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<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2>C<SPAN class=174123009-26042004><FONT
face=Arial color=#0000ff size=3>ami,
greetings!</FONT></SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=174123009-26042004></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN class=174123009-26042004><FONT
face=Arial color=#0000ff size=3>As you work in Africa as myself, you know the
absolute importance of greeting someone here. </FONT> <FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=3>And just a short "Hi" is not
enough.</FONT></SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN class=174123009-26042004></SPAN><SPAN
class=174123009-26042004></SPAN><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT
size=3>O<SPAN class=174123009-26042004>ur Western fast-paced life-style
has led us to shorten that most important part of social interaction. If one
does not greet</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><FONT><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=3><SPAN
class=174123009-26042004></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT><SPAN
class=174123009-26042004></SPAN><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT
size=3>s<SPAN class=174123009-26042004>omeone first, one might as well
forget about starting a
conversation.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><FONT><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=3><SPAN
class=174123009-26042004></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT><SPAN
class=174123009-26042004></SPAN><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT
size=3>E<SPAN class=174123009-26042004>ven if languages are not rich in
greetings or in the length of greetings, there must be at least a non-verbal way
of</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT
size=3><SPAN class=174123009-26042004>acknowledging a person one meets, like eye
contact.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT
size=3><SPAN
class=174123009-26042004></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT
size=3><SPAN
class=174123009-26042004>Blessings,</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT
size=3><SPAN
class=174123009-26042004></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT
size=3><SPAN
class=174123009-26042004>Fritz </SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT><BR></DIV></FONT></FONT>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=174123009-26042004><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff><</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV>But these languages have other ways of greeting. I was really surprised
to read that there are actually languages that have no form of greeting!!!! In
Mayogo, the language I studied, the most common word one uses to greet someone
is the equivalent of "I see you" which can be used any time of the day. The
morning greeting is "your eyes are open?" or "are you up?"; the day greeting
is "have you spent the day?"; the afternoon greeting is "you are coming
back?"(generally from the field). The answer to all these would be either the
equivalent of "yes" or just restating what the other said or simply "mmmmm".
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>If I were to generalize, many Congolese languages, when greeting or
having small talk basically state the obvious like "are you here?"
"yes, I'm here". But I have to say that greetings is of utmost importance for
Congolese people in general. And one cannot just say "hallo" and leave, one
has to stay and converse for a minimum of 5 to 10 minutes. Otherwise you are
defying the other and are being very rude.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=174123009-26042004><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff><</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV>Cami Borza</DIV>
<DIV>SIL-ECG<BR><BR><B><I>Wayne Leman <wayne_leman@sil.org></I></B>
wrote:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"><TT>For
many of us, it would seem reasonable to assume that salutations
and<BR>leave-takings would be universal. Yet, my own experience indicates
that<BR>neither are. Cheyenne, the language I work with, has neither an
indigenous<BR>salutation or leave-taking. In recent times, Cheyennes have
borrowed, so now<BR>has loan translations which translate back to English as
"Good morning,"<BR>"Good day", "Good evening", and "I'll see you again
later." But those who<BR>think about such things often recognize that they
come from English. And I<BR>suspect that they use these loan translations
more with non-Cheyennes and in<BR>"bilingual education Cheyenne" (taught in
school classes) than they do in<BR>their normal contacts with one
another.<BR><BR>So, how about you? Are you familiar with languages which
lack indigenous<BR>salutations or leave-takings?<BR><BR><BR>Wayne
Leman<BR>Cheyenne dictionary project<BR><BR></TT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
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