Re: Linguistics
From: Meenan, Anna (annam@uic.edu)
Wed Jun 25 22:39:52 2008
As long as we are on the subject of linguistics,
the Spanish language, and masculine vs. feminine
nouns: Ef, can you tell me why "el utero" is a
masculine noun? It is one of the few things in
this world that can NEVER be anything but
feminine, and yet it is masculine. That one has
always given me pause.
Anna Meenan, MD
>Que vive el idioma espaÒol.. :)
>
>Ef
>
>>At Wed, 25 Jun 2008, Gerald P. RodrÌguez wrote:
>>
>> °Que viva la idioma EspaÒola!
>>
>> Gerald P. RodrÌguez, M.D., FACOG
>> Santa Fe
>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: R. Daniel Braun
>> To: Multiple recipients of list OB-GYN-L
>> 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> wrote:
>>
>> In a message dated 6/24/08 11:17:01 PM,
>>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!
>>
>>used cars.
>>
>> --
>> 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
>
>--
>"I can accept failure, but I can't accept not trying." - Michael Jordan
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