12.2427, Qs: British Eng Lang Change, "Welcome"/Polish

[LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List:  Vol-12-2427. Mon Oct 1 2001. ISSN: 1068-4875.

Subject: 12.2427, Qs: British Eng Lang Change, "Welcome"/Polish

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=================================Directory=================================

1)
Date:  Mon, 1 Oct 2001 17:45:21 +0200
From:  "Dokis" <mail at dokis.de>
Subject:  British English Language Change Survey

2)
Date:  Mon, 1 Oct 2001 16:50:39 +0100 (BST)
From:  Michael Johnstone <mjj1000 at hermes.cam.ac.uk>
Subject:  Polish word(s) for "Welcome"

-------------------------------- Message 1 -------------------------------

Date:  Mon, 1 Oct 2001 17:45:21 +0200
From:  "Dokis" <mail at dokis.de>
Subject:  British English Language Change Survey

Hello!

We are students of English linguistics at the University of Dresden,
Germany. We are carrying out a project on 'British English language and
its changes', in which we want to explore, how aware people are of
language change, what changes have been noticed and how people think
about these changes. By filling out the following questionnaire you will
help us find out more about this topic.

It is under the following web-page
http://www.activefeedback.com/af/user/form.cfm?formid=43058026


Thank you very much for your help.
Mandy and Kerstin





-------------------------------- Message 2 -------------------------------

Date:  Mon, 1 Oct 2001 16:50:39 +0100 (BST)
From:  Michael Johnstone <mjj1000 at hermes.cam.ac.uk>
Subject:  Polish word(s) for "Welcome"

Dear all,

I was recently helping to welcome new students to the university, and as
part of this we produce a booklet of useful information which for many
years has had "Welcome" in several languages on the front cover.

Then a 2nd generation Polish immigrant, who said he could speak but not
write Polish, came and told me that the Polish word - "Witajcie" - was
incorrect, or rather, it was a literal translation of the imperative of
'to welcome'.  Instead he said we should use "Witamy".

However, I did a quick search for these words on www.google.com, and both
seemed to be used to say "Welcome to X", as far as I could tell. I'd be
very grateful if someone could explain the morphology of these two words
and what the distinction is between them - is it just a matter of style or
something syntactic? I'll post a summary, of course. Thank you,

Michael Johnstone (Dept of Lings, Univ of Cambridge)
mjj1000 at cam.ac.uk

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