Re: CHAT: The [+foreign] attribute

En réponse à "Thomas R. Wier" <trwier@...>:

>
> Exactly why should someone be expected to know the values
> of foreign words when they haven't been trained in it?
>
Because they are supposed to have a [+foreign] attribute. If you say they don't
have it, then the discussion is quit different.

> > Anyway, most Americans wouldn't be able to correctly situate Paris
> and
> > Prague...
>
> That's true.  And most Europeans would probably have difficulty
> situating St. Louis and Chicago.  (I remember an anecdote on
> sci.lang several years ago to that effect.)
>
Well, most Americans wouldn't either to my knowledge, while most Europeans can
situate Paris and Prague. Also, Paris and Prague are country capitals, not St.
Louis nor Chicago, so you cannot compare (indeed, asking a French person to
situate those towns would be like asking an American to situate Bordaux or
Nice). We in Europe learn to situate capitals, nothing else (it's difficult
enough already). If we had to learn to situate all important towns, it would
multiply the number of towns to learn by 5.

To give a better example, how many Americans are able to correctly situate
Washington, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo and Beijing? Those are towns an educated
European is supposed to be able to situate (although I admit many won't :(( ).

It's not anything against Americans, it's just to give a good reference point.
Nobody will deny that world geography is better taught in Europe than in
America :))) .

Christophe.

http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr

Take your life as a movie: do not let anybody else play the leading role.

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