Seems disrespectful. Let’s break this down.
Almost all European languages, save for Basque, Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian, have a common ancestor: Proto-Indo-European.
This, linguists believe, emerged somewhere around the steppes of what is now Ukraine five millennia back and begat a Babel of tongues from Armenian to Yiddish. Hindi, Sanskrit and Icelandic can all trace their origins to this shared heritage.
So, Greek, Old Norse and Latin are predecessors of English but, Paul may be curious to learn, the language of Shakespeare is Germanic. Germany, should she wish to find it on a map, lies between Scandinavia and Switzerland.
In the hectic years after the departure of Rome in 410, England fell to Anglo-Saxon invaders, who created a series of mini-kingdoms known as the Heptarchy. A land that had spoken Latin for four centuries was conquered by Germans. Jesus was out; Thor, and Thursday, was in.
This, linguists believe, emerged somewhere around the steppes of what is now Ukraine five millennia back and begat a Babel of tongues from Armenian to Yiddish. Hindi, Sanskrit and Icelandic can all trace their origins to this shared heritage.
So, Greek, Old Norse and Latin are predecessors of English but, Paul may be curious to learn, the language of Shakespeare is Germanic. Germany, should she wish to find it on a map, lies between Scandinavia and Switzerland.
In the hectic years after the departure of Rome in 410, England fell to Anglo-Saxon invaders, who created a series of mini-kingdoms known as the Heptarchy. A land that had spoken Latin for four centuries was conquered by Germans. Jesus was out; Thor, and Thursday, was in.
Green Party MP Tamatha Paul called English a “bastard language” during a fiery parliamentary debate in July, drawing controversy.
Centuries went by and the Old German became what we now call Old English.
Meanwhile, across the channel in Normandy, the Vikings were becoming gentrified, Christian and, most appallingly, French. In 1066 a chap known as William the Bastard transformed into William the Conqueror. Norman French became the language of the English nobility while Old English remained for the peasants. A distinction that remains.
Today the sophisticated purchase, from the Latin pro (go after) and chacier (hunt), while the less affluent buy, from an ancient Germanic word, bugjaną. We all know the mutton and sheep categorisation, but did you appreciate the peasant lies in a grave while the nobility a tomb? The serf shall ask. The master enquires.
In the intervening centuries the English have been promiscuous in absorbing new words with the same enthusiasm they acquired colonies. Coffee, cotton, alcohol (ironically), mattress and zero are gifts from Arabia. Shampoo, jungle, thug and avatar arrived from the subcontinent. We get our tea from China, drama from Athens, tsunami from Japan and mana from these islands.
In her maiden speech Paul demonstrated the power of the language she contemptuously derides: “We go from our nice homes and our nice vehicles to the Koru lounge and to the front row of the airplane, and from a chauffeur to Parliament.”
“Nice” is from Latin; nescius, meaning ignorant, which morphed to nice in French meaning foolish. The word travelled to London and came to mean pleasant by the 1800s.
Centuries went by and the Old German became what we now call Old English.
Meanwhile, across the channel in Normandy, the Vikings were becoming gentrified, Christian and, most appallingly, French. In 1066 a chap known as William the Bastard transformed into William the Conqueror. Norman French became the language of the English nobility while Old English remained for the peasants. A distinction that remains.
Today the sophisticated purchase, from the Latin pro (go after) and chacier (hunt), while the less affluent buy, from an ancient Germanic word, bugjaną. We all know the mutton and sheep categorisation, but did you appreciate the peasant lies in a grave while the nobility a tomb? The serf shall ask. The master enquires.
In the intervening centuries the English have been promiscuous in absorbing new words with the same enthusiasm they acquired colonies. Coffee, cotton, alcohol (ironically), mattress and zero are gifts from Arabia. Shampoo, jungle, thug and avatar arrived from the subcontinent. We get our tea from China, drama from Athens, tsunami from Japan and mana from these islands.
In her maiden speech Paul demonstrated the power of the language she contemptuously derides: “We go from our nice homes and our nice vehicles to the Koru lounge and to the front row of the airplane, and from a chauffeur to Parliament.”
“Nice” is from Latin; nescius, meaning ignorant, which morphed to nice in French meaning foolish. The word travelled to London and came to mean pleasant by the 1800s.
“Homes” derives from Old English; hām, meaning dwelling, and crosses the North Sea with Hengist and Horsa. Notice the use of ‘home’, not ‘house’. The origins of house, is the German hūs, meaning building. Hām is dwelling, a place, rather than a thing. A house is the building. A home is where your heart lives.
She chooses “vehicles”, not car. Vehiculum; Latin for a means of carrying and today has a hint of class. The word for car is from carrus, which became carre in Old French, morphed into carriage and abbreviated to car.
Which brings me to “chauffeur”; Latin for someone who stokes a fire. The French adapted the term for the servant who warmed the cold-start engines in the 1890s and the noun stuck. She did not use the pedestrian driver, with its Old English meaning of someone who herds sheep.
“Parliament” comes from French, for talking, and “Koru” is the loop of a fern and an example of the ease with which new words are absorbed.
We can run, jog, sprint, bolt, scamper, bound, flee, charge, gallop, streak, stride and even lope. Each hints at a different emphasis. Thanks to this complex evolution and the contributions of giants such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Johnson and Tyndale, we are heirs to an incredible, and global, taonga.
English is my language. I am not diminished by the joy and meaning Paul obtains from te reo and I am pleased that so many find a rich pleasure in learning and speaking something that is important to them and vital to their culture.
Her point in that speech was the waste of time being devoted to the pointless exercise of making English an official language. In that I agree. English does not need the pitiful protection of the New Zealand state. English is not endangered.
Where we diverge is her desire to vilify that which others find meaningful. English may be, as Paul contemptuously declares, a bastard language, but like William, it has also become a conqueror. Rather than denigrate, she should seek to emulate it for te reo Māori. Encourage others to experience the beauty she finds in the vernacular of her ancestors. English is exceptionally accommodating when it comes to engagement with other languages.....The full article is published HERE
Damien Grant is an Auckland business owner, a member of the Taxpayers’ Union and a regular opinion contributor for Stuff, writing from a libertarian perspective
She chooses “vehicles”, not car. Vehiculum; Latin for a means of carrying and today has a hint of class. The word for car is from carrus, which became carre in Old French, morphed into carriage and abbreviated to car.
Which brings me to “chauffeur”; Latin for someone who stokes a fire. The French adapted the term for the servant who warmed the cold-start engines in the 1890s and the noun stuck. She did not use the pedestrian driver, with its Old English meaning of someone who herds sheep.
“Parliament” comes from French, for talking, and “Koru” is the loop of a fern and an example of the ease with which new words are absorbed.
We can run, jog, sprint, bolt, scamper, bound, flee, charge, gallop, streak, stride and even lope. Each hints at a different emphasis. Thanks to this complex evolution and the contributions of giants such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Johnson and Tyndale, we are heirs to an incredible, and global, taonga.
English is my language. I am not diminished by the joy and meaning Paul obtains from te reo and I am pleased that so many find a rich pleasure in learning and speaking something that is important to them and vital to their culture.
Her point in that speech was the waste of time being devoted to the pointless exercise of making English an official language. In that I agree. English does not need the pitiful protection of the New Zealand state. English is not endangered.
Where we diverge is her desire to vilify that which others find meaningful. English may be, as Paul contemptuously declares, a bastard language, but like William, it has also become a conqueror. Rather than denigrate, she should seek to emulate it for te reo Māori. Encourage others to experience the beauty she finds in the vernacular of her ancestors. English is exceptionally accommodating when it comes to engagement with other languages.....The full article is published HERE
Damien Grant is an Auckland business owner, a member of the Taxpayers’ Union and a regular opinion contributor for Stuff, writing from a libertarian perspective
1 comment:
Yer know, I hope yer do - but for 'people with little brains, whose whole day is wrapped around [a] social media outlet - that is when 'speaking', it is recorded and posted to her social media a/c' - who since being in Parliament has shown that her education was not up to standard, no doubt 'her' staff' are of a like minded group - that NZ Media and those who post articles to this domain - should ignore her, and stop - yes stop giving the wee lass media mileage.
She is not and will never be a politician, she is a social media icon, thinking she is a an "influencer", who can speak to truth, when most of it is lies.
If one wants to look at the rise of influencer's via social media, then -
- look at who most of them are - females
- look at their appearance at the current NYC International tennis
- look at how many of them are involved in "adults only" content
- look to use their social media domains to "make money" - there are many
and sadly the MSM across the world give them "media mileage". - stupid.
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