"Amerika"

[Dave Wilton]

I would agree. I think that "Amerika" is more inspired by the German
spelling and is an evocation of fascism--and I don't think the 1927 Kafka
novel is especially relevant. (I haven't read it, but my understanding is
that it is not about totalitarianism, rather about a European youth's
travels in the US.)

But I also think you're taking Safire out of context. He is specifically
referring to the spelling in a Hip Hop context. In the midst of several
paragraphs about African American language, Safire writes:

"Back in the day, the substitution of k for c in the word America - writing
it as Amerika or Amerikkka - was a coded evocation of the Ku Klux Klan.
Hip-hop style today deliberately defies spelling rules, especially ingrained
irregularities."

In this narrower context, he may be correct in thinking that the Klan is the
more proximate inspiration.


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Wilson Gray
Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2007 7:34 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: "Amerika"

I don't know -  in the literal sense; I'm not trying to say politely
that you're wrong - about  Kafka being the ultimate origin, but I
agree, otherwise.

-Wilson

On 5/20/07, Fred Shapiro <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Fred Shapiro <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      "Amerika"
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
>
> In today's N.Y. Times "On Language" column, William Safire derives the
> satirical spelling _Amerika_ from the K in Ku Klux Klan.  While that
> derivation is obviously true of the spelling _Amerikkka_, I always thought
> that _Amerika_ derived from the German spelling and probably was
> specifically inspired by a Kafka book title.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
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> Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
> Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE BOOK OF QUOTATIONS
>    Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press
> Yale Law School                             ISBN 0300107986
> e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
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