Meaning change with emphasis shift

Wed Nov 6 03:54:38 UTC 2002

(Jeff's original message at the bottom)

Thanks Jeff.

I think TV would have been VERY different indeed if it had been founded in
Seattle.  I love reading historical jargon but you got me thinking as to
what it might be like to read modern ideas in jargon.

I'd like to see some famous modern texts in all kinds of jargon.  Maybe
they's be good as a synoptic.  English first then columns of different
jargon styles.

Below are some famous modern (and close to modern) speaches about freedom.
If I threw this out to Chinook list I wonder what would come back.

??? Would anyone be interested in showing how their style of jargon would
represent some of these words???

Nelson Mandela

Comrades and fellow South Africans, I greet you all in the name of peace,
democracy and freedom for all. I stand here before you not as a prophet but
as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices
have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the
remaining years of my life in your hands.

On this day of my release, I extend my sincere and warmest gratitude to the
millions of my compatriots and those in every corner of the globe who have
campaigned tirelessly for my release. I extend special greetings to the
people of Cape Town, the city which has been my home for three decades.
Your mass marches and other forms of struggle have served as a constant
source of strength to all political prisoners...

Our struggle has reached a decisive moment: We call on our people to seize
this moment, so that the process toward democracy Is rapid and
uninterrupted.

We have waited too long for our freedom. We can no longer wait. Now is the
time to intensify the struggle on all fronts. To relax our efforts now
would be a mistake which generations to come will not be able to forgive.

The sight of freedom looming on the horizon should encourage us to redouble
our efforts. It Is only through disciplined mass action that our victory
can be assured.

We call on our white compatriots to join us in the shaping of a new South
Africa. The freedom movement is a political home for you, too.

We call on the international community to continue the campaign to isolate
the apartheid regime. To lift sanctions now would run the risk of aborting
the process toward the complete eradication of apartheid.

Our march toward freedom is irreversible. We must not allow fear to stand
in our way.

Universal suffrage on a common voters roll in a united, democratic and
non-racial South Africa is the only way to peace and racial harmony.

In conclusion, I wish to go to my own words during my trial in 1964 - they
are as true today as they were then:

I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black
domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in
which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunity. It
is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But, if need be, it is
an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

Pound Maker

>From the beginning, the Great Spirit created the Indians. He created the
white persons. He put them on separate countries. He provided us with
buffalo. He provided you with cows and sheep. We lived in contentment. We
were well off. The whole country was ours. From the place of the rising
sun, to the place of the setting sun, the buffalo roamed in great numbers.

We did not covet your land, neither did my father. But the white persons
seemed unhappy. They left their land. They came across the great waters.

When you came, we treated you well. What did you do in return? You stole
our land. You shared a little food with us. And you said you paid for it.
You killed off our buffalo for no useful purpose for you. We did not
destroy the buffalo. We know they are useful. Everything we needed came
from them. What will you destroy next?

When I was a young man, I often went on a war party. We rode all day. And
all day we passed through herds of buffalo. The plains were black as far as
one could see with herds of buffalo. We killed one only for food.

After the whites came, the buffalo became fewer and fewer. We all know
that. We began to hate the white persons. They were robbing us of our
birthright. We became very poor. We wandered to the south. The buffalo were
not coming back. We were told, "the land is not yours anymore". We were to
stay only on our small patches of land that were leftover (iskonikana). Our
grandfathers travelled on these great plains and called it their own.

Why do I have to live on a small patch like the white persons? I only want
my freedom.

Dalai Lamma

No matter what part of the world we come from, we are all basically the
same human beings. We all seek happiness and try to avoid suffering. We
have the same basic human needs and is concerns. All of us human beings
want freedom and the right to determine our own destiny as individuals and
as peoples. That is human nature. The great changes that are taking place
everywhere in the world, from Eastern Europe to Africa are a clear
indication of this...

The suffering of our people during the past forty years of occupation is
well documented. Ours has been a long struggle. We know our cause is just
Because violence can only breed more violence and suffering, our struggle
must remain non-violent and free of hatred. We are trying to end the
suffering of our people, not to inflict suffering upon others...

As a Buddhist monk, my concern extends to all members of the human family
and, indeed, to all sentient beings who suffer. I believe all suffering is
caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit
of their happiness or satisfaction. Yet true happiness comes from a sense
of brotherhood and sisterhood. We need to cultivate a universal
responsibility for one another and the planet we share. Although I have
found my own Buddhist religion helpful in generating love and compassion,
even for those we consider our enemies, I am convinced that everyone can
develop a good heart and a sense of universal responsibility with or
without religion.

With the ever growing impact of science on our lives, religion and
spirituality have a greater role to play reminding us of our humanity.
There is no contradiction between the two. Each gives us valuable insights
into the other. Both science and the teachings of the Buddha tell us of the
fundamental unity of all things. This understanding is crucial if we are to
take positive and decisive action on the pressing global concern with the
environment.

I believe all religions pursue the same goals, that of cultivating human
goodness and bringing happiness to all human beings. Though the means might
appear different the ends are the same.

As we enter the final decade of this century I am optimistic that the
ancient values that have sustained mankind are today reaffirming themselves
to prepare us for a kinder, happier twenty-first century.

I pray for all of us, oppressor and friend, that together we succeed in
building a better world through human under-standing and love, and that in
doing so we may reduce the pain and suffering of all sentient beings.

Thank you.

Martin Luther King

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and
frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply
rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true
meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all
men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former
slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together
at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state,
sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed
into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where
they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of
their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are
presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will
be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls
will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk
together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and
mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the
crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be
revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With
this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of
hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of
our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we
will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to
go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will
be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a
new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I
sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every
mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let
freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom
ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the
heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From
every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every
hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that
day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles,
Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words
of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God
Almighty, we are free at last!"

Winston Churchill

I have myself full confidence that if all do their duty,
if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made,
as they are being made,
we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our island home,
to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny,
if necessary for years, if necessary alone.

At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do.
That is the resolve of His Majesty's Government'every man of them.
That is the will of Parliament and the nation.
The British Empire and the French Republic,
linked together in their cause and in their need,
will defend to the death their native soil,
aiding each other like good comrades
to the utmost of their strength.

Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States
have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo
and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule,
we shall not flag or fail.

We shall go on to the end.
We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans,
We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air,
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be,
We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds,
We shall fight in the fields, and in the streets,
We shall fight in the hills;
We shall never surrender,

And even if, which I do not for a moment believe,
this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving,
then our Empire beyond the seas,
armed and guarded by the British Fleet,
would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time,
the new world, with all its power and might,
steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

Jeffrey Kopp <jeffkopp at attbi.com> on 05-11-2002 17:56:20

To:   cbruce at SMARTLINE.COM.AU
cc:   CHINOOK at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
bcc:
Subject:  Re: Meaning change with emphasis shift

Well, I expect Tony will send along a more informative reply (when he can).
But in the meantime (for anyone unaware what changing the pronunciation of
"skookum" and "tenas" does to their meaning), I recall his saying in
Workshop that "skookim" was strong, but "skoo-koom" was a spirit or force.
While "tennis" is small, little, or a child, I think he also said "ten-ass"
was applied to a misbehaving child (or "brat").

Emphasis is often added to a syllable (usually the first) of many English
words to give them an ironic implication. I am curious myself whether this
tendency worked itself (backwards) into the Jargon from English, or is also
found in Native (or other) languages.  (Is this done in Yiddish, say, like
the well-known technique of modified repetition to show skepticism?)

Jeff

(P.S. So much color has been contributed to American English by Yiddish.  I
wonder: If television had been founded in Seattle instead of New
York--would the whole country would be throwing around Jargonisms today?)

On Tue, 5 Nov 2002 09:04:08 +1100, Colin Bruce <cbruce at SMARTLINE.COM.AU>
wrote:

>How often does a change in stress change an adjective into a noun?  I'm
>thinking of "skookum" and "tenas".

____________________________________
Colin Bruce
Smartline Home Loans
Phone 02 8226 3670 / 02 9877 0099
Fax 02 9877 0952
Email cbruce at smartline.com.au
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