LL-L: "Romance connections" LOWLANDS-L, 25.JUL.2000 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 25.JUL.2000 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: john feather [johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk]
Subject: Language

Since over the last year we have discussed Romance connexions, false
friends, the ease of learning other languages and (most recently) mutual
intelligibility and mutual comprehension I should like to comment on
Criostoir's comment that "an English speaker [can] read most Romance
languages if they have a good knowledge of Latinate terms within English".

I suggest that

1. There are sentences and even quite long texts in some Romance languages
the subject matter of which may be intelligible to an English speaker
qualified as described. This does not mean, however, that s/he will
understand what the author is trying to say, because things like the tenses
and moods of verbs and the meanings of prepositions and a lot of the adverbs
(for example) will not be accessible.

2. "Faux amis" lurk around every "coin".

3. There are sentences which are wholly inaccessible, eg "Voulez-vous
coucher avec moi ce soir?" and "Voulez-vous vous coucher chez lui ce soir?"

>>From my knowledge of Italian and Spanish I would say that the trick is no
easier in them than in French.

BTW, in his "Mémoirs de guerre", Charles de Gaulle quotes Solon, who when
asked what was the best constitution said: "First tell me for what people
and at what time." Not only are systems of law inevitably imperfect but they
become obsolete.

John Feather johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk

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