Francophone laziness: why Wallons and Vallounnes

rep   Thu Jan 14, 2010 3:37 pm GMT
<<Walloon was arguably the craddle of the French language but has remained very conservative.>>
There are too many Germanic babies in this "craddle of French language":

<<But the most striking feature is the number of borrowings from Germanic languages (Dutch and German dialects): compare Walloon flåwe to today's Dutch flauw (weak). Other common borrowings, among hundreds of others, are dringuele (tip; Dutch drinkgeld), crole (curl; Dutch krul), spiter (to spatter; same root as the English to spit, or German spützen; Dutch spuwen), li sprewe (the starling; Dutch spreeuw, or German Sperling).
[edit] Syntax
The adjective is often placed before the noun: compare Walloon on foirt ome (a strong man) with French un homme fort; ene blanke måjhon (a white house) and French une maison blanche.
A borrowing from Germanic languages: the construction Cwè çki c'est di ça po ene fleur? (what kind of flower is this?) can be compared word to word to German Was ist das für eine Blume?, Dutch Wat is dat voor een bloem?, or Norwegian Hva er det for en blomst?. >>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walloon_language
maine   Thu Jan 14, 2010 6:37 pm GMT
PARISIEN's "linguistic" theories seems a little bit naïve.
Franco   Thu Jan 14, 2010 6:47 pm GMT
Parisien gives credibility to Cortez's theories. That explains a lot about his knowledge about linguistics.
maine   Thu Jan 14, 2010 7:09 pm GMT
Linguistics sometimes is political or propagandic case,not scientific.
Baldewin   Fri Jan 15, 2010 12:29 am GMT
Here are examples of Walloon (notice the rolling R in the first two, these Walloons don't even speak French!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUtzAbfkeEQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4N2FA1JmTE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I0kKm_VQD8
maine   Fri Jan 15, 2010 7:40 am GMT
<<Parisien gives credibility to Cortez's theories. That explains a lot about his knowledge about linguistics.>>
Cortez is self-educated "linguist". Walther von Wartburg's theories are supported by scientific research.