Re: French and German (jara: An introduction)

--- In conlang@yahoogroups.com, John Cowan <cowan@M...> wrote:

 > No, "many" has its full semantics in this construction: what's archaic
 > is the use of the sg. rather than the pl. with it.  (Not *very* archaic,
 > either.)
 >
 > Googling finds "Many a dog walked only in the yard is panic stricken
 > if the need ever arises to walk on a busy street." which is in every
 > way, except flavor, equivalent to "Many dogs walked ... are ...".

Well, "manch" isn't "many" as in a large number, but rather as
in a significant number.

I guess it's just one more of those delightful nuances of the
German language that is flattened in the English translation.
=P


-- Christian Thalmann

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