LL-L "Grammar" 2002.04.02 (09) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
 L O W L A N D S - L * 02.APR.2002 (09) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
 Web Site: <http://www.geocities.com/sassisch/rhahn/lowlands/>
 Rules: <http://www.geocities.com/sassisch/rhahn/lowlands/rules.html>
 Posting Address: <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>
 Server Manual: <http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html>
 Archive: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html>
=======================================================================
 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
=======================================================================

From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Grammar

Dear Lowlanders,

While listening to the British Broadcasting Corporation's television
news tonight, I was reminded to bring up a couple of grammar topics I
have long wanted to raise.  Once again, they deal with grammaticality
differences in American and non-American English (to paint with the
coarsest brush available) but do not need to be limited to these two
very large dialect groups.

(1)
In British and other non-American dialects of English it is grammatical,
i.e., acceptable, to use "all" with more uncountable singular-form nouns
than in American English.  In American English (at least in many
dialects of it) it is grammatical to say "all the world" besides "the
whole/entire world."  In non-American English you will often hear "all
the team," "all the crew," "all the cast," etc., in place of "the
whole/entire team," "the whole/entire crew," "the whole/entire staff"
and "the whole/entire cast" respectively, thus, "all" for "whole" or
"entire" in cases of nouns that denote groups of countable items or
individuals.  As far as I can tell, that would be ungrammatical or at
least "strange" in American English.  Is this so?  Also, what are the
limitations?  Can you say, for example, "all the group" or "all the
class" instead of "the whole/entire group" and "the whole class"
respectively?  In Low Saxon (Low German), none of this appears to be
possible, perhaps with the exception, in some dialects, of _alle
We(re)lt_ (cf. German _alle Welt_) 'all the world' in place of _de
hele/ganse We(re)lt_ (cf. German _die ganze Welt_) 'the whole world'.
It would be ungrammatical, for instance, to say *_all de Kru_ in place
of _de hele/ganse Kru_ 'the entire (ship's) crew'.  Are there any
semantic differences between the 'all' vs 'whole/entire' possibilities
in English and Low Saxon?  If so, how do you explain them?

(2)
In American English, as in non-American English, it is grammatical to
say "in school" and "to school," e.g., "She is in school" and "She goes
to school," denoting "school" as an institution, as opposed to "She is
in the school" and "She goes to the school" in references to "school" as
a place.  Similarly, in non-American English, you say "in hospital" and
"to hospital" in contrast to "in the hospital" and "to the hospital,"
where, however, in American English only "in the hospital" and "to the
hospital" are grammatical in reference to both the institution and the
place, at least as far as I can tell.  Are there other cases like this?
How do people perceive the differences semantically?

Are there similar cases in Scots and other Lowlands languages?

Of course, there are adverbial phrases like "at home" (vs "at the
home"), Low Saxon _tohuus'_ (< _to Huse_ 'to house') 'at home',
_nahuus'_ (_na Huse_ "to house") 'home(ward)', etc.

Thanks for thinking about this.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

==================================END===================================
 You have received this because your account has been subscribed upon
 request. To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l"
 as message text from the same account to
 <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or sign off at
 <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
=======================================================================
 * Please submit postings to <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>.
 * Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
 * Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
 * Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l") are
   to be sent to <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or at
   <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
 * Please use only Plain Text format, not Rich Text (HTML) or any other
   type of format, in your submissions
=======================================================================