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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Oho! Lexicographylist has woken up
again!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Do all languages contain derogatory stereotypes
about </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>neighbouring peoples? The recent discussion
of "Dutch courage", etc. provided </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>some interesting examples. Does Dutch </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>have derogatory expressions involving </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>"English"? Or is Dutch stereotypically more polite -- or more
parochial -- than English? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sometimes there is reciprocal derogation. English
"take French leave" is (or was) </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>matched
</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>by French "filer à l'anglaise". Any other
good examples?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>& & & </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>More seriously, I suppose that a major contribution
that lexicography can make to </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>the advancement
</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>of knowledge </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>is to
compile systematic lists of distinctions </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>between stereotypical beliefs in various languages and the
corresponding scientific </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>and </FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2>mundane realities. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>An example: </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>If you
accept statistically significant word associations as </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>evidence for </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>stereotypical beliefs,
</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>then the English <FONT face=Arial
size=2>stereotype for 'oasis' </FONT>is that oases are calm. tranquil, quiet,
and green</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> (evidence from the Waspbench analysis
of the British </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>Natio</FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>nal Corpus, <A
href="http://wasps.itri.bton.ac.uk/">http://wasps.itri.bton.ac.uk/</A>).
</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face=Arial size=2>But </FONT></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2><FONT face=Arial size=2>my much-travelled colleague Christiane
Fellbaum tells me that in </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>reality oases
</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>are typically </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>noisy, smelly, dirty places full of bustling people and honking
trucks. </FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>About the only things that a
stereotypical oasis in English has in </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>common
</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>with the real thing, it seems, is that
it's found in a desert and has water! </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Patrick</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<br>
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