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L O W L A N D S - L - 02 May 2011 - Volume 05<br>
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<p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><font size="2">From: </font><span class="gI"><span class="gD" style="color:#5b1094">M.-L. Lessing</span> <span class="go"><<a href="mailto:marless@gmx.de">marless@gmx.de</a>></span></span><span><span style="color:#cc0060"></span></span></p>
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</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><font size="2">Subject: <span></span><span></span><span></span></font><span class="gI">LL-L "Grammar" 2011.05.02 (01) [EN]</span></p>
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<div style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">Now I am again digressing, but German has a
special syntax for jokes too. Of course it is present tense, but in addition the
words change places: "Kommt ein Mann zum Arzt" is the correct beginning for a
joke, not "Ein Mann kommt zum Arzt". (I almost think nobody could laugh at the
latter, however funny it might go on!) Does anybody know why? -- I have not
heard this change of word order reliably in any other context; only in a very
much abridged way of relating: "Komm ich nach Hause: sitzt da die Katze im
Spülstein. Sach ich: Was soll das? Sacht mein Mann:..." usw. But this is rarely
used. Are there other uses I have overlooked?</div>
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<div style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">Hartlich! </div>
<div style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"> </div>
<div style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">Marlou</div><div class="im">
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<font size="2"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">As for the historical present, it’s the typical
way to tell a joke or relate a humorous incident:</span></font></div>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">A priest,
a rabbi, and a horse walk into a bar. The bartender says, “What is this? Some
kind of
joke?”</span></font></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div>
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<span style="color: navy; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">----------<br><br></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 51); font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">From: R. F. Hahn <<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://uk.mc286.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=sassisch@yahoo.com">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>> </div>
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</div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Subject: Grammar</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;">Hi, Marlou!</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;">It seems to me that thisconstruction (VSO) is what you might call the "narrative construction" that survives only (?) in German jokes. In frozen form it can still be found in German folk-songs (e.g. </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Kommt ein Vogel geflogen</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> instead of </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Ein Vogel kommt geflogen</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">, or </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Zieht der Bursch die Straß entlang</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> instead of </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Der Bursch zieht die Straß entlang</i><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;">This narrative construction is still widely used in Yiddish (whose roots are in Middle Central Frankish), and it can be used in both present tense and past participial tense (the latter of which covers the simple past as well); e.g., </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Gey ikh arayn inem gortn</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> ... (גײ איך אַרײַן אינעם גאָרטן "Go I in in the garden ...") 'I enter(ed) the garden ...'; </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Hot geentfert di mame ...</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> (... האָט געענטפֿערט די מאַמע "Has the mother answered ...) 'Mother answered ...."</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;">Regards,</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Reinhard/Ron</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Seattle, USA</span><span style="color:navy"><br><br>
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