Re: Origins of French partitive, pas, etc.
- From: Ruud Harmsen <realemailonsite@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2007 19:41:56 +0100
Mon, 31 Dec 2007 09:32:15 -0800 (PST): "Peter T. Daniels"
<grammatim@xxxxxxxxxxx>: in sci.lang:
I've been meaning to mention this for weeks. There's currently a learn-
a-language ad on radio where a guy boasts he can order in French and
astonishes his friends by saying to the waiter, "Je voudrais le poulet
et le riz." (Which strikes me as wrong on at least three counts.)
Perhaps the "le/la" is correct if it refers to an actual menu choice
offered, instead of to such a dish in general?
But French is certainly not my forte.
What are the other counts?
It is my understanding that they were not present in ancient French
(say before the 10th c. AD). When exactly and, most importantly,
WHY did the speakers of French feel the need to use these novel
forms?
There are no "why"s in vocabulary change. What now appear as negative
particles and specifiers started out as intensifiers (not one STEP!),
Yes: http://rudhar.com/etymolog/nepasre.htm
eventually turned obligatory, and now (in speech) pretty much replace
the tiny negative particle "ne."
--
Ruud Harmsen, http://rudhar.com
.
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