|
|
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
Isn't it ironic that you had to use a French -- or is it Latin? -- term to describe what English has become?Lingua Franca is Latin for the Frankish language, aka Sabir ( link), a kind of pidgin used in the Mediterranean and based on Italian.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,933 Likes: 3
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,933 Likes: 3 |
We don't have a national language.
Replacement: Spanish.
----please, draw me a sheep----
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
The Lingua franca of the Mediterranean or Sabir ("know") was a pidgin language used as a Lingua franca in the Mediterranean Basin from the 11th to the 19th century and is the original basis for the word lingua franca.
I know the comparison is slightly askew, but reading this makes me think of a doorbell used as a doorbell.
( unlike the other ones mentioned such as papiamento etc.)
Welcome back.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 390
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 390 |
We don't have a national language.
That is a very good thing of course. Canada does have two offical though languages though does it not? Spanish is replacing English in Canada? Is that serious, or just xenophobia talking?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 956
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 956 |
New Zealand has Three official languages. English, Maori, and NZ sign language. A gardening programme on TV featured all three simultaneously. Spoken Maori, English subtitles, and a person signing in an inset. Interesting to watch. The programme was about traditional maori planting techniques.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 107
member
|
|
member
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 107 |
I think bi-( let alone multi-) lingualism enriches Canada rather than ripping it. After all the English were just one of the immigrant groups, and not the first either. ( In my part of Canada there are more native speakers of Mandarin and Punjabi than of French but English is going strong. )
The USA does not have an official language either although there have been repeated attempts to make English such. In my locale, English and Spanish are predominant although there are some Asian languages as well. Many of the public schools have a bi-lingual approach using both English and Spanish. But the one that bemuses me the most is the Braile on drive-through ATMs. ?!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
But the one that bemuses me the most is the Braile on drive-through ATMs. ?!
You would rather they have to go to the expense of making separate keypads for drive-through ATMs and walk-up ATMs. Not to mention the simple fact that a blind person can sit in the back seat of a car on the driver's side and operate the ATM from there.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 107
member
|
|
member
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 107 |
But the one that bemuses me the most is the Braile on drive-through ATMs. ?!
You would rather they have to go to the expense of making separate keypads for drive-through ATMs and walk-up ATMs. Not to mention the simple fact that a blind person can sit in the back seat of a car on the driver's side and operate the ATM from there. No. Actually, I was not thinking of the keypads. I was picturing a blind person driving.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
But the one that bemuses me the most is the Braile on drive-through ATMs. ?!
You would rather they have to go to the expense of making separate keypads for drive-through ATMs and walk-up ATMs. Not to mention the simple fact that a blind person can sit in the back seat of a car on the driver's side and operate the ATM from there. No. Actually, I was not thinking of the keypads. I was picturing a blind person driving. Well, there you go. Then maybe you've never driven in Boston.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
Welcome back.
Thanks, Brannie. It was fun listening to the Flemish speakers in Belgium. I'd start off asking something in my halting French, they would answer in Flemish, I'd switch to German, and they'd finish in English. The beer and chocolate were great though in any language and on every tongue.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,621
Members9,187
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
170
guests, and
0
robots. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
