[Magdalen] Grammar Nightmare.

[Jay Weigel]

I found a website a while back for learning Afrikaans. It's a very
interesting language, and I agree, not difficult to learn. Like many
creoles, it's rather straightforward in that it doesn't have a lot of fancy
formal tenses and the like, and colorful in the way it states things,
similar to Tok Pisin, the "pidgin English" of Papua New Guinea and
surrounding islands.

On Sat, Jul 11, 2015 at 5:04 AM, Sally Davies <sally.davies at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I love Native American place names, they just sound so characterful.
>
> Is Poughkeepsie an 'Indian' name? That's one I've always liked, and
> Nantucket.
>
> In South Africa we have an entire language, Afrikaans, which evolved from
> combining languages. It started as a creole of Dutch that was used by
> servants and slaves in the Western Cape ("Kitchen Dutch"). There was a
> strong infusion from Malaysia and Indonesia (many of the servants and some
> of the slaves came from there), then later on another big infusion of
> French from the Huguenots. And indigenous African words and names, from the
> Khoisan who were the original inhabitants of the region. Also from a few
> other African groups.
>
> The move to formalise it as a language was a political effort and marked a
> split between "pure" Afrikaans (the white kind) and the language spoken by
> working class people.
>
> Unlike English, it's not a difficult language to learn though I find it
> hard to speak. It's a very 'grounded' language, good for expressing
> feelings.
>
> Sally D
>
> On Friday, July 10, 2015, Cantor03--- via Magdalen <
> magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 7/10/2015 9:15:39 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> > charles.wohlers at verizon.net <javascript:;> writes:
> >
> > Indian  place names. >>>>>
> >
> >
> > Pennsylvania is loaded with Indian place names.  Most of the  towns
> > along the Susquehanna (itself Indian) are Indian.  I almost bought  a
> > home in downriver Wapwallopen just so I could claim that as an
> > address.
> >
> >
> >
> > David Strang from NW Wisconsin where nearby towns are
> > Falun (after the Swedish city) and Siren (lilac in Swedish), and
> > West Sweden.
> >
> >
> >
>