Re: OT: German reputation
| From: | J. 'Mach' Wust <j_mach_wust@...> |
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| Date: | Monday, December 13, 2004, 23:37 |
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On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 23:28:03 +0000, Stephen Mulraney
<ataltanie@...> wrote:
>Stephen Mulraney wrote:
>
>> I've heard it explained as a Germanification of "adieu". Though I'm not
>> sure where the "-ss" is meant to come from.
>
>Ah, I guess Syvia's explanation that it comes from "a diós" accounts for
>the "-ss" then. Also, since the Spanish form has the stress one syllable
>further away from the initial "a" than the French "a dieu" does, it helps
>explain why the first syllable disappeared in the German/Dutch form...
??? The stress is exactly on the same syllable: On the last. French _adieu_
/a'dj2/, Spanish _adiós_ /a'Djos/. German stresses the first syllable (in
native words and disregarding of prefixes), and is therefore likely to loose
unstressed first syllables (it's common e.g. for babies who learn to speak).
gry@s:
j. 'mach' wust
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