LL-L "Phonology" 2008.06.17 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

=======================================================================

 L O W L A N D S - L * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226

 http://www.lowlands-l.net * lowlands.list at gmail.com

 Rules & Guidelines: http://www.lowlands-l.net/rules.php

 Posting: lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org - lowlands.list at gmail.com

 Commands ("signoff lowlands-l" etc.): listserv at listserv.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.]

 Administration: lowlands.list at gmail.com or sassisch at yahoo.com


 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 (Zeeuws)

=======================================================================

 ========================================================================
L O W L A N D S - L - 17 June 2008 - Volume 01
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please set the encoding mode to Unicode (UTF-8).
If viewing this in a web browser, please click on
the html toggle at the bottom of the archived page
and switch your browser's character encoding to Unicode.
 ========================================================================

From: Ingmar Roerdinkholder <ingmar.roerdinkholder at WORLDONLINE.NL>
Subject: LL-L "Phonology" 2008.06.16 (04) [E]

Isn't "metre" in English just 100 cm, and "meter" a measuring device?

For us Dutch speakers it is different, we have one word "meter":

the verb "meten" means to measure, so a "meter" is a measurer, someone or
something that measures. Just like "kopen" is to buy, a "koper" is a
buyer, "zien" is to see, and a "ziener" is a seer.
A "meter" is a metre/meter, too, that is an unrelated word etymologically,
but the to sound just alike and in the perception of people, they are
closely related.

There's a third Dutch "meter" meaning godmother.

Ingmar

Sandy Fleming wrote:
I'm not sure what the significance of my way of spelling the word
sometimes as "meter" and sometimes as "metre" is! Is a metre the unit of
measurement and a meter a measuring device?

----------

From: Brooks, Mark <mark.brooks at twc.state.tx.us>
Subject: LL-L "Phonology" 2008.06.16 (04) [E]

Sandy asked:  "I'm not sure what the significance of my way of spelling the
wordsometimes as "meter" and sometimes as "metre" is! Is a metre the unit of
measurement and a meter a measuring device?"

I always attributed the difference to US and British spelling systems.  But,
perhaps, you have discerned something new.

Mark Brooks

•

==============================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.

*********************************************************************
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lowlands-l/attachments/20080617/fa3f8fd8/attachment.htm>