LL-L: "Grammar" LOWLANDS-L, 23.FEB.2000 (02) [E]

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From: Colin Wilson [lcwilson at iee.org]
Subject: LL-L: "Grammar" LOWLANDS-L, 22.FEB.2000 (02) [E]

At 12:53 22/02/00 -0800, Stefan Israel wrote:
>I have little doubt that it's a chance resemblance, but I believe Icelandic
>uses "geta" to mean 'can, is able to':
>        Eg get thadh sagt   "I can say that."

Another non-Lowlandic language, Finnish, has a verb "saada" which
is usually translated as "to get" and which also has both
meanings "may/can" and "receive/obtain".

"Saat savukkeita" -> "You('ll) get some cigarettes"
"Saat polttaa" - > "You('ll) get to smoke"

It may be chance, or may be one of the many signs of Indo-European
influence on Finnish.

Colin Wilson.

************ http://www.btinternet.com/~lcwilson/colin.htm ***********

                               the graip wis tint, the besom wis duin
Colin Wilson                   the barra wadna row its lane
writin fae Glesca              an sicna soss it nivver wis seen
                               lik the muckin o Geordie's byre
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From: Eldo Neufeld [greneuf at interchange.ubc.ca]
Subject: "get"

Dear Lowlanders,

re: "to get to (verb)" under recent discussion, in the sense of permission
or privilege, I always get perturbed when I hear the use of another tense
of the verb "to get," as, for example, in the following:

                "we've got to do something"
                "something's got to be done"
                "I gotta go"

The meaning here is, of course, "to have to," rather than "to get to," but
why the prevalence of the verb "to get" in such a variety of senses?  Is
this simply American slang?  Is it related to the question of "to get to
(verb)"?

Eldo Neufeld
4040 Blenheim St.
Vancouver, BC   V6L 2Y9
Tel: (604) 738-4378
e-mail: greneuf at interchange.ubc.ca

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