[lit-ideas] Re: A Grecian Peculiarity
- From: "Judith Evans" <judithevans1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 14 Oct 2007 17:08:56 +0100
JL>I DON'T KNOW of _any_ *French* expression that does *not* derive
> (in its grammar) from _Latin_ (This was due to the adoption of that
>Classical Language by the Franks -- albeit in a 'vulgar' state of development.
The syntax of 'Written Latin' is though fairly remarkable (not only, I'd say,
to a Brit.); so much so that my 'O Level' Latin teacher gave us a a kind of
'painting by numbers' method of writing sentences;
(Thank goodness, she disappeared when I began 'A Level', replaced by someone
who'd taught at a public school -- !! -- and could convey and transmit her love
of
the language.) It isn't only word order, it's oratio obliqua.
I did read that spoken Latin was different....
Judy Evans, Cardiff, UK
----- Original Message -----
From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, October 14, 2007 5:36 AM
Subject: [lit-ideas] A Grecian Peculiarity
"French is a logical language" (and other "Language myths"
R. Paul provides an interesting quote from Wittgenstein's Philosophical
Investigations:
"This case is similar to the one* in which someone imagines that one could
not think a sentence with the remarkable word order of German or Latin just as
it stands. One first has to think it, and then one arranges the words in that
queer order. (A French politician once wrote that it was a peculiarity of the
French language that in it words occur in the order in which one thinks them.)"
See what I mean?
He's using 'peculiarity' (Pekuliaritaet) _and_ 'remarkable' rhetorically.
Surely there's nothing remarkable (except perhaps to G. E. M. Anscombe who
struggled to English it) with German -- or, God fobid, Latin.
Indeed, one of the chapters in P. Trudgill's Penguin paperbacks, "Language
Myths" is entitled, "French is a logical language".
The idea was especially popular in the Harvard area when Chomsky dedicated a
whole little book to "Cartesian" linguistics.
What Wittgenstein calls 'remarkable' for Latin and 'peculiarity' in French
should provide some food for thought (hateful phrase that).
I DON'T KNOW of _any_ *French* expression that does *not* derive (in its
grammar) from _Latin_ (This was due to the adoption of that Classical Language
by the Franks -- albeit in a 'vulgar' state of development.
As a native speaker of an Indo-European language I must say that I *do* find
the order in syntax to correspond pretty well with my "language of thought" --
except when my thoughts are 'analogical' rather than 'digital'.
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