Re: [OT] Re: the Ethnologue

From: Doug Ewell (dewell@compuserve.com)
Date: Thu Sep 21 2000 - 11:52:20 EDT


Marion Gunn <mgunn@egt.ie> wrote:

>> Hindi, Hindustani, Urdu could be considered co-dialects...
>
> Mm. Maybe a more polite (more PC) turn of phrase might be found than
> "could be considered co-dialects", which more than implies, it
> postulates the existence of a standard language referent of which the
> above "could" be considered dialects.

Mmm. I hadn't thought of it that way. The impression I got from the
prefix "co-" was one of equality among peers, as in "co-author" or
"co-champion"; but now I recognize a separate, contrasting sense of
"co-" to denote subsidiary status, as in "co-pilot." I suspect the
Ethnologue staff intended the former (polite?) sense, but it could be
intepreted either way as desired.

What fun language is!

-Doug Ewell
 Fullerton, California



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