From: Peter_Constable@sil.org
Date: Sat May 24 2003 - 13:29:05 EDT
> > > > Iranian, a. and n.
> > > > [...]
> > > > 2. The Iranian language.
> > >
> > > Which doesn't make any sense to me at all. What is the *Iranian*
> > > language?! Which edition of OED is this?
> >
> > oed.com. (My employer has a subscription.)
>
> Weird. Anybody able to shed some light?
This does not exactly match my New Shorter Oxford, but is close enough:
A 1. A native or inhabitant of Iran... ; a speaker of an Iranian language.
2. (Ling.) One of the two groups of languages in the Indo-Iranian branch
of Indo-European, comprising Old Persian and Avestan and their modern
descendents or cognates; the language of the Iranians. (from early 19th
century)
I think the explanation is that "English speakers were not made for the
English language, but the English language for English speakers". Because
it was easily coined and adequately practical for *their* needs, some
English speakers evidently adopted this usage.
- Peter
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Peter Constable
Non-Roman Script Initiative, SIL International
7500 W. Camp Wisdom Rd., Dallas, TX 75236, USA
Tel: +1 972 708 7485
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