Newsgroups: sci.lang
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!news.mathworks.com!udel!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!EU.net!sun4nl!mcv
From: mcv@inter.NL.net (Miguel Carrasquer)
Subject: Re: ser/estar (was: sci.lang FAQ)
Message-ID: <D0I760.Mt6@inter.NL.net>
Organization: NLnet
References: <3c21jb$nov@news.CCIT.Arizona.EDU> <3c4ovr$7f9@agate.berkeley.edu> <1994Dec7.133954.1@ctdvx5.priv.ornl.gov>
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 1994 17:56:23 GMT
Lines: 40

In article <1994Dec7.133954.1@ctdvx5.priv.ornl.gov>,
 <s25@ctdvx5.priv.ornl.gov> wrote:
>
>> I find it amazing and amusing that so many European languages
>> cannot distinguish between (ser/estar). A sentence like 
>> "I am home" sounded like "I am a house" when I was learning
>> English. As a non-native speaker of Spanish when I was a child,
>> I had no difficulty in using (ser/estar) since the same
>> distinction exists in Chinese languages.
>
>
>Ho ho, and I find it amazing and amusing that so many speakers of Asian
>languages cannot distinguish between l and r. And that many speakers of
>Spanish cannot pronounce a word beginning with "s", without adding an
>initial consonant. 

Correction: that's "a word beginning with _s_ plus consonant", and
"adding an initial vowel" (e, actually).

>Nor can they correctly pronounce the i in "this". I
>have no difficulty at all in making those sounds, and often laugh
>derisively at those who cannot.
>
>Speaking of Spanish, isn't it really hilarious that the language doesn't
>have a verb corresponding to English "lock" (as in lock the door)?

"Cerrar la puerta" has always been adequate.  Until Spain recently 
entered the 20th century, we didn't need to lock our doors, just close
them.  Nowadays, closing them is synonymous with locking them
(assuming we're talking about front doors here).  Seemple :-)

>
>Note to the sarcasm-impaired: please ignore this post.

And these one too.

-- 
Miguel Carrasquer         ____________________  ~~~
Amsterdam                [                  ||]~  
mcv@inter.NL.net         ce .sig n'est pas une .cig 
