LL-L "Language varieties" 2003.12.06 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
L O W L A N D S - L * 06.DEC.2003 (03) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
http://www.lowlands-l.net * lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Rules & Guidelines: http://www.lowlands-l.net/index.php?page=rules
Posting Address: lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org
Server Manual: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html
Archives: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html
Encoding: Unicode (UTF-8) [Please switch your view mode to it.]
=======================================================================
You have received this because you have 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.
=======================================================================
A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
=======================================================================

From: Jan Strunk <strunkjan at hotmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2003.12.05 (05) [E]

Hello,

Margret wrote:
> A few years ago, in the very polyglot newsgroup for fans of the
> work of Terry Pratchett OBE, we seem to have discovered at least
> one word that's shared across language-group boundaries:  caca,
> (IE: kakka-) meaning foeces, bad, nasty, unpleasant, undesirable,
> etc.   Intuitively it would seem to be a very primitive word and
> unlikely to be an import from some other language group.  If I
> recall correctly, we found it in IE, Finno-Ugric, Semitic, and
> two or three others I can't now remember.
>
> It's not lowlands-specific, but, since I'm sure list members here
> are even more polyglot than the Pratchettians, it might be an
> interesting exercise to see in just how many language groups that
> word *does* appear.

The problem with words like kakka or mamma or pappa, pipi, etc. is that they
appear in the "special children vocabulary" of many, many languages all over
the world. It is therefore very questionable to use such words which are
often exceptions to the normal phonological rules of the respective
languages (e.g. Pappa really ought to be something like "Pappe" in German
because all vowels in non-accented syllables have become schwa everywhere
else) to try to prove any family relations between languages (even if these
words are not borrowed).

Jan Strunk
jstrunk at stanford.edu
strunk at linguistics.ruhr-uni-bochum.de

================================END===================================
* 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.
======================================================================