Will "Funner" ever become a word?

It's not "funner" at least not yet. It's "more fun". "Most fun" if you want to make it a superlative. I don't see the problem everyone has with fun being an adjective. I thought that was pretty standard.

fun, technically, rufio, is a noun.

The thing is, grammatical rules also change over time. If you study some linguistics, that's likely one of the things you'll hear.

In Japan, you have something called na-adjectives. These are more or less nouns borrowed from Chinese, but there are also a few English words in there, like "handsome na" and "cute na".

I think the next one or two generations of English speakers will probably use fun as just that - A combined noun/adjective that can't be conjugated without the use of "more". But in the long run, you might well see the word "funner" because of simplification. It's very common for the use of one grammatical rule, such as the -er/-est-conjugations of adjectives to be expanded over time.

You make a good point Rounin when you say that simplification is what languages progress towards. In Ancient Greek, there was no structure in their sentences. Verbs could be at the beginning with subjects at the end. The way they differentiated words was by endings. For example, in Ancient Greek, when you used the word "house" as the subject (oikos), it was pronounced differently from when it was used as a indirect object (oiko). Possessives (oikou) and direct objects (oikon) were the same way.

Now, in Modern Greek, pronouns play a much larger part in their language. Pronouns provide an answer where every noun stays the same, you just but a pronoun before it to show whether it is a subject, indirect object, etc.

One can also see it in the shortening of words in every language. I think that at some point, people will move to funner because it is simply easier to say. It is shorter and requires less thought. Simplification is key here.

Where is mezzie in this convo?

This phenomenon is similar in all highly grammaticized languages, xifar, including German, which is the most complicated western european language I know of (in terms of rules and forms, not pronunciation or diction :-))

But I'm not willing to accept "funner" :-)

cav, which branch of linguistics does mezzie specialize in, do you know?

I have no clue. Food is my specialty, and people.

hehe. . . that we know. . . hey, speaking of which, If you wouldn't mind, do you have any idea what I can do with nothing else besides a small bag of basmati rice, spices, and a couple packages of sauce? :-) I'm sooooo cheap around the holidays :-)

Hmm...I might suggest cooking the rice first, 1 1/2 cups water to 1 cup rice, bring to a boil, add spices, cover, reduce heat to low, cook for 20 minutes, fluff with a fork and stir in the sauce. However, not knowing what spices or sauce you have leave me at a bit of a loss in terms of proper advice.

tehehe. . . yeah, that's kinda where I am. . . I'm too cheap to go out and actually BUY food, so I've been mixing rice and spice variations for a few days now. . . I may have to cave, my carb count is definitely on the rise. . . :-)

Post what you have, and I may be able to help. I assume it is dry spices?

yep. . . I have just about every spice known to man, really. . . my mother decided that spices and tupperware, not actual money, would be a good college gift for me a few years ago. . . I have all balsamic and red wine vinegar, sesame and olive and canola oil, hoisan sauce, garlic (of course), a few cups of brown rice, half a pound of basmati rice, soy sauce, lingonberries (don't ask), Knorr cheese sauce, parma rosa sauce, tomato-based sauce (technically for zucchini), mushroom sauce, and many many powdered soups which often wind up sauce (asparagus, herb, mushroom, etc).

I really need to go buy some food :-)

Hmm....I might suggest a nice rice salad. Mix maybe 3/4 basmati to 1/4 brown rice, use the lingonberries, and make a nice vinaigrette with red wine vinegar, olive oil, a splash of balsamic, and salt and pepper. You can add crushed garlic if you want, but don't go overboard. If the loganberries are not sweet, add a touch of honey or sugar to the vinaigrette. As for spices, I would stick to sweet basil, maybe a little thyme. Avoid dried rosemary, it's too strong. Sure it's a cold dish, but it might be fun. Cook the 2 rices separately.

oh, that sounds yummy! <copying and pasting> thanks, cav :-) you have to go to school for that stuff, right? :-)

That and have the instinct, I suppose.

According to who is fun only a noun, princess? This sounds a lot like the conspiracy to turn English into Latin, to me. Whatever you want to say, the fact is that fun is an adjective. Yes, technically too.

uhm. . . the ORIGINAL 'fun' is much as it still is in most other languages. . . in German, one "macht Spaß". . . something can not BE Spaß. . . it's similar in french, and, well, dunno if the Romans had fun, but the only thing I can think of close to it is a noun as well.

What xifar meant, and the question of yours I was answering, is that, in its original connotation, fun is a noun.

AAARRRGH! Vast west(ern European)-wing conspiracy!!

Heh heh....princessash said "Eur-a-peein"...

thank you, cav, for helping me raise the integrity of this thread. . . <giggle>