Re: CHAT: EU allumettes (was: Re: THEORY/CHAT: Talmy, Jackendoff and Matchboxes

From: "Danny Wier" <dawiertx@...>
Subject: Re: EU allumettes (was: Re: THEORY/CHAT: Talmy, Jackendoff and
Matchboxes


> > Danny Wier said:
> >
> > > Incidentally, Ahmed Tea of London marks its boxes in thirteen
languages:
> > > English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Czech, Portuguese, Polish,
> > > Russian, Ukrainian, Qazaq*,
> > > [snip]
It's definitely Qazaq / Kazak.  Ahmed Tea is very common in Kazakstan /
Qazaqstanda.

My Qazaq is shabby in its best spots, but let me see if I can get this
right...

> On the ingredients side: Qaraqat kosylghan shaj 'tea, blackcurrant
> flavouring'
Қарақат косылған шәй
Qaraqat kosâlghan shäy

> On the opposite side: TAZA SALMAGHY 'NET WEIGHT'
Таза Салмағы
Taza Salmaghâ

> On the bottom: Saktanalatyn uaqyty: Kyryna caracyz 'For best before: See
> side panel.'
Сақтаналатын Уақыты: Қырына сарасыз
Saqtanalatân Uaqâtâ: Qârâna sarasâz

> It's not Kyrgyz either, I don't think, since the altered K and G
characters
> aren't used (uvularization is implied by the back vowel). That narrows it
> down to Kazakh and Tatar, both very similar West Turkic languages
I'm pretty sure that the shift from ch to sh took place only in Qazaq,
resulting in "shäy" for "tea".

Originally, the rule was K>Q in a back-vowel word, likewise for G>GH, but
substantial Persian and Russian borrowings have broken this rule, resulting
in a K/Q, G/GH contrast.  I've never seen Q or GH in a word with front
vowels, though.

Joe Fatula