[lit-ideas] Peculiar Derbicisms of Derby
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 23:29:58 EDT
R. Paul, a student of N. Malcolm -- who hosted Wittgenstein in America --,
quotes Wittgenstein in the vernacular German:
"Es sei eine Eigentümlichkeit
der französischen Sprache, daß in
ihr die Worte in der Ordnung stehen,
in welcher man sie denkt."
(Philosophical Investigations).
Tr. by G. E. M. Anscombe:
It is a peculiarity of the French
language ...
I thought Anscombe was being implicatural -- after all what _is_ a
peculiarity? I tried to define the word and cannot provide the logical form for
it. It
should be expressed in some higher-order logic:
(P (ix)(Cx -> Mx))
It is a peculiarity of cats that they sleep on mats.
It is a peculiarity of _this_ cat that she sleeps on _this_ mat.
So I assume the 'implicature' is "It is a peculiarity of the FRENCH LANGUAGE
-- but NONE other known by the utterer".
Now, I claim that's too strong an implicature to be held by a rational
speakers -- even it's a French "politicker" we are talking here.
A weaker implicature could be: "It is a peculiarty of the French language --
which may perhaps share with many, many languages that I happen to ignore..."
etc. etc.
In any case, how much trustful, sane, confident, hearty, healthy,
colloquial, sincere, honest, proud, unacademic, delightful, intelligent,
gentlemanly
remark is by
by
by
by
by
by
Sml. Pegge, Esq FRA
who has as a posthumous publication (for the English Dialect Society) a
document entitled:
A
Collection
of
Derbicisms
-- containing words & phrases
_in a *great measure* peculiar_
to the
natives and inhabitants of the
county of
Derby.
--- Must say I never noted any such peculiarity, but granted, by
acquaintance with native Derbyshire natives (none an inhabitant) is scarce.
In modern Dialectology, that would count as Midlands. Trudgill has this
delightful thin volume, The Dialects of England -- published by Blackwell --
where he indeed dwells quite a bit on 'modern dialect' poets of Derby.
Northern Derby is usually associated with the West Riding of Yorkshire --
Sheffield. Indeed, I'm repugned when I read that Edith Sitwell was born in
Yorkshire when she happened to be born at Renishaw.
An artist whose work was researching recently, the sculptor Charles
Chantrey, was of Derbyshire stock, but too next to the border with Yorkshire.
He is
buried in Derbyshire, though. I cannot say I recall any of his quotes, but
just to prove that Derbyshire used to belong more to the Midlands panorama than
the Gritty North (affectionately) is proven by Chantre's alliance with the
Earl of Leicester, on whose grounds they hunt.
On Chantrey's shooting a brace of woodcock (and possibly exclaiming a
Derbicism then), the Earl of Leicester suggested that Chantrey sculpted the two
woodcocks, and they are they still are in the fields of the East Midlands.
(accompanied by Greek/Latin/English parodies, on "Winged Words on Chantrey's
Woodcocks).
My other connections with Derby is the current Direoctor of the English
School at Stockholm (F. G. Ffoulkes-Jones) and a merchant navy sailor who
married
an Argentine in the River Plate (David Hufton). I cannot say I note any of
their phrases 'peculiar'.
The idea of the hogs and pigs being promiscuous could well be a derbicism.
I know the Duchess of Derbyshire (the Mitford) is NOT of Derbyshire stock --
but what about her husband, Cavendish. Maybe he knows about it. I was
recently reading in a book published by Debrett (Debrett's Stately homes of
_Britain_) that Cavendish was recently interested in adding books to his
library. He
gave a gardening catalogue to his gardener asking him what titles he would
feel would fill a gap in the Derbyshire Chatsworth. Cavendish replied, "All of
them".
I like him. On another occasion, when the portrait of his wife was finished
(by Antigoni), a friend and Cavendish went to the studio to see it. "Who's
that?" said the friend. "That's [a portrait of my wife]". "Thank's God it's not
mine", the friend replied. I owe the reference to the candid intelligent
delightful humorous engaging little book by the Duchess, "Counting Chicken".
Beautiful county, Derbyshire -- and all the most beautiful for their annual
Buxton Gilbert and Sullivan festival!
Cheers,
JL
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