LL-L "Semantics" 2002.06.04 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 04.JUN.2002 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
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From: "Randy Elzinga" <frisiancow at hotmail.com>
Subject:

Ron wrote:
>(By the way, Low Saxon _leeg_ is semantically interesting in that it
>means both 'low' (and also 'flat', thus _Leegland_ 'low-lying, flat
>land') and 'bad' (> 'inferior', 'evil', 'naughty').)

Can't something similar be said about English "low" as well?  For
example in the opposition between high culture vs. low culture, with the
implication that low culture is somehow inferior.

Also, before I knew what people meant when they referred to Low German,
I
was under the impression that it was some form of (High) German used for
informal purposes, as opposed to German used for literary or formal
purposes.  Other people with whom I have spoken about Low Saxon (Low
German) have had similar impressions of the term "Low German".

I would guess the association of high and low with superior and inferior
in English has something to do with metaphorical usage of spatial
terminology (ie. up/down, high/low) in describing rank within certain
social groups, perhaps rooted in a literal usage of the spatial
terminology, where people with a greater rank, regarded as superior, are
located physically higher (How many monarchs have put their thrones in
holes?).

Randy Elzinga
frisiancow at hotmail.com

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