LL-L "Rituals" 2004.09.16 (05) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
L O W L A N D S - L * 16.SEP.2004 (05) * 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: lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org or lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
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: Críostóir Ó Ciardha <paada_please at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2004.09.16 (02) [E]


Gabriele wrote:
"By the way, this funny, formal little ritual of motions and seconding and
ayes and nays really took me by surprise when I moved to the States (I
first encountered it at a first grade parents' meeting). We have nothing
comparable in Germany. Where does it come from - Britain perhaps?"

It's unfair to call _aye_ and _nay_ "funny" and "formal". Their usage might
appear archaic to non-English speakers or to those raised outside of Britain
and Ireland where _yes_ and _no_ are predominant, but in most variants of
English (and Scots) _aye_ and _nay_ (or forms of them) are still current. I
remember as a child hearing a "funny, formal" use of _aye_ and _nay_ in a
parliamentary or somesuch broadcast and being taken aback that a little
speck of my variant was being used in an otherwise staunchly RP environment.
(Of course, the reality here is linguistic conservatism in Government -
_aye_ and _nay_ in parliamentary speak belong to the same cultural strand as
the serjeant-at-arms, black rod and other interesting archaisms.)

Go raibh maith agat,

Criostóir.


================================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.
======================================================================