Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: Souliers (was: Some new Brithenig words?...)

From:Christophe Grandsire <christophe.grandsire@...>
Date:Wednesday, May 23, 2001, 8:35
En réponse à "Douglas Koller, Latin & French" <latinfrench@...>:

> > May we assume that "sabot" comes from this as well?
I suppose so, or at least from a related form. What is it with
> the French and shoes? ("sabots", of course, are slightly different > creatures) Back in the day when I was a high school student, we > learned that "shoe" was "soulier". That high school trip to France > when I pulled it on a similarly aged French kid, he informed me, > after a double-take and slight smirk (or was it a guffaw?), that > "soulier" was a perfectly acceptable word for "shoe".......if I were > 80 years old. "Try `chaussure'", he said, "it'll work better for > you." Well, chaussure it's been for the past twenty-odd years, and > I've used it without incident with the natives (keeping "soulier" in > the memory banks for reading purposes). Now "savate" is in the mix? > Christophe, can you explain the "marked meaning" a little? I've never > encountered this word before. >
Well, indeed "soulier" is acceptable... if you were born in the XIXth century :) . "Chaussure" is indeed the normal word, used by everyone in everyday speech. Nothing marked about it. "Soulier" sounds really old fashioned (and has some shades of "cuteness"). It's perfectly acceptable in a fairy-tale for instance. As for "savate", it's also old-fashioned, but rather derogatory than cute. Of course, "savate" and "soulier" you still hear quite a lot in the countryside, where "soulier" usually refers to nice shoes, while "savate" refers to everyday shoes, usually worn out :) . Christophe. http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr

Reply

Barry Garcia <barry_garcia@...>