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Well, if Shelly can avoid freaking out, this might cure both of them . . .

And it looks like Shelly's initial reaction to Digit crying is positive . . .

I wonder if they're figuring out what happened yet?

--FreeFlier

There are times you are sooooo frightened you move past fear. This may be one of them -- and Shelly will empathize with Digit -- and so begins a beautiful friendship.....

Considering what Digit said about the relative efficiencies of spider and human speech, I think she just gave us an entire Shakespeare soliloquy of existential despair.

Dave wrote:Considering what Digit said about the relative efficiencies of spider and human speech, I think she just gave us an entire Shakespeare soliloquy of existential despair.

Could be.

I'm trying to figure out the exact vocalizations for the last panel and the "aush skeeeeeee" from yesterday. (I'm working on a sentient bipedal arthropoidal race homebrew for D&D)

Gyrrakavian wrote:I'm trying to figure out the exact vocalizations for the last panel and the "aush skeeeeeee" from yesterday. (I'm working on a sentient bipedal arthropoidal race homebrew for D&D)

I think you're going to have to figure out whether she was saying "aush skèéęėeëë" or "ăůšħ şķėeěëēêê". There's a big difference, after all, and not just in the matter of whether Monica is going to wash Digit's mouth out with soap.

Dave wrote:

Gyrrakavian wrote:I'm trying to figure out the exact vocalizations for the last panel and the "aush skeeeeeee" from yesterday. (I'm working on a sentient bipedal arthropoidal race homebrew for D&D)

I think you're going to have to figure out whether she was saying "aush skèéęėeëë" or "ăůšħ şķėeěëēêê". There's a big difference, after all, and not just in the matter of whether Monica is going to wash Digit's mouth out with soap.

I know you're half joking, but vowels can be pretty tricky in other languages. Especially with the American habit of dropping diacritics.

Wow. Paul, how'd you get the screen to go all wavy at the last panel... oh wait, that's not the screen... Damn It.

We've got a crying Digit (can spiders cry? This may be a new sensation for her), a licking mini-Dietzel, and these combined appear to have moved Shelly past the point of being white with fear and paralyzed. Hopefully this will lead to improvement. At least we don't have a kitchen full of terrified Sphinx.

Digit has cried before . . . soon after the transformation.

--FreeFlier

Humm, i think she has found her mentor.

Gyrrakavian wrote:I know you're half joking, but vowels can be pretty tricky in other languages. Especially with the American habit of dropping diacritics.

I'm reminded of Atsali's Big Adventure when she and Katherine flew out, bounced and landed atop each other...

TazManiac wrote:I'm reminded of Atsali's Big Adventure when she and Katherine flew out, bounced and landed atop each other...

Except, unlike Atsali in that case, Digit probably has a bruised chin.

TazManiac wrote:I'm reminded of Atsali's Big Adventure when she and Katherine flew out, bounced and landed atop each other...

Or of Nadette's Big Adventure when she and Atsali flew out, bounced and landed atop each other...

". . . Son of a biscuit! Boobs are not airbags!"

And Nadette got a bruised nose from the talisman.

--FreeFlier

FreeFlier wrote:

TazManiac wrote:I'm reminded of Atsali's Big Adventure when she and Katherine flew out, bounced and landed atop each other...

Or of Nadette's Big Adventure when she and Atsali flew out, bounced and landed atop each other...

". . . Son of a biscuit! Boobs are not airbags!"

And Nadette got a bruised nose from the talisman.

--FreeFlier

Even if boobs WERE airbags, this is Shelly.

Dave, it only just now occurs to me that we must also determine whether or not the 'th' is pronounced as the voiced fricative /ð/ digraph form or if each is pronounced separately.

Gyrrakavian wrote:Dave, it only just now occurs to me that we must also determine whether or not the 'th' is pronounced as the voiced fricative /ð/ digraph form or if each is pronounced separately.

One of those times to mourn the loss of the letter thorn from english lettering.



--FreeFlier

FreeFlier wrote:

Gyrrakavian wrote:Dave, it only just now occurs to me that we must also determine whether or not the 'th' is pronounced as the voiced fricative /ð/ digraph form or if each is pronounced separately.

One of those times to mourn the loss of the letter thorn from english lettering.

Yes, both thorn and eth were useful consonants. They seem to have fallen out of use, in the same way that a lot of older declensions and conjugations were lost from English... it was the "language of the peasants" for quite a long time, and ended up being simplified in common use.

As to Digit's pronunciation... her consonants may be even worse for us to parse than her vowels. Considering how a spider's body is constructed, it wouldn't surprise me if spider-speech was rich in clicks and pops... a bit like ǃXóõ, which has at least 83 different click sounds, used in complex clusters that the academics have a hell of a time even grouping into specific consonants (at least 58 or at least 87, depending on which dialect and in which researcher you believe).

Add in some stridulation and some body language, and you have a recipe for a very complex, high-bandwidth language!

It seems Shelly isn't the only one who gets laid flat when startled by a spider...