#topolect

[bongboyblog]

West Medinipuria Bengali

Question words

Here, SCB= Standard Colloquial Bengali and WMB= West Medinipuria Bengali

Most of the words are just the same as in Standard Bengali. Many Bengali dialects seem to replace কোন (kon) with কুন (kun), which I find really fascinating. Assamese does the same, কোন (kün).

[spectreship]

I recently found out about the word 'topolect', which essentially means "the way people speak in a certain location" without inherent reference to the status of the manner of speech as either a 'full language' or 'dialect'. It's an interesting concept--I wouldn't call myself a linguist, really, but I've long had a fascination with how the line between 'language' and 'dialect' tends to be so blurry and uncertain even when (or perhaps resulting in how) it tends to spark arguments.

Though originally popularized, insofar as such an obscure word can be considered popular, in the 90s to refer to different varieties of Chinese which are mutually unintelligible but still considered "Chinese", I feel like it has untapped potential for a wider use in reference to, say, Scots or Provençal, where they are clearly distinct enough to be separate languages rather than dialects, but there's also an inherent connection and degree of intelligibility to their more widespread cousins, which "language" fails to capture.

[englishlistwords]

Topolect

n. The language or speech of a particular place, such as a country, region, village, or valley, especially.

n. Any of the Sinitic languages, such as Mandarin or Cantonese.

n. Any of the regional and local varieties of one of the Sinitic languages, such one of the dialects of Mandarin.

[clearancecreedwatersurvival]

Aha, small world! I was browsing the otra london tag and thought "hey, don't I know this name from MJ's friends..." then I remembered your 1d breakdown post from back before -I- got swept in 1d (such a distant memory and I've only been here since Jul/Aug). I laughed to see you've since been to a show too, I went to Boston whyyyyy does this fandom eat you alive~ Once you start digging... Anyway, my question is: where have you fallen on 'larry is real' at this point, if you don't mind expanding?

RAD it’s lovely to hear from someone who descended into the pits of hell at the same time I did. I love being on fire constantly, it’s so much fun.

You went to Boston?! I’M SO JEALOUS so much shit went down at the Boston show!

When I first got involved, I tried very hard not to buy in to the shipping. I hate rpf. It’s usually super disrespectful and gross and bleck. And at first when I was reading all the theories and masterposts by the big Larries I just thought they were really reaally reaching and that the whole Larry fandom was really gross and insular and kind of cult-like.

But.

There were certain things that I just couldn’t write off. Like that one sugarscape interview where they make jokes about who tops while talking about Mario Kart. And the disparaging comments Louis made in interviews about Harry and Taylor Swift. And the fact that Bullshit 2.0 happened the same week as Harry’s “Not that important” comment and Louis wearing that pride flag apple logo shirt and refusing to complain about Larry rumors despite the interviewer trying to lead him into it. And how Harry spent two entire weeks before the Attitude interview was released dancing around on stage with Pride flags. And how gross the way they’ve been marketed has been since day 1, especially Harry. And the truly amazing level of bullshit that’s gone into Babygate so far. And, oh my God, everything that happened last night, with the fucking signed photograph of a closeted celebrity that said “Love, Larry” on it in front of the queer as fuck bears and Niall dissing Simon Cowell on stage in front of god and everyone. And watching the way Louis and Harry interact on stage, how they’re constantly aware of each other, in order to more successfully avoid each other, while simultaneously mirroring each other’s movements without ever apparently even looking at each other. (like when they played on X Factor with Ronnie Wood and despite the fact that no one else moved during the performance Louis switched places with Harry because he could tell that Harry reaaally wanted to jam out with a Rolling Stone). And how Louis has now twice been filmed signalling for Harry’s mic to be turned up while making a heart symbol with his hands. And how pissed off the whole band has looked in interviews for years every time an interviewer asks one of the horrible “what do you look for in a girl/which celebrity would you date” questions. And how I genuinely cannot believe that two people who were obviously as good of friends as they were could stop being friends because of fan rumors. 

So like, in my heart of hearts I know that it’s much more likely that the official narrative is in some way true, and that Louis and Harry really did have a falling out. But even if that’s true and Larry isn’t and has never been real, I still believe, given everything else, that Harry is in some way queer, and the day he comes out I will run screaming down a street and probably burn an effigy of Simon Cowell. So at the very least, I’m gonna stay invested in Harry’s future. But I have very strong suspicions about Larry, and if it turns out that I’m not reading it totally wrong I will feel so vindicated. Because dammit, I AM GOOD AT READING PEOPLE OKAY I CAN’T BE WRONG ABOUT THIS SHIT. So no, I’m not at the level where I actually believe they’re secretly married and own fifteen houses together. But I do believe there’s something more to their relationship than what the public has been lead to believe, that celebrities’ public images are as much a part of making money off their brand as (and in One Direction’s case, even more than) the music, that Louis is not going to be a father, that Harry will one day come out (with or without Louis), and that no members of the band deserve to put up with all the outrageous bullshit they’ve experienced in the past five years. Like Jesus Christ, Harry Styles is almost exactly my age. I can’t even imagine going through what he’s experienced. And from the age of 16. Fuck. 

So yeah, that’s where I’m at right now.

[droppingtheveilofmaya]

Hi! This may be outside your wheelhouse but do you have any thoughts on why 1D seems to have so much creative control of their music? They get so many writing credits on albums, their songs are surprisingly clear about their situation (Strong, Something Great). Shouldn't their music be under Syco and have an equally shitty contract? If they wanted larries gone, shouldn't Strong not exist? I'm just surprised that such a repressive situation has still given me such meaningful queer love songs.

Hello!

Their music is indeed very much under Syco, but I guess you’re putting too much hope into the fandom’s disposal of interpretation. The message has been loud and clear, LARRY IS EVIL, no respectable fan would ever look for a Larry meaning in those songs, that don’t even brushes their mind. If a bunch of deluded larries want to make everything about a non existent ship, that’s their problem and they’re just so stupid (and a menace to this fandom well being). No, seriously, they tried to sell Something Great as a Taylor song! Fans up to today still say that Strong and No Control are about Eleanor. There’s They Don’t Know About Us out there and they don’t even blink! Syco knows it, they’ve done a good job together with Modest!. They could have literally released a song about called “I’m a guy and in love with Louis” that credited Harry Styles and they have been trained so well that they would have shrugged it off as a joke. I mean, there has been serious suggestions that Louis had the dagger to mock Larries…I don’t know how lower we could go.

[live-he-says]

Okay, new Larrie here, I might as well come off anon, I just wanted to make sure I hadn’t -totally- creeped you out by finding your sideblog! :) Here’s my ~journey~ here, okay: since Zayn left, I’ve been following the 1D drama like a wine mom asking about the high school drama, as they say. It was just so fascinating how BIG NEWS was coming out every three days and the fandom is so hilariously deadpan after all the shit its been through and omg just… this is SUCH a high level of drama. But the thing is, I was casually following everything from the perspective of a blog that loves Liam, Lilo and Sophia and was very supportive of Eleanor in the past. The seeds of strife were sown with me when they reacted to the baby news by being super supportive and psyched for it when my first reaction was D: D: I HOPE THAT’S NOT TRUE (even though I didn’t even know Louis very well at all at that point, just what a unfortunate situation it would be and how weird it seemed that it was being trotted out at an early stage of the pregnancy). So I was kinddd of looking for a new source for my 1D updates and also… just feeling like I already would rather throw my lot in with the people proposing the theories than this girl refuting them. SO when I saw you were into Larry as a person whose take on Maotsujun I’d always respected, I was like “…shit, well now I feel like I HAVE to read up on the Larries’ side of things?? Yoshi knows what’s up.” But I was a little shy to ask you for your sideblog when we didn’t know each other well/I was just doing a preliminary exploration so when I saw aimforthestars reply something like “One Direction sucks. 0/10 would not recommend” on one of your posts AND that she was a fellow Arashi fan I thought “clearly this is a good person to further my inquiries with!”. ;) And now I wish I could remember the post but I just can’t find it: as I was reading her blog, she made a post or said something in her tags about larries who fell into it within the span of a week and I was like “Y'know, I bet this about Yoshi” and sure enough, I clicked on someone who had liked the post or something and it was your sideblog. SORRY TO BE A CREEPER!!! 

And now ever since I’ve been checking in with both yours and aimforthestars blogs. It started out just for 1D updates. And then I was like “this fandom is so fucking funny and ‘dark larrie’ is the most evocative term, how smart! I love it.” And then I was like “I should check out this Treatise they mention”. And next, “I think I’ll start from the beginning and watch clips from the X-Factor, origin stories are always fun! …WAIT, omg, he practically wrapped his legs around his hips as they twirled in in joy when they became a group?? The other one ran to hug him when he came back to from the hospital?? WHAT KIND OF FIC REALNESS IS THIS, I ALREADY BELIEVE THEY’RE IN LOVE!!!” I had to spend a few days percolating on this, watching more clips where they gaze lovingly into each other’s eyes, sloooowly letting it sink in but last night I clicked on the tattoo page on the Treatise and, while in great pain, I finally had to scream: I’M A FUCKING LARRIE!!!!!!

This. Has got to be. The. Best tumblr message. I have EVER. Received.

I don’t know if it traces back to who it was submitted by? And since you came off anon I’m just going to shamelessly credit you @topolect.

I don’t even know what to say at how awesome it is that you followed me through fandoms? Like how wonderful is that to hear that someone likes your thoughts enough to follow you through the painful 9th level of hell that is Larry fandoms? I’m blushing. Are you courting me? Because the answer is yes. A million times yes. Don’t tell my boyfriend.

But fucking truth right now, the tattoos was EXACTLY where I went ballistic too. I’m all tingly thinking about it. How do people not see they’re together? I mean I can’t ask if people are just blind, they’re clearly outright refusing it because their like... their fan fantasies can’t be fulfilled or something with a gay Harry and/or gay Louis and I’m just so... what? How selfish can a fan be? I mean, they’re human too and they make you so happy, why don’t you wish the same for them? haha. They’re so fucking real man.

Maotsujun is hard to analyze because of Japanese customs, right? So you have to like stare at videos sometimes. LOL Their social cues are different from western cues. Ohmiya is easier, but still harder to analyze. Larry is seriously stimulus overdose for me. I don’t do any work. I just hit reblog and uselessly feel things.

And on that “FIC REALNESS” part you were mentioning? YAH. I KNOW. Their real life story is so much BETTER than fic, it’s so crazy man. I hurt all over. lol

Also, the post you were talking about aimforthestars’s 0/10 won’t recommend thing is this one. My obsessive tagging doing work.

[spurious]

topolect

replied to your photo

“First day of showing up at work with this hair color and I didn’t get...”

wow, your hair is beyond awesome~ fingers crossed for future reactions to it. <3

thank you! :D day two has gone by with nothing bad happening sooooooo yay