Re: Linguistics
From: Dr Eberhard Lisse (el@lisse.NA)
Wed Jun 25 12:52:28 2008
Ah,
you are homeless ?
el
on 6/25/08 6:39 PM Gerald P. Rodríguez said the following:
>
> *¡Que viva la idioma Española!*
> **
> *Gerald P. Rodríguez, M.D., FACOG*
> *Santa Fe*
>
> **
>> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* R. Daniel Braun <mailto:rd.braun@gmail.com>
> *To:* Multiple recipients of list OB-GYN-L
> <mailto:ob-gyn-l@mail.obgyn.net>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, June 25, 2008 9:23 AM
> *Subject:* Re: Linguistics
>
> That's all fine and good, but if our congressmen don't get off their
> butts and make English, the OFFICIAL language of the good ole US of
> A. we're all going to be speaking Spanish anyway.
>
> Dan
>
> On Wed, Jun 25, 2008 at 11:15 AM, <DoctorJoe@aol.com
> <mailto:DoctorJoe@aol.com>> wrote:
>
> In a message dated 6/24/08 11:17:01 PM,
> Stephen.Raymond@dhhs.tas.gov.au
> <mailto:Stephen.Raymond@dhhs.tas.gov.au> writes:
>
> Horrified as I am, I can't resist asking, why logical?
>
> Well, not to beat a dying horse, but ..
>
> Remember that English (and I'm not sure about other languages)
> became somewhat "formalized" after the invention of the
> dictionary. Before then, words were spelled irregularly,
> evidenced by any reproduction of old books and other printed
> materials. The dictionary was a force which regularized the
> language and attempted to keep it that way.
>
> However, with the expansion of the English language (e.g.
> American English, Aussie & Kiwi English, "English" English,
> Indian English), there is a vulgarization of the language in
> different ways and in different areas of the world. In other
> words, it's not just whether you're from London or Liverpool any
> more. And each country is independent of the source of the
> mother tounge now. In fact, there is some sense of pride in
> speaking differently from the Queen.
>
> So too, in large countries like the US of A, there are large
> regional differences (along with regional allegiences and pride)
> which facilitate the very same phenomenon on a more local scale,
> perhaps more dramatic than the local scale of London versus
> Liverpool.
>
> Therefore, it's logical to think that there would be a
> relatively active movement to formalize such differences ("ask"
> versus "axe") from region to region.
>
> Perhaps the most obvious historical example of the above is the
> Roman Empire. Latin was the official language of Rome and thence
> of the Empire. But after the Empire expanded and then lost
> control of the different regions, the vulgar Latin in each
> region became characteristic unto itself, giving us Italian,
> French, Spanish, Portugese, Romanian, etc. About half way
> through the Crusades, Europe fell into the inability to
> understand itself. Languages tend to do that, it seems. There's
> your logic.
>
> Joe P.
>
> P.S. An even more interesting subplot of this phenomenon is
> Italy (and Emilio, correct me if I'm wrong). Each major city or
> center in Italy had its own dialect of Latin/Italian, even into
> relatively recent history. (Not to include Sicilian, which is a
> bit different altogether.) However, when Vittorio Emanuele
> unified the country, he picked Florentine as the official
> language, since Florence/Firenze was the relatively
> well-recognized literary and artistic capital of the country.
> Thus, Italian today is not a subdialect of Latin, it's an
> artificially selected sub-subdialect of Latin.
>
> Ya know -- This stuff is pretty cool!
>
> --
> R. Daniel Braun, MD FACOG(L) ABMP CMTh
> Professor Emeritus
> Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology
> Indiana U. School of Medicine
>
> R. Daniel Braun
>
> "Science without Religion is LAME; Religion without Science is BLIND"
> Einstein 1941
>
> **
--
Dr. Eberhard W. Lisse \ / Obstetrician & Gynaecologist (Saar)
el@lisse.NA el108-ARIN / * | Telephone: +264 81 124 6733 (cell)
PO Box 8421 \ / Please do NOT email to this address
Bachbrecht, Namibia ;____/ if it is DNS related in ANY way
