LL-L "Semantics" 2003.04.15 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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From: Críostóir Ó Ciardha <paada_please at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Semantics" 2003.04.15 (01) [E]
Dear all

Theo wrote: "Are there (still) lowlandll. that use 2 kinds of
*yes*?"

Most Englishes have _yeah_ and _yes_, with the latter being a more definite,
final form. _yeah_ is informal and is most frequent as a kind of tag.

In Nottingham English we have _aa_, _aye_ (_aai_), _yeah_ and _yes_. _aa_
and _aye_ perform the functions described above for other Englishes, whereas
_yeah_ and _yes_ are generally used as polite or 'accumulate' forms to
amplify agreement, e.g., _aa, je, jes, a wil, aai_ (aye, yeah, yes, I will,
aye). We also have the form _uu aai_ (ooh aye) to indicate delightful
endorsement.

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

Subject: Semantics

Theo Homan wrote:

> Well, maybe this is a good time to think about the
> answer *yes* in lowlandll.
> In languages, also in Germanic ll., they have two
> words for *yes*. E.g. something like *ja* and *ju*.
> It is to make distiction and to make cristal-clear
> what you mean after a question-sentence with a
> negative.
>
> Are there (still) lowlandll. that use 2 kinds of
> *yes*?


I am not sure if cognates of the pair _ja_ vs _ju_ still exist in the
Lowlands languages, though I would not be surprised to find some remnants in
the northernmost Lowlands Saxon (Low German) dialects, namely those that
have been in contact with Southern Jutish (sønderjysk) and Danish, i.e.,
with Scandinavian. In Scandinavian varieties simple affirmative _ja_ stands
in contrast to insisting affirmative (i.e., positive answer to a negative
question, or contradiction to a negative statement) _jo_, e.g., in Danish
_ja_ <> _jo_ [jou|], Norwegian: Dano-Norwegian (bokmål) _ja_ <> _jo_, New
Norwegian (nynorsk) _ja_ <> _jo_ ~ _jau_, Swedish _ja_ <> _jo_, Icelandic
_já_ [jau.] <> _jú_ [ju:].

So, I suppose this is the same as the contrast between _oui_ and _si_ in
French, or _sí_ <> _sí que_ in Spanish (e.g., _¡Yo no he dicho eso!_ > _Sí,
sí que lo has dicho_ 'I didn't say that!' > 'Yes, you did so!' ~ 'Yeah, you
did too (say that)!').

In German, this difference is achieved by using _ja_ and _doch_
respectively.

In Lowlands Saxon (Low German), this tends to be done by means of _ja_
versus _(ja, ...) wull_ ~ _(ja, ...) woll_; e.g., (same as the Spanish
sentences above) ...

Dat heff ik nich segd.

(Ja,) wul hest dat segd!

Shortened: _Ja wull!_ (hence German _Jawohl!_)

Regards,

Reinhard/Ron

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