Jap

[Dennis R. Preston]

And when Spanish and Portuguese split off at MSU recently, the new
French, Italian, and Classics Department could not be FIC, and
appartent oversensitivity to Germanic. (And Spanish and Portuguese is
not SAP either.) Luckily The Department of Linguistics, Germanic,
Slavic, Asian and African Languages is LGSAAL, hard to make into
anything (or pronounce for that matter).

dInIs

>When we added Japanese to the languages we run out of Linguistics, we had
>to come up with a suitable catalog abbreviation.  Of course, JAP was out,
>even though three-letter codes were preferred.  So we came up with JAPN,
>and still the Dean worried that we would be thought racist.  She wanted
>JPN, but we held firm on JAPN and won.  It's less opaque, obviously.
>
>
>At 05:32 PM 5/25/2005, you wrote:
>>The OED definition: "Colloquial abbreviation of Japanese" with a
>>statement that the word has strong derogatory connotations.  Like you, I
>>don't find an explicit slur in the cites below.  However, I was in the
>>process of searching for information on Japanese magicians of the era,
>>and many descriptions of the Japanese are paternalistic, if not
>>insulting, and there is no doubt that it was acceptable to be racist in
>>print.  Slurs abound explicitly.  My definition, using "slur", was a
>>quick-and-dirty attempt to make clear the word I was antedating, and was
>>also meant to encode the fact that I am aware this is now a taboo word.
>>
>>>  -----Original Message-----
>>>  From: American Dialect Society
>>>  [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Mark A. Mandel
>>>  Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 4:04 PM
>>>  To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>>  Subject: Re: Jap
>>>
>>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>  -----------------------
>>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>  Poster:       "Mark A. Mandel" <mamandel at LDC.UPENN.EDU>
>>>  Subject:      Re: Jap
>>>  --------------------------------------------------------------
>>>  -----------------
>>>
>>>  "Mullins, Bill" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL> sez:
>>>  >>>
>>>   Jap -- slur for Japanese -- OED has ca. 1880
>>>
>>>  (used in article title only)  "The Japanese Embassy.  From
>>>  the Japanese on their way home.  News of the Niagra.  What
>>>  the Japs think of their visit to America." New York Times;
>>>  Aug 20, 1860; pg. 1 col 1.
>>>
>>>
>>>  "Little "All Right" " New York Times; Aug 12, 1867; pg. 8 col 2.
>>>
>>>  "It was the second troupe that arrived in Jersey City on
>>>  Saturday, and with them the two much coveted Japs."
>>>  <<<
>>>
>>>  Was it intended as a slur in these cites? It isn't evident
>>>  (to me at least).
>>>
>>>
>>>  mark by hand
>>>


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages
A-740 Wells Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
Phone: (517) 432-3099
Fax: (517) 432-2736
preston at msu.edu