LL-L "Grammar" 2010.01.11 (01) [EN]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 11 January 2010 - Volume 01
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From: M.-L. Lessing <marless at gmx.de>
Subject: LL-L "Grammar" 2010.01.10 (04) [EN]

Wow, dear Reinhard, thank you, this gives a lot of clearness. German seems
obsessed with articles. Maybe it is the only language that has given Iran an
article? -- As to "Mark" or "-mark" with or without article, could it be
that foreign "-marks" get no article (Dänemark), whereas -marks inside
Germany get one? I seem to find this with -land. England, Holland and
Swasiland get no article, while *das *Sauerland, *das *Fischland and
*das*Alte Land have one. But maybe German just runs mad on articles
:-)

Hartlich!

Marlou

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

You're welcome, Marlou.

*Das Sauerland* etc. represents the group of *regions* within the
German-speaking area, much like *die Lausitz* and *die Uckermark*. These
always take an article, unlike names of countries (e.g. *Dänemark*) and
foreign provinces (e.g. *Telemark*). However, I have a feeling that saying *
die **Telemark* seems acceptable, even though it is a region in Norway.

*Das Alte Land* is an interesting case. I take it it is the German
translation of Low Saxon *dat Ole Land*. Note, however, that the
colloquially used contracted Low Saxon version *Olland* does *not* take an
article, is thus treated like the name of a country/state.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA

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