LL-L "Syntax" 2002.12.19 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
 L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic
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From: rossmay <rossmay at bellsouth.net>
Subject: LL-L "Syntax" 2002.12.18 (04) [E]

     I think that probably dialectical words such as "ain't" and others will
never reveal their true origins because of the lack or written material of a
dialectical nature.  As most of you know, spelling during the 14th century
wasn't exactly prescribed by any authority.  Because the scriptures were
religiously copied, that is down to the last letter under threat of
blesphemy, and suffered no stylistic spelling, many think that there was
some standard of spelling that came down to us.  Well, I guess it was, but
it was just the spelling that the translator decided to use.  If  you will
note, in the Early Modern English of the translations that we call correct
today, there are variants in syntax and grammatical choice.  So, you could
see right there that changes were ongoing, so many variants were considered
permissible.
      One spelling variant that was seen painted on some old signs or
engravings, was the use of "Ye".  Now, this was not the pronoun "Ye", but
actually a spelling of the article pronounced just as we pronounce it today.
The word "The".  It seems that during the time these names were established
the letter "Y" was used for the "th" sound.  So it mistakenly ends up today
being pronounced the same as the pronoun "Ye".  i.e, "Ye Olde Candy Shop".
It doesn't translate "Your old candy shop", but "The old candy shop".  But I
am digressing here.  Just thought some might like to pronounce these
recreations of old inns in Britain and the U. S., the way they were
intended, "the".
       There are as many correct early spellings as the mind of the writer
wanted to fabricate.  Would be nice today to legitimately originate your own
spellings and coin you own words (like William Shakespeare did).  But, come
to think of it, my wife enjoys that practice today.
                              Harlan Ross May, Gulfport, Mississippi, USA

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From: Marcel Bas mrbas_26 at hotmail.com
Subject: LL-L "Syntax" 2002.12.18 (08) [E]

Hi Ron,

In Leiden the negation _nooit geen_ (never no) for _nooit_ (never) is very
common: "Ik krraig neujt geejn ^antwoorrd" (I never get no answer) and the
English-inspired "Daarr hebbie toch never-nooit iets an" (that will
never-never help you). It is possible that these double negations also occur
in the the other urban dialects in the Randstad area, such as in the
Rotterdam dialect.

Now I have a question; in the Dutch province of Drenthe (where a Low Saxon
dialect is spoken), in the town of Roden, I talked to a man who - to my
surprise - applied the double negation the way it was familiar to me in
Afrikaans. Attempting to speak Standard Dutch (ABN) he said: "Hij hoeft
_niet_ veel te eten _niet_", repeating the negation at the end of every
clause!
Can anyone tell me if this double negation is normal in Drenthe?

Best regards, Marcel.

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