<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">L O W L A N D S - L - 18 October 2007 - Volume 03</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Song Contest: <a href="http://lowlands-l.net/contest/">lowlands-l.net/contest/</a> (- 31 Dec. 2007)</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
=========================================================================</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">From: </span>
<span id="_user_ben.j.bloomgren@gmail.com" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 28); font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"Ben J. Bloomgren" <<a href="mailto:ben.j.bloomgren@gmail.com">ben.j.bloomgren@gmail.com</a>></span>
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Subject: [LLL] usage</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" dir="ltr" bgcolor="#ffffff">
<div><font size="2">Hello all,</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font size="2">In my western US English, we use map references to
refer to where we are or where we're going. "I'm down in Mexico right now." "I
hope to go up to Phoenix for my birthday in November." "My aunt used to live
back east."</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font size="2">Here in Mexico they really don't use those. You
don't hear "Estoy aquí arriba en Hermosillo". "Él es gringo y viene de Phoenix
para abajo". They just don't use it. What's the origin of these usages and how
widespread are they?</font></div>
<div><font size="2">Ben<br><br>----------<br><br></font>From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>><br>Subject: Idiomatica
<br><br>Hi, Ben!<br><br>In German and Low Saxon, the equivalents for "up" and "down" are used also, with different forms for location and direction:<br><ul><li style="font-weight: bold;">up<span style="font-weight: normal;">
(north or elevated)</span><br></li><ul><li>Location<br></li><ul><li>German: <span style="font-style: italic;">oben</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">droben</span></li><li>Low Saxon:<span style="font-style: italic;">
baven</span></li></ul><li>Direction (movement to or from):</li><ul><li>German: <span style="font-style: italic;">hinauf</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">herauf</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">rauf</span>
</li><li>Low Saxon:<span style="font-style: italic;"> rup</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">rop</span><br></li></ul></ul></ul></div></div>
<ul style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><li style="font-weight: bold;">down<span style="font-weight: normal;"> (south or low-lying)</span><br>
</li><ul><li>Location<br>
</li><ul><li>German: <span style="font-style: italic;">unten</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">drunten</span></li><li>Low Saxon:<span style="font-style: italic;"> ünnen</span></li></ul><li>Direction (movement to or from):
</li><ul><li>German: <span style="font-style: italic;">hinunter, herunter</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">runter</span></li><li>Low Saxon:<span style="font-style: italic;"> rünner</span>*</li></ul></ul></ul><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
* I don't think </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">daal</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> is used in this context. Or is it?</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">However, it's used far less than it is in English. I wonder if the
frequency with which it is used in English has something to do with
Britain being an island that is fairly narrow east-west but is fairly
long north-south.</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">What I found rather strange when I moved to Seattle was that here in the coastal parts of the Northern American Pacific Northwest (from Oregon to Alaska) it is customary to refer to the compass directions.
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Here in Seattle this makes a lot of sense because the city has been built on a close to perfect grit with streets running east-west and avenues north-south, and with districts referred to by the compass directions. (In conjunction with streets being predominantly numbered, this makes it very easy to get to previously unknown locations without a map if you get addresses such as "1578 12th Ave.
N.E." = "house No. 78 on 12th Avenue where it is crossed by 15th Street").</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
However, unlike for instance in California, you always give directions by the compass. When I don't have a map in my head (i.e., mountains = east, ocean = west) and don't see the sun (which is more often than not) I'm often slow in following such directions;
e.g. calling on the phone:</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><div style="margin-left: 40px; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">A: I'm standing in front of the Starbuck's you said I should look for, but I can't see the store you told me about.
<br>B: Do you see the flower shop south of it?<br>A: Yes.<br>B: That's where you turn east.<br><br></div><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">You will also find signs saying things like "Only Residents Parking North Of Here".
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Regards,</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
Reinhard/Ron</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br></span>