcus Aurelius
Major Meander 