Yes, the Norman French conquered the English and it was probably the English who - with the help of linguistic sound shifts - came up with the st sound, somehow. As for the Jazz error slang, I thought that the term "man" as it was used by beatniks and later by the hippies of the sixties and seventies seemed a better contextual candidate for the substitution of l'homme (homie).
Joe Clarke ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Joe Clarke" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, December 10, 2004 6:54 AM Subject: Re: [UC] cakes, loaves, dozens, inches, ounces, cattle, Norsemen If you are looking for French connections, please consider that a number of Creoles in New Orleans spoke French at home before there was jazz. And, as far as the student/etudiant(e) thing, what makes you sure it wasn't the Anglophones who were doing the shifting? I recall learning, back in the misty 60s that 80% of modern English words were *derived* from French -thank the Normans for that! Perhaps scholars have reversed their opinion? On Fri, 10 Dec 2004, Joe Clarke wrote: > Thanks Chip. I really like this kind of thing. Having learned French as an > adult, I know that the English words that began with a consonant blend > starting with "S" were reversed in French and the S dropped, so the word > Step becomes etape, student etudiant and Stephen becomes etienne. Anyway, > fascinating stuff. PS: I have a personal theory that homeboy and homie > might come from the French homme or l''homme" which is man in English. My > thought is that African American Jazz musicians might have brought it back > from France in the twentieth century, incorporated it into hip slang and > substituted "homme" for "man". Homme then becomes Home, then Homie, then > homeboy. It's a possibility. > > > Joe C. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Charles H. Buchholtz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "L a s e r B e a m �" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2004 10:11 PM > Subject: Re: [UC] cakes, loaves, dozens, inches, ounces, cattle, Norsemen > > > > From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?L_a_s_e_r_B_e_a_m_=AE?= > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Date: Thu, 09 Dec 2004 16:37:19 -0500 > > > > The Norsemen contributed their word for cattle, "fe," from which > > "fee" is an easy step. > > > > Did you know that "skipper" and "equipment" come from the same Norse > > root? The "skipper" of a Norse ship was in charge of the supplies, > > cargo, etc. "How much for that silk you brought in?" "Go see the > > skipper." "I've got 20 kegs of salt beef you can have cheap!" "Go > > see the skipper." "When can you load my cargo?" "Go see the skipper." > > So, "skipper" came to mean "the guy in charge of the ship" in English. > > > > The French turn the "sk" sound into "ek" (so "school" becomes "ecole", > > etc.) And French verbs often end in "er". So, the Norse come to > > France, and "skipper" becomes "equiper" (pronounced "eh-kee-pay"). > > The English take that and get "equip", "equipment", etc. > > > > --- Chip > > > > > > ---- > > You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the > > list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see > > <http://www.purple.com/list.html>. > > ---- > You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the > list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see > <http://www.purple.com/list.html>. > ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
