LL-L "Expressions" 2002.02.28 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 28.FEB.2002 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
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From: "John M. Tait" <jmtait at wirhoose.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Expressions" 2002.02.24 (06) [E]

Ron wrote:

>Many people in Germany using Low Saxon now say and write _bitte_
>'please'.  This is undoubtedly a German loan, for _bitte_ comes from
>_ich bitte_ 'I beg/request', and that would be _(ik) be(ed')_ in Low
>Saxon_, which is used when this is meant literally (e.g., _Ik be(ed')
>di_ 'I beg of you'), not in the sense of polite 'please' in either a
>request or in reply to "thank you" (i.e., "You are welcome," "Don't
>mention it") which, to the best of my knowledge, has no native
>equivalent.  Like in John Magnus' Shetlandic equivalent, you would
>phrase it differently:
>
>Kannst mi morgen bi 't Tohoopdrieven (vun de Schaap) helpen?
>Can you help me to round up (the sheep) tomorrow?
>
>Kannst maal so good wesen un mi morgen bi 't Tohoopdrieven (vun de
>Schaap) helpen?
>Can you please help me to round up (the sheep) tomorrow?
>
>Thus, in this case, _so good wesen un ..._ ("to be so good (= kind) and
>...") expresses what in German is _bitte_ and in English is "please".
>It may also stand at the beginning of a request: _Wees' so good, (un)
>..._ ("Be so good, (and) ..._).
>
>Of course, this is very much like in Scandinavian:
>
>Danish: (vær så god >) værs'go' (og)
>Norwegian (Bokmål): vær så god (og)
>Swedish: var så god (och)

Of course, it is possible in English to express degrees of politeness - e.g.

Get that book.
Get that book, please.
Could you get that book (please)?
You couldn't get that book, (please) could you?

I suppose that social pressure for demonstrable and teachable politeness
has resulted in associating politeness exclusively with the use of
'please', and thus impoliteness with its omission - a sort of blunt
instrument approach to language. This same desire to be polite is of course
the reason often given for the abandonment of all speech forms other than
the standard, with the inverse corollary that Scots is valued (largely by a
middle-class urban intelligentsia who do not speak it themselves) precisely
because it is perceived as being impolite. In fact, of course, the
perception of Scots as impolite merely demonstrates the paucity of their
experience of it. Almost everything said about Scots within literary and
academic circles is essentially from an external viewpoint.

Interesting that what is a non-standard use (from the German point of view)
in Low Saxon is the standard usage in the Scandinavian languages. Shows how
relative such things are.

John M. Tait.

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