Hi, all,

Today in the weekly comment edition of the Wordsmith (A.Word.a.day) list
appeared the following example from Charles Neame (c.neame AT
cranfield.ac.uk):
<<Subject: French terms used in English
I remember once hearing an announcement on the Dover-Calais ferry. First in
English: "Please note that the buffet is now open." Then in French:
"Veuillez noter que le snack-bar est maintenant ouvert.">>

Just to beat a (hopefully) dead, or at least moribund, horse, these examples
clearly show that such speakers are *not* using code-switching, since the
borrowings in question (most clearly in French) have *changed meaning* after
being borrowed: 'snack bar' in English is very much *not* the same as
'snack-bar' in French. This lexicosemantic argument nicely complements the
phonological/phonetic ones mentioned in previous posts to this list.

Jim

--
James L. Fidelholtz
Posgrado en Ciencias del Lenguaje
Instituto de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades
Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, MÉXICO


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