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Subject:Re: English - it's a funny language From:"Robert E. Allen" <re_allen -at- PNL -dot- GOV> Date:Thu, 30 Jun 1994 20:10:57 GMT
In article <9405297729 -dot- AA772912897 -at- gpscom -dot- gps -dot- com>,
gpscom!mkale -at- plains -dot- nodak -dot- edu says:
>Subject: ( ) English - It's a funny language
I always liked the term "make fast" referring to a sailboat. You can
either add more sail or tie it up to a dock.
My Norwegian wife, who speaks 6 or 7 languages, claims English is
the easiest to learn. We don't have genders (grammatically--if you've
been to San Franciso, you realize we have several....) We also have a
single word for "the." I think German has 12, depending on gender
and the function of the word in the sentence. Same for "a/an."
When studying German, I wished for a logical language with simple
rules and no exceptions. (Esperanto??) But now that I'm in the
wordsmithing business, I like the feel of the language and its ability
to express feelings. Logic has its place, but so does humanity. And
without language quirks, much of our humor would be lost.
