[Lexicog] What is a bat? - natural and unnatural terms

[Mike Maxwell]

Peter Kirk wrote:

> On 16/08/2004 13:20, Mike Maxwell wrote:
>>Thapelo Otlogetswe wrote:
>>>Penguin is a strange fellow because not only can't he fly,
>>>he also swims - a quality which is not very birdy!
>>
>>I think what is odd about a penguin is mostly that he can't fly.  Lots
>>of flying birds also swim, including ducks and geese, and some flying
>>birds travel substantial distances underwater, like loons and some
>>seabirds.  I may be wrong, but I would guess such birds are considered
>>almost as birdy as perching birds.
>>
 >
> But can all water birds, apart from penguins, actually fly? Certainly
> some fly very poorly and rarely.

I don't know about _all_ water birds; the ones I'm thinking of (apart
from Penguins) do fly well.  What I am saying is that those water birds
which _do_ fly well are considered birds (or at least I am imagining
they are).   Therefore what's odd about penguins is not that they swim
(they would be just as odd if they didn't swim), but rather that they
don't fly.

Of course there's another possibility, that what's odd about penguins is
both that they swim and that they don't fly.  That would make them less
odd than ostriches, etc.  But distinguishing between the hypothesis that
the oddity in Penguins is that they don't fly, and the oddity about
Penguins is that they don't fly _and_ they swim, might be rather
difficult.  I don't imagine there are many cultures which are familiar
with both non-flying running birds (Ostriches etc.) and non-flying
swimming birds (Penguins, maybe a couple others).

--
	Mike Maxwell
	Linguistic Data Consortium
	maxwell at ldc.upenn.edu


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