Re: Linguistics
From: Efrain Ramirez (eramirezt@coqui.net)
Thu Jun 26 21:14:37 2008
I have no idea - but we have " la matriz" -- the womb - it's feminine..
same with "los senos" breasts - masculine - other nouns for them are
femenine:)
Ef
At Wed, 25 Jun 2008, Meenan, Anna wrote:
>
>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
--
"I can accept failure, but I can't accept not trying." - Michael Jordan
