LL-L "Lexicon" 2003.10.19 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 19.OCT.2003 (01) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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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)
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From: Gaidheal <gaidheal at yahoo.com>
Subject:  LL-L "Lexicon" 2003.10.18 (02) [E]

Latha math, a Lowlanders;

Québec is actually very conservative and inventive when it comes to
borrowings. In France, weekend is of course "le weekend". But, in Québec, it
is "le fin de la semaine". This is because the Office québecois de la langue
française is much more active than today's Académie française. The Québecois
are afraid of losing their culture, and therefore make many neologisms.
Another example is the word for e-mail - once e-mail in France, but now
"curriel" after the Québecois example.

Beannachan,
Uilleam Òg mhic Sheumais

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From: Tom Maguire <jmaguire at pie.xtec.es>
Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2003.10.18 (02) [E]

Lowlands-L wrote:

> The thing with what I call "voluntary loanwords" (i.e., those that do not
> come with actual colonization) is very coplex, it seems.  I believe it has
> something to do with a mix of pretention (i.e., initially showing off
one's
> "with-it-ness" and education) and a type of "laziness" or reluctance to
> find, invent and use a native term.  In the case of imported foreign items
> and concepts, loaning is natural.  In cases such as "weekend" and "happy
> end" I don't think it came as a new concept.  However, I don't mind being
> contradicted.
>
> Regards,
> Reinhard(without a <t>)/Ron

Hello All,

I agree with Reinhard that probably fashion and education have roles to
play in adopting foreign terms. However, for a term to be acceptable and
widely used - as is weekend in France - there needs to be a wide
acceptance and understanding of the word by a large part of the
population, otherwise it will remain as jargon, as many fashionable or
intellectual words do, that is, limited in time and use to a small
section of the speakers.

As regards the concept of "weekend", I studied in Paris in the late '60s
and we didn't have a British weekend. We had Thursday afternoon off,
worked Saturday morning, then had Saturday afternoon and Sunday off. The
concept of weekend meaning Satuday and Sunday off and a five day working
week was a foreign concept in France until recently and when it was
adopted it was natural to adopt with it the word to describe it, however
strident it sounds in French pronunciation.

What I am really getting at is you'll all probably agree that languages
are dynamic, not static, and will change despite objections. I would
certainly rule out moral objections such as 'laziness' as a theory of
linguistic change.

Regards,

Tom
--
Carpe Diem.
-Visit Nlp in Education  http://www.xtec.es/~jmaguire
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