Trans.: Re: naming a language

[launey at cayenne.ird.fr]

----- Message transféré de launey at cayenne.ird.fr -----
     Date : Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:07:14 -0300
      De : launey at cayenne.ird.fr
Répondre à : launey at cayenne.ird.fr
  Objet : Re: [FUNKNET] naming a language
       À : funknet at mailman.rice.edu

There is a very strong tendency here in France to pronounce all
foreign names (and especially from countries where a Germanic language
is spoken) in the English way. Thus, Willy Brandt and Willy Stoph (and
other German "Willies") systematically appear on the radio as [wili]
(instead of [vili]), and Peter Handke (and other German Peter's) as
[pitër] (instead of [pe:tër]. Likewise, Dutch citizens named e.g. De
Groot are [dëgrut] instead of [dëxro:t] (or even [dëgro:t], and De
Neef are [dënif] (instead of [dëne:f]). Likewise, Spanish is supposed
to be an exotic language, since the name Miguel is pronounced [migwel]
(instead of [migel]), which is all the more ludicrous since there is in
French the same graphic convention (-gu- in front of e and i to keep
the phonetic value [g], the u having no reading per se).
Michel Launey


Best
Michel Launey



Quoting Johanna Rubba <jrubba at calpoly.edu>:

> I have faced a similar problem with my dissertation language, a dialect
> of Modern Aramaic. I don't know that there has been a lot of discussion
> of names in studies of modern Aramaic dialects, but I have pondered the
> question myself. Many scholars refer to the current dialects as
> Neo-Aramaic, but some find Modern Aramaic a better name; if we go by
> native speakers, we get different names for different dialects, e.g.
> "Assyrian" vs. "Chaldean." My speaker identifies her language as Sureth
> (my spelling), so should we use that? I don't know if the term is used
> by speakers of other dialects. Perhaps we should call them all Syriac
> ...
>
> Dr. Johanna Rubba, Ph. D.
> Associate Professor, Linguistics
> Linguistics Minor Advisor
> English Dept.
> Cal Poly State University San Luis Obispo
> San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
> Ofc. tel. : 805-756-2184
> Dept. tel.: 805-756-2596
> Dept. fax: 805-756-6374
> E-mail: jrubba at calpoly.edu
> URL: cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba




----- Fin du message transféré -----