Re: CHAT: Synesthesia and conlanging (was Re: The ConlangInstinct)

"Grandsire, C.A." wrote:

> Did you coin it up yourself or is it used in English?
> French has no verb corresponding to "liaison") would be very valuable
> for me.
"Liaise" is quite a standard verb in English, and has uses beyond the
linguistic:  "Fred liaises betweeen us and the Research Committee."

It is a back-formation from "liaison" and first appeared in print
(as far as is known) in 1928; in the military, "liaison officers"
have been around for a long time.  (BTW, the oldest (1729) definition
of "liaison" in English is "thickening agent used in cooking"!)

The Babelfish (http://babelfish.altavista.com) renders the above sentence
simply as "Fred communique entre nous et le Comit=E9 de recherches", but
it is less than reliable....

--=20

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