LL-L "Semantics" 2004.06.15 (01) [E]

Tue Jun 15 19:50:33 UTC 2004

======================================================================
L O W L A N D S - L * 15.JUN.2004 (01) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
http://www.lowlands-l.net * lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Rules & Guidelines: http://www.lowlands-l.net/index.php?page=rules
Posting: lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org or lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Server Manual: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html
Archives: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html
Encoding: Unicode (UTF-8) [Please switch your view mode to it.]
=======================================================================
You have received this because you have been subscribed upon request.
To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l" as message
text from the same account to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or
sign off at http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
=======================================================================
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)
=======================================================================

From: Ruth & Mark Dreyer <mrdreyer at lantic.net>
Subject: LL-L "False friends" 2004.06.13 (02) [D/E]

Dear All,

May I toss a stone in the bush?

So very little note is taken of the use of euphemism & its place in the
development of terminology. I, now, imagined everybody KNEW the expression
'He's "sick!" ' or 'That is so 'sick!" ' or (for Californians) 'He's a "sick
puppy"!' meaning mentally deranged in a nasty way, was the last stage of an
Americanism, using 'sick' as a tactful euphemism for 'insane'.

 I have no quarrel with that, as long as South Africans still understand me
when I say I feel sick. But we should beware of euphemism's destructive
propensities in language too.

Take for example the euphemism 'gay', which before Victorian Times, I find,
referred to any brand of licenciousness whatever ('Gaying instrument' - the
penis: 1811 DICTIONARY of the Vulgar Tongue). But subsequently restricted to
'the vice that dared not speak its name', 'Gay' became the euphemism for
'Homosexual' & with the gradual erosion of social reticence is now a
generally accepted term for the same.

This is in my opinion a great pity. The 'orientation' in question is no
longer a matter for the Law, or even Social Propriety, but 'Homosexual ' has
fallen out of use! The word 'Gay' meaning 'lively, bright, sportive, merry'
can no longer be used as such without misunderstanding. The mood appropriate
to that usage in older literary works is needlessly destroyed, & we can't
teach the same application to our young.

A small digression - how's this for a false friend? 'gay = merry' (Gay
fellow) English as opposed to 'gey = serious' (Gey Gordon) Scottish!

& still euphemism marches on. There are still contexts, even in that
fraternity, in which euphemism is preferable to the less subtle truth, &
what word is falling into that use? 'Fey!' ("I was approached by a fey young
man ---.").

What happens when we have to refer to something that IS fey?

Yrs Sincerely,
Mark

----------

From: Ruth & Mark Dreyer <mrdreyer at lantic.net>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2004.06.13 (03) [E]

Dear John Duckworth, & All,

This usage must go back very far in Germanic, or else be a very persuasive
loan. In Afrikaans, 'krank' also means 'sick, unwell, ill, but for 'insane,
you must specify, e.g. 'kranksinnig'.

On the other hand, 'kronkel means 'twisted, coiled, crinkled, or with a
kink.

Once again, has anybody else raised the issue of euphemism?

Yrs, Mark.

> I started wondering about why High German replaced the Old High German
word
> _sieh_ (sick) with New High German _krank. I looked at the history of the
> word _krank_ given by Jakub and Wilhelm Grimm in Das Deutsche Woerterbuch
> ( http://www.dwb.uni-trier.de/index.html ), and there I found an inference
> that Scots has a word _crank_, also meaning 'unwell' (and not in the sense
> of 'a cranky person' ). I wonder if Sandy or someone else can confirm
that.
>
> Also, Ron, is _krank_ used in Low Saxon alongside cognates of _sick_ ?

----------

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

> May I toss a stone in the bush?

Sure!  Toss away!  We can probably catch them in mid-flight.  :)  Not that
*I* necessarily will, mind you.

>  I have no quarrel with that, as long as South Africans still understand
me
> when I say I feel sick. But we should beware of euphemism's destructive
> propensities in language too.

Sure, Mark, but how can you stop it?  It's awfully hard, if not impossible,
to regulate language, including semantic shifts.

We have indeed talked about euphemisms many times, within various contexts.
It is true that euphemisms tend to cause all sorts of semantic shifts and
replacements.

By the way, Lowlands Saxon (Low German) refers to 'insane', 'mentally ill',
as _mal_ (<mall> [ma.l]), derived from French _mal_ 'bad', 'wrong', 'hurt',
'ill'.  It can also mean 'silly' or 'excentric' if used within certain
contexts.

Derivations are the following:
mallerig 'silly', 'excentric', 'crazy'
mallen 'to behave in a silly or crazy way', 'to fool around'
malmööl (<Mallmöhl> "crazy/silly mill") 'carousel'
mal-aap ~ mayaap (<Mallaap> ~ <Maiaap> "silly/May ape/monkey") 'silly
person', 'idiot'

There *are* native words and other loanwords for "crazy" and similar words;
e.g., ...

verdrayd (<verdreiht> "twisted")
verrükt (<verrückt> "deranged")
bregen-klöterig (<bregen-klöterig> "brain-clotted," "lumpy-brained")
beklopt (<bekloppt> "hit-on")
dul (<dull> "crazed")
narsch (<narrsch> "foolish" from _nar_ <Narr> "fool")
tüyterig (<tüterig> from _tüyter_ "twist," "tangle")
tüytelig (<tütelig> from _tüytel_ "twist," "tangle")
vimmelig (<fimmelig> from _vimmel_ (<Fimmel>) 'foible')
unwys' (<unwies> "unwise")
blööd' (<blööd> ~ <bleud> originally "deaf and dumb")
blöödsinnig (<blöödsinnig> ~ <bleudsinnig> < "deaf-and-dumb-sensed")
splynig (<splienig> from _splyn_ (<Splien>) "excentricity")
maschukken (<maschucken> < Rothwelsch _meschugge_
   < Yiddish _meshuge_ משגע < Hebrew _m at shugâ`_ מְשֻׁגָּע 'insane')
vagelig (from _vagel_ "foible" < "bird")

The rest consists mostly of idiomatic phrases ... lots of them.

Talking about words for "deaf"[1] and "dumb"[2] as replacements for "insane"
or "unintelligent," this would be another set of examples of the semantic
shifts you are talking about, Mark, where it is (nearly) impossible to use
the words with their original meaning.

[1] LS _douv_ (<doof>) 'deaf' > 'stupid' > German _doof_ 'stupid' vs native
_taub_ 'deaf'

[2] English "dumb" 'unable to speak' > 'stupid'

Kumpelmenten,
Reinhard/Ron

==============================END===================================
* Please submit postings to lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org.
* Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
* Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
* Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l") are
  to be sent to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or at
  http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
=======================================================================