Re: CHAT: Ability of Americans & Europeans to locate each others cities (was Re: The [+foreign] attribute)

Quoting Tim May <butsuri@...>:

> (I'm largely extrapolating from my own knowledge here - it's probably
> not a bad guide to perceptions in Britain, but I can't say how well it
> describes Europeans in general.  The British tend not to think of
> themselves as Europeans, although it's possible to overstate this.)
Not surprising, given that for the past three centuries or so, British
foreign policy has willfully pursued its "blissful isolation", exactly
the kind of behavior that nowadays is the fodder for anti-Americanism
in Europe and elsewhere.  The similarity is marked: for centuries,
America and Britain have, due to their geographical isolation, had to
a large extent the luxury of choosing the extent to which they wished
to become involved in others' affairs. As a result Britain's selfinterest
was, and America's is, defined not by the *existence* of foreign powers
abroad, but by the relative distribution of their power.  Britain's
only worry was that one of the Great Powers in Europe would achieve
hegemony and threaten the Netherlands, the safety of which it considered
the prerequisite to its own.  Henry Kissinger, who today still holds
considerable direct and indirect influence over American foreign policy,
uses that analogy for America:  the American continents, he thinks,
behave like a large external island to Eurasia, the domination of which
must be prevented at all costs.  And America became directly involved
in European affairs only when it became clear that that hegemony was
threatening to become reality during the two World Wars, just as
Britain sided with whomever was less powerful during the 17th and
18th centuries.  And just like Britain felt that it was necessary
to maintain local hegemony or direct rule over the British isles,
America feels it must have continued hegemony over the American
continents.  (Naturally, the self-interest of a would-be Great
Power like Brazil is different, and South Americans disagree over
the value of American dominance.)

So, Britain's sense that it is not European is in some ways quite
similar to America's, despite the fact that both America and Britain
have been profoundly influenced by ideals and developments on the
European continent.

> *  [Tim's mother] Who, through having been resident in the UK for the
>    past few decades, not a bad example of a "mid-atlantic accent", in
>    that she is taken for a foreigner in either country.
I tend to think that that definition of a "Mid-Atlantic accent" is not
terribly adequate.  In many ways, modern "General American" is a direct
descendent of the dialects of the Mid-Atlantic states.  Mid-Atlantic is
like on this page, encompassing most of New Jersey, Delaware,
Pennsylvania and Maryland (along with the states to the west that were
settled by people from those states):

<http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/maps/MapsM/Map1M.html>

 =========================================================================
Thomas Wier            "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally,
Dept. of Linguistics    because our secret police don't get it right
University of Chicago   half the time." -- octogenarian Sheikh Zayed of
1010 E. 59th Street     Abu Dhabi, to a French reporter.
Chicago, IL 60637