LL-L "Idiomatica" 2003.10.09 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 09.OCT.2003 (03) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Ben J. Bloomgren <godsquad at cox.net>
Subject: LL-L "Idiomatica" 2003.10.08 (13) [E]

So, how does this work in other parts of the English-speaking world? In the
> Lowlandic world? Or in the world in general?

Uilliam, it is generally the same in English outside New England. I speak
Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. You never hear a Spanish speaker say, "Mi
madre ama a/de mirar los programas jardineros;" (My mother LOVES to watch
gardening shows.) They would say, "A mi madre le gusta/encanta mirar los
programas jardineros." In Portuguese, they use gostar de where English may
use "love or like." In Italian, a similar context is used for to like
something/someone as in Spanish--Mi piace molto guardare i programmi del
giardino. Amar/amare has very strict contexts. As in the Germanic world, one
does not shout that one loves another. To say that I love you in Spanish, I
don't say (Te amo," as that is merely stating a fact. If I say, "Te quiero,"
I communicate romantic love as of a spouse. I am not a native speaker of
these languages, so my words are not gospel; rather, they are things that I
have heard native speakers say.
Que Dios os bendiga mucho!
Ben

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From: ezinsser at icon.co.za <ezinsser at icon.co.za>
Subject: LL-L "Idiomatica" 2003.10.08 (13) [E]

Hi all,

Gaidheal asked about the forms 'love' and 'like' and its applications in
other Lowlandic
languages.

In Afrikaans we are stingy with expressing love to just every Jan Alleman.
God is worthy,
and so are parents, siblings, worthy friends and someone special. Liefh in
Afrikaans will
never become 'luv'.

We don't 'love' fruit or 'vleis en sous', but rather 'like' (hou van) those.
The closest
to the English form to love, for example, an Awful Awful milkshake, is to
say that we are
'mal daaroor" (mad about it).

Regards,
Elsie Zinsser

> So, context and tonality are what tells the hearer or reader or what have
you the exact
shade of meaning.....In the
> Lowlandic world? Or in the world in
general?

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Idiomatica

Folks,

I've always assumed that verbal (or other types of) expressions of emotions
or sentiments such as love have a tradition of being toned down in the
Continental Lowlands areas in which there are Protestant-,
Puritan-influenced traditions.  Especially the Calvinist and Anabaptist
traditions teach all sorts of modesty as essential virtues.  This would
dominate primarily in the Northern Netherlands, Northern Germany and, in
extension, in Afrikaans-speaking South Africa.  Elsie's posting above,
Gabriele's recent one on (Northern) Germany, and my recent one on Lowlands
Saxon (Low German) seem to show this.

(My ancestors arrived from Eastern Germany in Northwestern Germany only
recently, and Slavic-rooted traditions and expressions are still strong in
my family, including exuberant emotional expressions.  This used to make me
feel "different" from the society around me when I was growing up.)

It would be interesting to see if more "exuberant," "flamboyant" expressions
are acceptable in the Roman-Catholic-dominated Lowlands, namely in the
Southern Netherlands and Belgium where Low Franconian and Francophone
spheres overlap.

I suppose Britain is more mixed, at least nowadays, though it probably has
mostly Prostestant-influenced traditions, hence the stereotype of reserved,
stodgy English people and straightforward Scottish people with a dry sense
of humor.  This seems to have been carried over to traditional New Zealand
and Australia.  "Typical" Aussies do not usually feel comfortable with what
some of them have described to me as "sentimentality" and "soppiness" in
American movies.   I suppose the United States are much more of a mixed bag.
Puritan ideals, emanating from New England, seem to survive to a degree, but
the great mixture of cultures and large percentages of non-Protestants,
especially Irish, Italian, Polish and, above all, Hispanic populations more
than compensate.

What do you think?  And how does traditional Canada fit into this?

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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