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Greetings to all yo bros out there<BR>
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Never has a saying been more true in this context than Firth's "you know a word by the company it keeps". On my way to work I pass a City Mission (in Auckland, NZ) where homeless people congregate, and on more than one ocasion I have heard the highly respectable passers-by say "look at those bros" - definitely in a derogatory manner. QED. <BR>
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<STRONG><FONT color=#006633 face="Times New Roman, Times, Serif">Wolfgang Sperlich</FONT></STRONG><BR>
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<BR>> From: bill-donna_davis@ntm.org<BR>> To: an-lang@anu.edu.au<BR>> Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:55:03 +0800<BR>> Subject: Re: [An-lang] connotation of English "bro"<BR>> <BR>> Greetings all,<BR>> <BR>> Waruno,<BR>> <BR>> I question the idea of _bro_ in English being either derogatory or <BR>> mening "white trash male." I have never heard it used in either of <BR>> those ways, but rather it is used extensively among males of a certain <BR>> generation (mine, in fact... i.e. baby boomers, I am 54). It is very <BR>> much analogous to Australian "mate." It shows a casual intimacy, and <BR>> it not derogatory at all. The younger generations, such as my <BR>> daughters and their peers, tend to prefer _dude_ (which interestingly, <BR>> is now gender NON-specific! my son-in-law calls my daughter "dude"). <BR>> Others use _bra_ which is cultural imitation of Jamaican/reggae <BR>> version of _bro_.<BR>> <BR>> Also, among the Batak of Palawan island, Philippines, _mistir_ is used <BR>> as an English borrowing with the sense of "sir."<BR>> <BR>> -Bill<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> On Jan 15, 2010, at 9:00 AM, an-lang-request@anu.edu.au wrote:<BR>> <BR>> > Send An-lang mailing list submissions to<BR>> > an-lang@anu.edu.au<BR>> ><BR>> > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit<BR>> > http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/an-lang<BR>> > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to<BR>> > an-lang-request@anu.edu.au<BR>> ><BR>> > You can reach the person managing the list at<BR>> > an-lang-owner@anu.edu.au<BR>> ><BR>> > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific<BR>> > than "Re: Contents of An-lang digest..."<BR>> ><BR>> ><BR>> > Today's Topics:<BR>> ><BR>> > 1. FW: Linguistic Contact in East Timor (Elizabeth Pearce)<BR>> > 2. Re: FW: Linguistic Contact in East Timor (David Gil)<BR>> ><BR>> ><BR>> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>> ><BR>> > Message: 1<BR>> > Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:17:43 +1300<BR>> > From: Elizabeth Pearce <Elizabeth.Pearce@vuw.ac.nz><BR>> > Subject: [An-lang] FW: Linguistic Contact in East Timor<BR>> > To: "an-lang@anu.edu.au" <an-lang@anu.edu.au><BR>> > Message-ID: <C774F427.F9EA%elizabeth.pearce@vuw.ac.nz><BR>> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"<BR>> ><BR>> > And bro is used as a term of address among whites as well as among <BR>> > Maori in New Zealand. (And I imagine in Australia also).<BR>> > Liz Pearce<BR>> ><BR>> ><BR>> > ------ Forwarded Message<BR>> > From: Waruno Mahdi <mahdi@fhi-berlin.mpg.de><BR>> > Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:48:16 +1300<BR>> > To: Austronesian languages <an-lang@anu.edu.au><BR>> > Conversation: [An-lang] Linguistic Contact in East Timor<BR>> > Subject: Re: [An-lang] Linguistic Contact in East Timor<BR>> ><BR>> > Thanks David. Yes, this funny use of _mister_ is interesting indeed,<BR>> > though I haven't heard it yet among Indonesians abroad. The funny<BR>> > thing about it is, that there had been a Javanese herbal-medicine<BR>> > (_jamu_) brand since the early 20th century, known as _jamu cap<BR>> > Nyonya-Meneer_ (lit. 'missus-&-mister brand herbal-medicine').<BR>> > On the package there was a picture of a Dutch couple, the word<BR>> > _meneer_ being Dutch (also spelled _mijnheer_) for 'mister'. The<BR>> > loanword in colloquial Indonesian Malay, _menir_, is/was gender<BR>> > specific (masculine).<BR>> ><BR>> > Also the earlier Portuguese loan _sinyor_ (attested since 17th cent.)<BR>> > was gender specific. Both (_sinyor_ and _menir_) were only used with<BR>> > regard to white persons. I did not mention either of them earlier,<BR>> > because they are no longer commonly used in the modern language.<BR>> ><BR>> > But the process of borrowing can sometimes have unexpected, or no<BR>> > longer apparent loopholes. The word _bro_ (short for _brother_)<BR>> > began to be used some years ago in Malaysia as gender-specific term<BR>> > of address to a (male) friend. I noticed recently that it has also<BR>> > started to be used by some young Indonesians.<BR>> ><BR>> > In view of the fact, that _bro_ in (American) English has a quite<BR>> > pronounced derogatory meaning (something like "white-trash male"),<BR>> > it seems very unlikely that the Malay word was a direct borrowing<BR>> > from English. I tentatively suspect, therefore, that the original<BR>> > precursor was _brother_ as term of address amongst Afro-Americans,<BR>> > and that Malay _bro_ was shortened from _brother_ in Malay itself,<BR>> > independently of the shortening to _bro_ in English. Does that<BR>> > sound likely?<BR>> ><BR>> > I forgot to mention in my former input that Malay borrowed a number<BR>> > of adjectives from Arabic, some with masculine ending (e.g. _hakiki_<BR>> > 'essential'), some with feminine (_alamiah_ 'natural'), but the<BR>> > loanwords were/are free of any gender connotation in Malay.<BR>> ><BR>> > Aloha,<BR>> > Waruno<BR>> ><BR>> ><BR>> >> Just a footnote to Waruno's excellent summary ...<BR>> >><BR>> >> Any white person who has spent any time in Indonesia will be more<BR>> >> than familiar with the recent Indonesian loan from English "mister",<BR>> >> whose denotation is, simply 'white person', and is unmarked not just<BR>> >> for number but also for gender ...<BR>> >><BR>> >> David<BR>> ><BR>> > _______________________________________________<BR>> > An-lang mailing list<BR>> > An-lang@anu.edu.au<BR>> > http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/an-lang<BR>> ><BR>> ><BR>> > ------ End of Forwarded Message<BR>> ><BR>> ><BR>> ><BR>> > ------------------------------<BR>> ><BR>> > Message: 2<BR>> > Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:26:38 +0700<BR>> > From: David Gil <gil@eva.mpg.de><BR>> > Subject: Re: [An-lang] FW: Linguistic Contact in East Timor<BR>> > To: "an-lang@anu.edu.au" <an-lang@anu.edu.au><BR>> > Message-ID: <4B4EAB0E.7000408@eva.mpg.de><BR>> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed<BR>> ><BR>> > Waruno Mahdi wrote:<BR>> >> But the process of borrowing can sometimes have unexpected, or no<BR>> >> longer apparent loopholes. The word _bro_ (short for _brother_)<BR>> >> began to be used some years ago in Malaysia as gender-specific term<BR>> >> of address to a (male) friend. I noticed recently that it has also<BR>> >> started to be used by some young Indonesians.<BR>> >><BR>> >> In view of the fact, that _bro_ in (American) English has a quite<BR>> >> pronounced derogatory meaning (something like "white-trash male"),<BR>> >> it seems very unlikely that the Malay word was a direct borrowing<BR>> >> from English. I tentatively suspect, therefore, that the original<BR>> >> precursor was _brother_ as term of address amongst Afro-Americans,<BR>> >> and that Malay _bro_ was shortened from _brother_ in Malay itself,<BR>> >> independently of the shortening to _bro_ in English. Does that<BR>> >> sound likely?<BR>> >><BR>> > Well I'm not sure, but here are three reasons to suppose that it was <BR>> > the<BR>> > shortened form _bro_ in English that was directly borrowed ...<BR>> ><BR>> > (a) In western Nusantara dialects of Malay/Indonesian, truncation to a<BR>> > monosyllable usually (if not always) retains the final syllable, <BR>> > rather<BR>> > than the penultimate, eg. _abang_ > _bang_, _mister_ > _ster_, <BR>> > _Dapit_ ><BR>> > _pit_.<BR>> ><BR>> > (b) In eastern Nusantara dialects, eg. Papuan Malay, there is no<BR>> > productive rule of truncation to monosyllabic forms, eg. _kaka_ > <BR>> > *_ka_<BR>> > -- and in fact, in Papuan Malay, _bro_ has recently become very <BR>> > widespread.<BR>> ><BR>> > (c) In Papua at least, my impression is that people -- mostly trendy<BR>> > teenagers -- who use _bro_ are also likely to associate with other<BR>> > artifacts of African-American culture, eg. rap music, shoulder bags <BR>> > with<BR>> > rasta colours, etc., which suggests to me that they borrowed the form<BR>> > directly from African-American English. (Which is consistent with <BR>> > other<BR>> > comments that have been made in recent postings on this subject.)<BR>> ><BR>> > David<BR>> ><BR>> > -- <BR>> > David Gil<BR>> ><BR>> > Department of Linguistics<BR>> > Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology<BR>> > Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany<BR>> ><BR>> > Telephone: 49-341-3550321 Fax: 49-341-3550119<BR>> > Email: gil@eva.mpg.de<BR>> > Webpage: http://www.eva.mpg.de/~gil/<BR>> ><BR>> ><BR>> ><BR>> ><BR>> ><BR>> > ------------------------------<BR>> ><BR>> > _______________________________________________<BR>> > An-lang mailing list<BR>> > An-lang@anu.edu.au<BR>> > http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/an-lang<BR>> ><BR>> ><BR>> > End of An-lang Digest, Vol 79, Issue 8<BR>> > **************************************<BR>> <BR>> _______________________________________________<BR>> An-lang mailing list<BR>> An-lang@anu.edu.au<BR>> http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/an-lang<BR> <br /><hr />Browse profiles for Free! <a href='http://clk.atdmt.com/NMN/go/163036679/direct/01/' target='_new'>Singles online now!</a></body>
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