Newsgroups: sci.lang
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!rochester!cornellcs!travelers.mail.cornell.edu!news.kei.com!news.mathworks.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!ellis!deb5
From: deb5@ellis.uchicago.edu (Daniel von Brighoff)
Subject: German calques in English [was: Re: "Wanna come with?"]
X-Nntp-Posting-Host: midway.uchicago.edu
Message-ID: <DG7wsy.4pr@midway.uchicago.edu>
Sender: news@midway.uchicago.edu (News Administrator)
Reply-To: deb5@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: The University of Chicago
References: <44btbq$c54@clarknet.clark.net> <44ven0$g6m@cabell.vcu.edu> <45129m$sds@usenet.srv.cis.pitt.edu> <rte-0510951736530001@mac-118.lz.att.com>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 05:34:10 GMT
Lines: 25

In article <rte-0510951736530001@mac-118.lz.att.com>,
Ralph T. Edwards <rte@elmo.lz.att.com> wrote:
[much deleted]
>A friend reports that growing up in the Alton
>Illinois area, it was common to hear people end statements with an "or?"
>in the fashion of the German "oder?" meaning roughly "right?".  I presume
>"and how" is a calque on German "und wie", or?  I nearly fell out of my
>chair the first time I heard a German say "und wie."

I never thought there was anything unusual about my use of "How so?" until
I went to Germany and a Northern English instructor there told me he had
always assumed it was a calque on German "Wieso?"  Could this be another
survival of German influence in American English?  I doubt it, but I don't
have enough data either way.

I myself was quite amused to hear Germans use the tag-question "was?" be-
caused the English equivalent, "what?", sounds so humurously British to me.  
I also liked the use of "wie?" ("how?") as a tag question, because I've never
heard its equivalent in any other language.


-- 
	 Daniel "Da" von Brighoff    /\          Dilettanten
	(deb5@midway.uchicago.edu)  /__\         erhebt Euch
				   /____\      gegen die Kunst!
