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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">L O W L A N D S - L - 13 November 2007 - Volume 02
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,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,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">=========================================================================</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">From: </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="HcCDpe"><span class="EP8xU" style="color: rgb(0, 131, 145);">
<a href="mailto:marshatrue@peoplepc.com">marshatrue@peoplepc.com</a></span></span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Subject: </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="HcCDpe">LL-L "Morphology" 2007.11.11 (06) [E]<br><br></span><div style="font-family: trebuchet ms,sans-serif;">Ron, I suspect this "marker of endearment" stems
from the nursery rhyme "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" which mothers have been extending to
their babies names for eons (which came first, the baby-talk or the
rhyme?). It can have a sarcastic connotation of cutsey, as in referring to
a couple of people one doesn't like as being "palsy-walsy" with each
other but in general here in the U.S. it's genuinely affectionate grown-up
baby-talk to call Phoebe "Phoebes." The rest of the cast on "Friends"
wouldn't have been caught dead saying "Phoebey-Woebsey," but Phoebes is an
acceptably adult variant. You're right that it only works with some
names, those which can be abbreviated easily. My name, Marsha, doesn't fit
that mold, no matter how I work it. Yours does, however.....I can imagine
a woman cooing "Rons" to you.....but that gets into another subject
entirely! </div>
<div style="font-family: trebuchet ms,sans-serif;"> </div>
<div style="font-family: trebuchet ms,sans-serif;">Marsha</div>
<div style="font-family: trebuchet ms,sans-serif;">/enjoying the conversation from the shadows of
American pop culture</div>
<font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" size="2"><br></font><div style="margin-left: 40px; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" size="2">
<font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>></font></font><br><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" size="2">
<font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Dear Lowlanders,</font></font><br><br><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" size="2"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">I'd be
grateful to you for some input regarding the following topic. </font></font><br><br><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" size="2"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">As we
all know, English has two frequently used suffixes <i>-s</i>
(/-z/):</font></font><br></div>
<ol style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 40px; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><li><font size="2">Plural marker: e.g., The Walton<b> s</b> have two son<b>s</b> and three daughter<b>s</b>.</font>
</li><li><font size="2">Genitive marker: e.g., The Walton<b>s'</b> (/-z-z/) children<b>'</b><b>s </b>names
are somewhat odd, owing to Mr. Walton<b>'s
</b>obsession with Shakespear<b> 's </b>plays.
</font></li></ol><div style="margin-left: 40px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" size="2"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
However, there appears to be a
third, albeit lesser-used one. </font></font><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" size="2"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
The other day I caught myself
addressing my friend Jake as "Jakes." It was quite spontaneous, not at all
planned. I believe it was an expression of what I would call "casual
affection." There was no noticeable reaction on Jake's part, so I assume it
was at least acceptable to him (unless he was being overly generous).
</font></font><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" size="2"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
This made me think about <i>-s</i> (/-z/) as ... let's say a "marker
of endearment."</font></font><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" size="2"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </font></font><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">
<br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" size="2"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><u>Question 1</u>: Is it confined to
American English?</font></font><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" size="2"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Unless I'm sorely mistaken, you hear this used
mostly with women's names, though I hear it used with men's names as well.
This makes me wonder ...</font></font><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" size="2"> </font><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" size="2">
<font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><u>Question 2</u>: Is there a connotation of
"cutesy" in it? </font></font><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" size="2"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> <snip>
</font></font><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" size="2"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<u>Question 4</u>: What
might the origin of this suffix
be?</font></font><br><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" size="2"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" color="#888888"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></font></font></div><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" size="2">
<font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" color="#888888"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br>------------<br><br></span></font></font><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" size="2"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" color="#888888">
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>><br>Subject: Morphology<br><br>Hi, Marsha dearest!<br><br>What a treat seeing you venturing forth from the depth of Oregon's woods to grace us with your illustrious presence ... and that just seconds after I sent off the previous Morphology installment!
<br><br>I have a hunch that the "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" was not the trend-setter, that the -s device was already in place. Or? Well, people still say "itsy" and "bitsy" or the combo in other contexts.
<br><br style="font-family: trebuchet ms,sans-serif;"></span></font></font><div style="margin-left: 40px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><font style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">but Phoebes is an
acceptably adult variant.</font><br></div><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" size="2"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" color="#888888"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br>You are certainly right there. I think that Lisa Kudrow did a fine job in her delivery and development of this off-beat character, a modern West Coast offshoot of the Ashkenazi Vaudeville-derived tradition that has is the main ancestor of the only American sitcoms worth watching in my opinion. (Jason Alexander, Bea Arthur, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Debra Messing, Jerry Seinfeld, Ben Stiller and Jerry Stiller are other such examples in the sitcom world).
<br><br style="font-family: trebuchet ms,sans-serif;"></span></font></font><div style="margin-left: 40px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><font style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: trebuchet ms,sans-serif;">
I can imagine
a woman cooing "Rons" to you.....but that gets into another subject
entirely! </font><br></div><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" size="2"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" color="#888888"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br>Oh, you mean with a "Rrrrr..." and then a "...zzzz" like from Eartha Kitt? Well, yes, that's an entirely different topic.
<br><br>Regards,<br>Reinhard/Ron<br><br></span></font></font>
•
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