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


>"Jayne Kulikauskas" <jayne.kulikauskas@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>news:1137987788.170607.299460@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> 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

>>Heidi wrote:
>> 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.

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

>>Heidi wrote:
>>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.
> [...]

> Jayne wrote:
> I think you are aware of the original meanings because you are a German
> speaker.

When JFK claimed, "Ich bin ein Berliner!" I think he was well aware he was
not refering to a pastry or meat patty.

>I suspect that most monolingual native speakers of English
> don't have those meanings in their vocabularies.

No, but just because they don't know other languages doesn't mean those
meanings are irrelevant. German, Dutch and Danish are still very much
living languages which millions of people speak.

> I have never heard a
> native speaker say "Wiener waltz"

My Canadian friends who are interested in Classical music are very much
aware what it means to listen and dance to Wiener waltzes.


>or use Frankfurter or Hamburger to
> refer to residents of those cities.

It depends on their education, wouldn't it? Those Canadians who know cities
named Frankfurt and Hamburg exist, would know what Frankfurter and Hamburger
means.

Of course it is entirely possible that Ontario doesn't teach children
anything about Europe? In BC they get a pretty good education. World
geography is part of the curriculum.

However, I can understand why you would think not many English speakers
would be aware of the additional meanings for the words to offered. You
hang around homeschoolers and do homeschooling yourself! You have no idea
what is being taught in public school.

Heidi


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