Discussion Groups / British English / November 2005

You may try assigning special projects that are not mission-impossible
but can be intellectually stimulating.

1 - There is a pervasive tendency for the *same* semantically unrelated
concepts to be collected into homonyms across languages. For example,
Hebrew tsadi-lamed-lamed TZ'LiL means both a tone you can hear and (to
dive) deep. In English, the word "sound" has the same meanings. Hebrew
MiSHPaT means a grammatical sentence and the verdict of a court. The
English word "sentence" has the same meanings. Have the student find
similar examples that occur in his native language and the language(s)
he is studying.

2 - Have the student find foreign phrases that became idioms in English
or in his native language. In English, there are two major classes of
idioms:

Type 1 - the transliteration of a foreign word/phrase into common words
like cats, dogs, sacks, bags.

Type 1a - the source phrase is "plain text", not figurative. Example:
German Acht(ung) Grund => an axe to grind. Pay attention/beware +
basis/reason/grounds. Beweggrund means motive. Said if someone has an
ulterior motive.

Type 1b - the source phrase is a metaphor. I think "kick the bucket" is
the transliteration of Semitic 3aGaV B'3a:DeN (make love in Paradise),
where 3 represents the letter aiyin with its ancient G/K-sound, as in
3aZa = Gaza.

Type 2 - the translation of a foreign idiom where transliteration
occurred into that foreign language.

Type 2a - the foreign idiom is a transliteration of (pun on) a phrase
in the *same* foreign language. Example: In biblical Job 19:20, B'3oR
SHiNai (by the skin of my teeth) is a pun on the Hebrew B'QoSHi
(barely, hardly, with difficulty).

Type 2b - the foreign idiom is the transliteration of a phrase from
another foreign language. Example: Count sheep (to go to sleep). Using
@ for aleph, Hebrew S'PoR TSo@N (count sheep) is a pun on the Latin
phrase sopor sond (sleep soundly / deeply). Note English soporific.

3 - If the student is interested in ancient languages, have the student
look for body part maps. Swadesh lists can help one do this. To see
examples of these maps, join the BPMaps discussion group and examine
the databases at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BPMaps/

Now, some nostalgia:

My Algebra teacher noticed that I was doing my homework instead of
paying attention to her explanations to the class. She solved this
problem by moving my desk to a corner of the room, placing an empty
desk next to it, and telling the class that any student who wanted
individual help could go sit next to me and get it.

My Geometry teacher lost her teenage son in a tragic boating accident
during the summer before I became her student. She emotionally adopted
me. While other students were working on a class assignment, she would
call me to her desk and talk about her son. Sometimes she would
describe elegant geometric proofs that were not being taught to the
class.

My 11th grade English teacher gave me the task of grading English
vocabulary tests and other tests that could be easily graded. I was
allowed to "take" the same tests after grading those taken by the
class. We both quickly realized that my taking the tests was just a
waste of time, so I was given a virtual A on all of the tests that I
graded.

My Chemistry teacher was a very large woman named Dorothy T. We called
her "Big Dot". For lunch, she would sometimes heat up spaghetti and
meatballs in a beaker over a Bunsen burner. At the end of each
semester, Big Dot would announce each student's grade in class. One
semester in the Spring she got to my name and said "Cohen...B". The
class went wild, shouting in unison, "Cohen got a B." Big Dot looked up
and said "Irving knows as much chemistry as anyone in this room. I'm
changing that to an A right now." In the silence that ensued, she began
reading out the rest of the grades. It was Dorothy T who sent me to a
2-week Science Camp during the summer before my senior year.

ciao,
Israel "izzy" Cohen
BPMaps moderator