"folk" with an L

[Charles Doyle]

That is, from the country formerly known as "Bohemia"--formerly in the country formerly known as "Czechoslovokia."

--Charlie


---- Original message ----
>Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:18:34 -0400
>From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> (on behalf of Eric Nielsen <ericbarnak at GMAIL.COM>)>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>I believe the Polka (dance) is originally from Czechloslovakia--more
>specifically Bohemia. What's very strange is that it is, I think, generally
>assumed to be Polish in origin.
>
>Two years ago, my young cousin, Magda, was visiting from Poland. People were
>trying to impress her with their collections of Polka music, to which she
>replied, "That's not even Polish."
>
>Eric
>
>
>On Thu, Mar 18, 2010 at 6:38 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: "folk" with an L
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> FWIW, I've heard this cheer story for so long - ca. forty years - from so
>> many different people from Norfolk that *I* believe it.
>>
>> OTOH, that there are Northern-white speakers who don't pronounce the "l" in
>> the name of the dance is a real surprise!
>>
>> As for "polka-dot," I've never noticed anything special WRT the
>> pronunciation of it. It goes without out saying that the word "polka," for
>> all practical purposes, doesn't exist in BE. My wife points out that she
>> just recently bought a new, po[l]ka-dot nightgown. "Polka-dot" is so rare
>> i=
>> n
>> my speech that I have no idea how it sounds unmonitored: po[l]ka-dot and
>> po[w]ka-dot both fall equally trippingly from the tongue.
>>
>> How can anyone tell what language "polka" is from, since the word is the
>> same in nearly every Slavic language? Historical dancistics, I suppose. ;-)
>>
>> -Wilson
>>
>>
>>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org