Re: English compared to other European languages


Des Small wrote:
> "Seán O'Leathlóbhair" <jwlawler@xxxxxxxxx> writes:
>
> > Torsten Poulin wrote:
> > > Seán O'Leathlóbhair wrote:
> > >
> > > > That is indeed conservative. From looking at the contemporary
> > > > Scandinavian languages, I had got the opposite impression.
> > > > Icelandic is clearly very conservative but I had got the
> > > > impression that Danish and Swedish had moved much further
> > > > and probably been reformed a couple of times.
> > > > I notice that you assimilate foreign words more than we do
> > > > e.g. miljø. I thought that this indicated deliberate
> > > > spelling reform.
> > >
> > > A form like "miljø" is indeed the result of a deliberate change
> > > (earlier: "milieu"). As are "medaille" > "medalje", "ressource" >
> > > "resurse", "mayonnaise" > "majonæse", "polonaise" > "polonæse",
> > > "checke" > "tjekke", "rutsche" > "rutsje", etc. In some cases the
> > > new form is just an alternative, in others, it has replaced the
> > > older spelling. All of the examples are comparatively recent,
i.e.,
> > > they have been introduced within the past 100 years and some are
> > > even very recent. Sometimes things go in the opposite direction.
> > > E.g., the alternative spelling "shampo" is no longer considered
> > > correct. You have to use "shampoo". Another example is "creme"
> > > which had the alternative form "kræm", and later "krem". From
2001,
> > > the only valid form is "creme". Apparently nobody used "krem"
> > > anyway.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Torsten
> >
> > 'From 2001, the only valid form is "creme"' sounds weird to me.
Who
> > says it?
>
> Lots of national langwidges have official bodies regulating their
> standard orthographies.

I was aware of that, I even knew of the Danish one (but not its name).
Nonetheless, it still seems an odd idea to this native English speaker.


> > What happens to someone who writes "kræm"? I cannot imagine
> > any official body making such decrees about English.
>
> But English isn't one of them. This is often considered proof of the
> langwidge's unsurpassable magnificence, especially by native English
> speakers.

As a native English speaker this is my gut feel even if I would not say
it for the sake of political correctness.

> > LSD mentioned French. They use "shampooing". It is odd that they
seem
> > to like the English "ing" ending and often use it when we would
not.
>
> French '-ing' loans are always nouns, whereas English '-ing' words
> are very often verbal (as was recently discussed here).
>
> I'd assume 'un shampooing' would be a service offered by
hairdressers;
> is it something else?

As far as I know, it is just "shampoo". I don't often buy the stuff in
France but the little bottles in the hotels use this word.

> > Maybe they want adopted words to look alien.
>
> ?

"ing" is a rare ending in French except for loans from English. I
expect that it makes a word look foreign to a French speaker.
"Weekend" does not have "ing" but has its "w" which is also rare in
French.

> Des
> prefers to make native words look alien

--
Seán O'Leathlóbhair
Prefers to make his name look alien.

.

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