what language?

Mark A Mandel mam at THEWORLD.COM
Mon Nov 25 01:16:41 UTC 2002


Today at a collectibles show I saw a product (a Smurfs display box, if
you must know) labeled in four languages. "I'" = capital I-acute. All
the text was uppercase.

        TODOS ESTAMOS AQUI'
        TOTS SOMS* AQUI'
        GUZTIOK HEMEN GAUDE
        TODOS ESTAMOS EIQUI

(* SOMS I think: I can't read my own notes)

The product was made in Barcelona, and the first two languages are
certainly Spanish and Catalan. I'm sure the third is Basque. But what is
the fourth?  Obviously Ibero-Romance, but not Portuguese, which would
have AQUI. Is it Galician?

BTW, all the unaccented I's are dotted, even though all this text is in
capital letters.

(I hope I haven't sent this query in already; I'm feeling absent-minded
this evening.)

-- Mark A. Mandel



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