Re: So it is true...

Seán O'Leathlóbhair wrote:
>
> Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> > Seán O'Leathlóbhair wrote:

> > > There is now a Scottish Parliament with a moderate amount of power and
> > > a Welsh Assembly with rather less. I would guess that even the
> > > Scottish Parliament has rather less power than one of your States. The
> > > Northern Ireland Assembly is currently suspended. Oddly, there is no
> > > government at this level in England. The next level above county is
> > > the United Kingdom. So, today at least, England probably has a weaker
> > > claim to nationhood than the others.
> >
> > So you're adopting the American usage!
>
> Not really since, as I mentioned above, the word nation is mostly used
> in a sporting context. I think that the official term for these
> governments is: regional assemblies. This is probably to dodge the
> difficult question of whether they are nations.

In Britain, perhaps the word "nation" is mostly used in a "sporting"
context, but perhaps not elsewhere.

> > > If you are offered British citizenship then you will need to swear an
> > > oath of allegiance
> >
> > to the Monarch, right? not to the State?
>
> Why the capital S?

Parallelism with Monarch.

> Yes but the monarch represents the state so it is not a significant
> distinction. There are often debates on how rich the queen is. A
> significant issue is what she owns personally and what belongs to the
> job. Does she own Buckingham Palace? Could she sell it? Similarly,
> the difference, if any, between an oath to the queen and the state is
> debatable. Of course some see a difference, most notably NI
> politicians who object to British rule.

AIUI, the Queen has subjects while the rest of the world has citizens.

> > > > > The sense that I meant was an area under a particular government. Here
> > > > > is the first definition from the Cambridge Online Dictionary.
> > > > >
> > > > > 1 [C] a country, especially when thought of as a large group of people
> > > > > living in one area with their own government, language, traditions,
> > > > > etc:

> > > > > 2 [S] a large group of people of the same race who share the same
> > > > > language, traditions and history, but who might not all live in one
> > > > > area: the Navajo nation
> > > >
> > > > What are [C] and [S] introducing these definitions?
> > > >
> > > > (And what does Cambridge think "race" means?)
> > >
> > > I cannot speak for Cambridge but it is an online dictionary so you
> > > could have a look yourself.
> >
> > As you should know by now, I don't click links, because when I do,
> > either it takes a very long time for the website to resolve itself and
> > then it doesn't have anything useful anyway, or else it all goes blooey
> > right away. (Publishers' websites tend to be particularly picky.)
>
> Well, I don't do research for others if it is very easy for them to do
> it themselves. I could copy and paste the dictionary's definition for
> race but since it would be so easy for you to follow the link and see

I just explained that it isn't easy.

Why won't you tell me what [C] and [S] mean?

> it for yourself, I won't. If you don't like following links, try a
> good bookshop or library, you should be able to find the real thing.

Erm, no, it's not likely that any British dictionary, let alone
"Learners'" ones, would be available in an American bookstore _or_
library; who would buy or consult them?
--
Peter T. Daniels grammatim@xxxxxxx
.