Re: s-stems in Slavic and Germanic

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Andrew Jarrette" <anjarrette@...> wrote:

>
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@> wrote:
> >
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZf07Stnh-E
> > 0:57 'worden', first syllable too short,
> > schwa of the last syllable too long
> > 1:14 'nagelklippah' should be 'nagelknipper', as someone points
> > out in the comments
> >
>
> Hey! In listening to this clip again, I noticed that in trying to
> say "shove that cat up your anus", the red-haired one first says
> [kAt] for "cat", as though it were Dutch, then immediately corrects
> it to [kat].

That happens to me too, if I use a quote in (American) English;
American phonemes, like the 'a', occasionally creep into the Danish
part of the sentence. No proof.

> Then the dark-haired one hesitates and says in Dutch "Ik weet de zin
> nie", i.e. "I don't know the meaning [of that phrase]". Obviously
> she is Dutch and doesn't understand the English phrase, although she
> eventually realizes it is nonsense and can translate it literally.

Dutch, among other odd features, has no word for 'remember', thus
'weet je nog?' is "Do you remember?". Joan (Beppieblits) reads from a
script, Mirren doesn't, she uses the English sentences as cues for the
Dutch translations, in the confusion over Joan's mispronunciation of
'shove that cat up your anus', she forgets the origanal sentence, and
asks ('Ik weet de zin nie(t)' "I've forgotten the sentence") Joan to
repeat it.

> And from the misstep of pronouncing "cat" as [kAt], I would
> definitely say that the red-haired one is also Dutch.

As I said, I don't think so.

> They are probably Dutch sisters (or at least Dutch friends),
> just as they claim to be at the websites you provided.

They probably are Dutch by now. I don't think they grew up there.


Torsten