LL-L "Grammar" 2006.03.13 (12) [E]

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   L O W L A N D S - L * 13 March 2006 * Volume 12
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From: Paul Finlow-Bates <wolf_thunder51 at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Grammar" 2006.03.12 (02) [E]

From: jonny
Subject: LL-L"Grammar"

Hi, Englishmen and -women,

.....
I still hate all these *-lies* ;-) and bless Standard German (but just
rarely, today in this very special case) for having left *-lich*!

Regards

Johannes "Jonny" Meibohm

***

Wha..? I don't understand; don't people use "lich" in German anymore???

Paul

----------

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

Oy, Paul!

> Wha..? I don't understand; don't people use "lich" in German anymore???

Nice try, mate.  But our Jonny -- an "etymophiliac" though he is -- ain't 
talkin' about etymology but about generative morphology, namely about the 
"burden" of adverbial marking in a foreign language, a device that is not 
found in his native language.  The "-lich" in German and Low Saxon ought to 
be seen as equivalents of English adjectival "-ly" as in "She's always been 
somewhat sickly" (German _kränklich_), "She was always friendly" (German 
_freundlich_), "She was such a kindly old lady!" (as opposed to adverbial 
"She treated us so kindly!").

I just thought I'd take our Jonny under my wings this once, even though he's 
a big boy already.
 ;-)

I think what Jonny is really talking about is the lure of overcompensation. 
You learn the foreign "-ly" rule for marking adverbs (or the Scandinavian 
equivalent with _-t_), and then you want to use it everywhere, even where a 
true adjective happens to be near a verb.

I have to admit that once in a while I, too, am confused or waver a bit, 
especially in this case:

Don't take it seriously!
Don't take it serious!

But I'm not alone there, for I hear and read it both ways coming from native 
speakers.

However, the following wouldn't occur (*):

* Don't take it so hardly!
Don't take it so hard!

Why? Because "hardly" takes up its own special lexical slot.

Similarly:

* You should take it easily.
You should take it easy.

Same reason: "easily" is partially marked in the sense of "at least" (e.g., 
"He can easily lift 300 pounds," "Those are ... well ... easily two hundred 
tennis balls in that basket" -- where the first example might be construed 
both ways).

But:
You can lift it easily.
* You can lift it easy.

In this sense also:

You can take it easily. [e.g., can reach and take it]
* You can take it easy.

So, this isn't as easy (v *easily) as it seems.

Cheerio!
Reinhard/Ron

P.S.: Aren't we the prolific ones today?  I'm afraid I'll have to cut us off 
for today after this latest batch is processed. 

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