LL-L "Language varieties" 2002.04.14 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
 L O W L A N D S - L * 14.APR.2002 (02) * 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: "John M. Tait" <jmtait at wirhoose.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2002.04.07 (02) [E]

Randy Elzinga wrote:

>the words.  Until recently, I didn't know that the Swiss had their own
>spelling system, but I assume it's based somewhat on the German system
>which
>is much more consistent than that of English so far as I can tell.

I understood that Swiss German didn't have a regular orthography. Am I
misinformed?

One area where American spellings are prominent, of course, is in
computing. I think I first saw 'oriented' rather than 'orientated' in
the phrase Object Oriented Languages, but I'm not sure if this is an
Americanism (as I assumed at that time) or not.

American expressions creep in all the time - so much so that I'm not
always sure whether they are Americanisms or not. My children say
'dumpster' which, while I'm not sure that it's an Americanism, I first
heard on American TV (I say 'skip'), and the lack of teaching names for
letters in primary schools means that some kids have picked up 'zee'
from Sesame Street, completely unaware that it's an Americanism. Also,
most kids I know don't say 'dowp', 'dock', 'bahoukie' or any of the
other words for that part of the anatomy in Scots or English, but the
American one which (to fool the filters) begins with 'b' and ends with
'tt' with 'u' in the middle!

(Incidentally, the school which my children attend has a list of words
which it censors out of outgoing e-mail. Apparently, one of these words
is 'black'!)

American film and TV often seem to have no grasp of British English. I
thought it very odd to hear Alec Guiness, playing Obi Wan Kenobi, saying
'gotten' with his English accent. Also Tony Head, playing the very
English Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, saying 'someplace' rather
than 'somewhere', which certainly sounded like an Americanism to me. Of
course, I could be wrong - perhaps these phrases have become common in
British English without me noticing. I've heard the butler in Fresh
Prince of Bel Air (is that how you spell it?) pronouncing American
English with an English accent too, though I can't give examples.

John M. Tait.

==================================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
=======================================================================