Re: Linguistic Nationalism [was: Re: Multi-Lingos]

Yoon Ha Lee wrote:
> I wonder what determines
> whether a small, obscure language will embrace outside terms or reject
> them
I dunno.  Old English tended to reject borrowings, preferring to calque
them, creating _forgifan_ (or something like that) for Latin
_perdona:re_.  _forgifan_ became "forgive", while the French descendant
of _perdona:re_ was later borrowed as "pardon"!  :-)

But, of course, Modern English is the opposite, we love to borrow words.

--
"Their bodies did not age, but they became afeared of everything and
anything.  For partaking in any activity at all could threaten their
precious and ageless bodies! ... Their victory over death was a hollow
one."
ICQ: 18656696
AIM Screen-Name: NikTailor