Thinking about escaping the rat race for a few days, I was idily visiting a few Spanish Tourism websites about the northwest coast. Now here’s a funny thing – all the “official” tourism websites for Galicia come up in that strange dialect of Castellano they call “Galego”. And to make sense of what they’re saying, you have to click the “translate to Spanish” button.
Why? I’m going there on holiday, so of course I don’t speak Galego. It’s just annoying. And petty. And just for that I think I’ll go to the Basque country. Who put their website in Spanish, ironically enough.
NOTE 20/08: After a record 115 comments, I’ve had a thought! Read it.
Your point being?
My point being, that at a time were the English (just a few educated guys, mainly from Norman descent) were writing only in “French” (and some priest in Latin) and, therefore, at a time when English did not exist as a language (and this is not an exaggeration), the second most prolific and elegant European poetry, after the Occitanian, was being produced in the the Galician Kingdom in Galician language (later, much later, called Galician-Portuguese or just Portuguese).
at a time WHEN
good night sweet heart now it’s time to go, piripipi
A) They were not “English”. They spoke Middle ages French because they were French.
B) The servents under the stairs spoke either Saxon or regional languages or Danish or whatever, depending on where they where.
C) Over time, these mix. (Yes, I skipped quite a few steps but it’s late). That’s why we have so many double words for things, beef for the meat and cow for the animal.
Pidgins and creoles are the early steps of a language, usually caused when two different speaking cultures collide. They are inherently unstable. They eventually, if lucky, form a coherent language which then proceeds to evolve.
What poetry are you talking about? Galician Portuguese was just an organisedd version of vulgur latin. Nothing much to do with modern Fala, which I’m on about.
Uggh
@ Admin
I apologise again. It is indeed creole (in its wide genetic sense) the proper term.
Oh my God, you know my name! Who told you!? How did you find out about my place and my drink?! Come on, you have to tell me!
Do you run a search on all those who challenge your views or is it only with me, for me insistence on Tibet? Did you contact the Chinese embassy?
I appreciate your interest in my personal life, buddy, but, to be honest, I don’t see it of any relevance towards this debate. I rather the next time I pose a question to you, being about Tibet, Galicia or any other relevant matter, you don’t dodge the question. Believe me, you can dodge one, and another one, and the next one, but it will come down to a single one, eventually, and that will be you showing us your true colours, buddy.
BTW, vulgar latin is not the same as pig latin. Which is what you used when you created your email address, “Love Bear”.
Although I notice your nickname OdeTeresa means “a song of love to the knotted ropes used in the escape of prisioners” in Portuguese. Care to tell us the story behind that one?
Bless. You were the one who told me to find out more about you, in order to be able to debate with you, remember?
Actually Galedon, I’m confused. I first thought you were for Tibetian independence, now it seems to be against… why did you bring this irrelevant (to this discussion) subject up again?
Actually, now that I’ve found out some more about you I’ve been looking at your postings on other forums about Galician independence and you make bugger all sense there too. So you’ll forgive me if I continue with my life undisturbed by you, and the other twits who think they’re being clever with their vague definitions and circuitious logic. Just because A is always B doesn’t mean B is always A, ya know….
David,
Do you think you could kill this thread before several people disappear up their own arseholes, causing their poor mothers much grief.
Ta.
PS Buddy? Has anyone used this word since 1964? Once, never mind 50 times.
Sadly, you’re probably right Colin. Can’t see anything of substance coming out of the thread now.
So, what have we learnt after all this? Well, not a much. Quite an insight into knee jerk reactions and petty Nationalism, which once back in my beloved Almeria I shall have to write up. No doubt causing yet more letters.
We’ve had some fun, we’ve examined some of the finer details of how people with one Galician greatgrandfather think, and we have advanced the total sum of human knowledge not one knol.
The best post? Probably the one who lombards me for racial steorotypings and insensitivity towards others then called me “American”.
It’s probably a good idea to close this post together with my little holiday here in Galicia. If you have anything interesting or pertinent to say, just contact me and maybe I’ll reopen it. Maybe not.
Until then, please do keep reading. Cheerio!