[Lexicog] Re: lexical entries as singulars or plurals

[Fritz Goerling]

Mon zami,

I see alot of parallels with Ivorian French:

Here are a few similarities and differences:

un enfant - deux nanfans
un oncle  - deux noncles (one uncle - two nuncles)
un zanimo - deux zanimos (one nanimal - two nanimals)
les zafs = les affaires

Greetings,
Fritz


  Fritz --

  Sorry this is coming a bit late, but I thought you might be interested to
know that the word for 'eye' in St. Lucia Creole is zyé, from les yeux. To
specify singular, one would say zyé-a, with a postposed definite determiner,
to say 'the eye.' If you look under z in our dictionary you will find a
whole set of similar words, including

  zafè  'business'  [<Fr. les affaires]
  zanfan  'child'  [<Fr. les enfents]
  zannimo  'animal'  [<Fr. les animaux]
  zapòt  'apostle'  [<Fr. les apôtres]
  zé  'egg'  [<Fr. les oeufs]
  zéklè  'lightning'  [<Fr. les éclairs]
  zèl  'wing, fin'  [<Fr. les ailes]
  zépòl  'shoulder'  [<Fr. les épaules]
  etc.

  -- David

    ----- Original Message -----
    From: Fritz Goerling
    To: lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com
    Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 3:03 PM
    Subject: RE: [Lexicog] lexical entries as singulars or plurals


    David,

    You have worked with creolized French in St. Lucia.
    Here is a funny example from creolized Ivorian French:
    First I mention the singular for "eye" in French French which is "oeil."
    The plural, as you know, is "yeux." Now in Ivorian French you might
    hear "Mon yeux droit me fait mal" (My right YEUX/eyes hurts me).
    Maybe some day there will be a  dictionary in Ivorian French with just
the
    entry "yeux" for "eye" as the singular AND plural form taken from  the
    original French French plural form.
    Another one: You know that French singular "egg" is "oeuf", but the
plural
    is pronounced "ö" (written: "oeufs"). But in Ivorian French "one egg" is
    "un neuf" and "two eggs" are "deux neufs." So what are "nine eggs"? :-)

    Why not! Languages are dynamic.

    Fritz


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