LL-L "Syntax" 2003.09.13 (05) [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) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Jan van Steenbergen <wenedyk at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Syntax" 2003.09.12 (04) [A/E]

> From: R. F. Hahn
> Subject: Syntax
>
> Laat ek julle iets vra na die Afrikaanse woordjie "laat" met betrekking
> tot die gebiedende wys.
> I am rather intrigued by the Afrikaans use of _laat_ 'let' in imperative
> constructions, such as _Laat ek jou iets vertel van Gordonsbaai_ [...]
> I suppose this is an Afrikaans-specific feature, an innovation.  Or does
> it exist in other Lowlands varieties as well, such as Zeelandic, the
> likely primary ancestor of Afrikaans?

It's even worse, Ron: it exists in standard Dutch as well! Indeed, it is
the normal imperative for the first person:
"Laten wij vanavond naar de bioscoop gaan."
"Laat ik jou eens iets vertellen over de Gordonsbaai".

Theoretically it can be used in the third person too, although that sounds
a tad more colloquial to me:
"Laat hij piano gaan spelen in plaats van gitaar!" (in that case it would
be more appropriate to say: "Laat hem ..." or "Hij moet ...").

I'm not sure how this construction emerged. It is also possible to use an
accusative instead of a nominative: "Laat ons vanavond naar de bioscoop
gaan" en "Laat ik jou eens iets vertellen". However, to my feeling this is
a germanism.

Jan

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From: Terrence Connor <tconnor at broadpark.no>
Subject: LL-L "Syntax" 2003.09.12 (04) [A/E]

Dear Ron

All I know is  that in Afrikaans <Laat ek jou vertel....> just sounds
correct and that using the reflcktive pronoun "my" sounds very strange.
Sorry I can't help you when it comes to other lowlands languages but it
would be interresting to know if this did exist in eg. Zeeuws. I can tell
you that in norwegian they use "meg" and the use og "jeg" would sound
ridiculous as it probably would in any other germanic language except for
Afrikaans

norsk.  " La meg fortelle deg"
nynorsk " Lat meg fortelje deg"

Terrence

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