Re: Mr. Mrs. Ms. Sir or Madame

Familiar vs non-familiar, as well as words used inside a group
but not outside the group.

Much like the old "Nigger" and "Niggah" debate.

Myself, been called "Nigga" but being "white", do not find it
appropriate to use it, also older, so with memories of my
childhood. but was taught how to say it right, but it was cause
of being from Alaska, and the guys, since we was all in trouble,
and I was from Alaska and not from the lower 48, it was okay for
me to use it, but ...

I did take it as a compliment, since I have been known to do a
mean old school hip hop. But its the music, and I needed
exercise..

What is age, but also group, ethnicity, religious, and gender
appropriate, can say alot..  Much like a buddy of mine, who is
racially black, but is from Puerto Rico and sees himself as
Hispanic, gets lost at times in the "Black" experiance and being
labeled as such.

Also for example, I believe in Puerto Rican Spanish, you say
"Mejo" (spelling) but its often an elder talking to a kid, but
in Mexican Spanish, its often a brother or like (blood need not
be in common). Dialects can be fun, also they tell people where
you are from.

Here in Alaska, we have over 8 native languages, but many more
dialects. And not saying something right can be a problem..

Inuit/Inupiaq
Yupik
Chupik
Siberian Yupik
Aleutiq
Aleut
Are all cousins to each other.  But the last two are Aleut, not
Eskimo. But in Canada, if you call someone an Eskimo its not a
nice word, but in Alaska its sort of a word of pride?

Then you have Athabaskan be they Gwichin, Athabaskan or from
Tetlin/Tok area, they are all different.

Then you have Tlinghit - supposedly related to Athabaskan but
not sure. There may have been some ancient contact with
Polynesia or Aztec or something.

Haida in SE Alaska

Tsimshian - small group, likely gone now as a language.

But then you have the other languages here, not unknown to hear
from time to time.

English
Spanish
Russian (or related language)

Are all spoken by a local population group. To include some
Natives (Russian especially).

Then you have
Phillipino (Tagalog and related)
Korean
Samoan and related languages

Also with local speakers. But also non-local as well.

Will see about Thai, Japanese, and others..

Also known people form Kazakhstan, and I suspect Afghani and
also some from Pakistan.

Mike
Alaska Crossroads of the World - heh, cheaper/easier to fly from
Asia to Europe via Alaska than to go to the lower 48, see the
globe and see why..







----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark J. Reed" <markjreed@...>
To: <CONLANG@...>
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008 5:49 AM
Subject: Re: Mr. Mrs. Ms. Sir or Madame


On Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 9:09 AM,  <MorphemeAddict@...>
wrote:
>  When I was in the army, we always had to use just
>  "ma'am".  I never heard "madame", and I think it would
>  have been commented on at the very least.
Definitely.  The word  "ma'am" in modern English seems to be a
separate lexeme from "madam(e)", despite the derivation.  Around
here,
saying "yes, ma'am" is just plain polite, while saying "yes,
madame"
is putting on airs.  Unless you happen to be a maitre'd,
sommelier,
concierge, or some other French job title and are addressing a
customer. :)


--
Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>

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