[Lexicog] Re: lexical entries as singulars or plurals

[David Frank]

Fritz --

Sorry this is coming a bit late, but I thought you might be interested to know that the word for 'eye' in St. Lucia Creole is zyé, from les yeux. To specify singular, one would say zyé-a, with a postposed definite determiner, to say 'the eye.' If you look under z in our dictionary you will find a whole set of similar words, including

zafè  'business'  [<Fr. les affaires]
zanfan  'child'  [<Fr. les enfents]
zannimo  'animal'  [<Fr. les animaux]
zapòt  'apostle'  [<Fr. les apôtres]
zé  'egg'  [<Fr. les oeufs]
zéklè  'lightning'  [<Fr. les éclairs]
zèl  'wing, fin'  [<Fr. les ailes]
zépòl  'shoulder'  [<Fr. les épaules]
etc.

-- David

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Fritz Goerling 
  To: lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 3:03 PM
  Subject: RE: [Lexicog] lexical entries as singulars or plurals


  David,

  You have worked with creolized French in St. Lucia. 
  Here is a funny example from creolized Ivorian French:
  First I mention the singular for "eye" in French French which is "oeil."
  The plural, as you know, is "yeux." Now in Ivorian French you might
  hear "Mon yeux droit me fait mal" (My right YEUX/eyes hurts me).
  Maybe some day there will be a  dictionary in Ivorian French with just the 
  entry "yeux" for "eye" as the singular AND plural form taken from  the 
  original French French plural form. 
  Another one: You know that French singular "egg" is "oeuf", but the plural
  is pronounced "ö" (written: "oeufs"). But in Ivorian French "one egg" is
  "un neuf" and "two eggs" are "deux neufs." So what are "nine eggs"? :-)

  Why not! Languages are dynamic.

  Fritz
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