analytical versus inflected languages (was: English as a world language)

[Paul Frank]

> 2. Yes, as several have noted, the similarity of a second language to the
> first is a great advantage. Korean students definitely do find Japanese
> easier than English speakers do, as I've learned from experience, since
> the two languages are 90% identical in their grammar. The reverse is not
> true, since Korean morphophonemics are complex, as is the honorific
> system. But except for learning the writing system, Japanese is no more
> difficult than Turkish, and very similar in many respects.
>         Rudy

Being in a nitpicky mood today, let me just point out that though there are
many grammatical similarities between Japanese and Korean, the two languages
are only distantly related. Since this discussion is getting away from the
bailiwick of this list - American English - let me ask: what is the origin
of the phrase "long time no see"? The first citation in the OED would
suggest that it was a jocular imitation of the broken English spoken by
Indians:

1900 W. F. Drannan 31 Yrs. on Plains (1901) xxxvii. 515 When we rode up to
him [sc. an American Indian] he said: 'Good mornin. Long time no see you.'

Which brings me to something I was wondering about yesterday. I once read
that Chinook Jargon was an analytical (i.e. uninflected) language used as a
lingua franca by speakers of highly inflected American Indian languages. If
this is correct, it may suggest that analytical languages are easier to
learn than inflected languages, even by speakers of inflected languages. No
one disputes that it's easier for a speaker of Frisian or Dutch to learn
English than for a speaker of Tibetan. In other words, your native language
does influence your ability to learn a second language. But is it fair to
say that analytical languages are easier to learn as second languages than
inflected languages? Isn't that one of the main reasons why non-Europeans
find English easier to learn than other, more inflected European languages,
such as Russian, Latin, and even German? I'm not a linguist, so I'm asking
this question in a spirit of what the Chinese would call "throwing a brick
to get a piece of jade in return" (pao zhuan yin yu), or putting forth my
inexpert opinion to induce someone else's learned response.

Paul
________________________________________
Paul Frank
Business, financial and legal translation
>From Chinese, German, French,  Spanish,
Italian, Dutch and Portuguese into English
Thollon-les-Memises, 74500 Evian, France
paulfrank at wanadoo.fr or franktranslation at aol.com