Re: I need help explaining basic linguistic concepts to a lay person


Heidi Graw wrote:
> ><jayne.kulikauskas@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> >news:1137980126.008295.147440@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >
> > Franz Gnaedinger wrote:
> >
> > [...]
> >> Something else entirely - can you give me an expample
> >> of a word that turned into something else entirely?
>
> > Jayne wrote:
> > danish, hamburger, wiener, frankfurter
>
> Those words have merely had *additional* meanings being added to them. To
> be Danish still means to be Danish. A Danish can also be a pastry.

I suppose your point is valid for this example, but I don't think it is
for the others.

>That
> Hamburger can still be a person born in Hamburg, but it is also a meat patty
> on a bun. Wiener waltzes are not hot dog waltzes. A Frankfurter is still a
> person born in Frankfurt, but he's no sausage.
[...]

I think you are aware of the original meanings because you are a German
speaker. I suspect that most monolingual native speakers of English
don't have those meanings in their vocabularies. I have never heard a
native speaker say "Wiener waltz" or use Frankfurter or Hamburger to
refer to residents of those cities.

Jayne

.

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