and English teaching strategies
in Alsace "
by Paul
Adolf
In Alsace, traditional language
teaching strategies need to be enriched by a complementary
approach to make the learner become fluent both orally and
by written word. This is specially the case with our adult
learners of Université Populaire comparing
spontaneously or unwillingly their source language with the
target language, namely English or American English in this
case : no wonder then that a psycholinguistic approach
supported by contrastive linguistics will undoubtedly help
Alsatian bilingual learners to memorize much more of the
target language.
Exploring cognates based on the " kinship principle " will
both help to stress the similarities and also make the
learner aware of different phonetic, syntactic, lexical
patterns (in particular word combinations) behind
superficial similarities. Those positive but also faulty
negative transfers will appear in the language understanding
and performing processes.
A
contrastive phonology and phonetics survey
stresses first both the similarities
and differences of sound units owing to their distinctive
features. In the following chart we can find out two nearly
similar short and open vowels : Alsatian
/I/
et English /I/
:
Close vowels are missing from the
English short vowel system unlike its Alsatian counterpart.
Moreover there are no rounded Alsatian palatal vowels in
English such as /ö/ and /ü/ as it used to be the
case in Old English. On the other hand there are some
dissimilarities : whereas in the English vowel system, open
short vowels have closed long partners , we find in Alsatian
identical minimal pairs (open and closed) as regards vowel
length.
ex : /I/
open and short in "to live" , and /i :/ closed and long in
"to leave" , whereas in Alsatian there is an obvious
symmetry : " lide " , to ring (bells), Germ. " läuten "
and " li :de " , to suffer, Germ. leiden.
Besides , vowel length in Alsatian is never determined by
the sound quality (voiced, unvoiced) of the following
consonant :
On the other hand, short English vowels are lengthened
before voiced consonants.
The articulation of English phonemes can be facilitated by
Alsatian cognates such as the nasal consonant /*
including the combination /I/+/*in
the Alsatian lexical item " Ring ", ring (finger-), as well
as initial aspirated /h/ : als. Hüs , house Germ.Haus
.
In the north western dialectal area of " Alsace Bossue ," 's
krumme Elsàss ", speakers still pronounce initial and
final / p/ - e Pund- a pound , Pàd - path , Kopp
=head (cf. cup ) instead of /pf/ to be found in other areas
of Alsace. Besides, there is no voiced / voiceless
distinction of stops in Alsatian German such as in English
and Standard German : /p/-/b/,/t/-/d/,/k/-/g/ . There is
only a weak voiceless stop distinction , /b/-/d/-/g/ and
aspirated stops /'p/-/'t/-/'k/. As a consequence this
distinction is often neutralized for the benefit of the weak
voiceless stops. cf. minimal pairs
/cap-cab/. Moreover /k/ is silent in "
knee " but not in the Alsatian cognate " Knie " ; likewise
/l/ is pronounced in the Alsatian word " hàlb " but
is silent in the English cognate " half ".
Phonetic similarities appear in open and closed syllables as
regards final long vowels and final consonants : " Struh "
and " straw ", or diphthongs in " oej " and " eye " ; "
Stàhl " and " steel "., " àlt " and " old ".
Moreover the same syllable stress - accent on the first
syllable- occurs in both systems : 'Gàrde - 'garden .
Moreover Alsatian intonation (singsong) differs from the
English one but there nevertheless certain similarities in
pitch and speech rhythm namely in some patterns : asking a
simple question and expecting an affirmative or negative
answer.
At a morpho syntactic level.
Study the following similarities
in
a/compounds
bittersiess
adj. bittersweet
Rajewàsser
n. rainwater
The Alsatian learner of English may however make mistakes by means of overgeneralizing procedures such as " Handschi " (Germ.Handschuh "), glove becoming " handshoe ", or " Fischhandler ", fishmonger becoming " fishhandler ". There may also be cases where Alsatian compounds are replaced by loanwords in English : "veal" and "not calf flesh" (als. Kàlbfleisch )
b/ derived words
: Germanic prefixes and suffixes :
verbiete
vb. to forbid
hàrmlos
adj.
harmless
wundervoll
adj.
wonderful
rajerisch
adj.
rainy
c/ phrasal verbs
:
üshàlte
vb. to hold out
d/ Similar
syntactic patterns :
same place of the adjective as pre-modifier or as
predicate.
e kàlter Winter a cold
winter
e wàrmi Summernàcht a
warm summernight
Ich find 's kàlt . I find it
cold.
e/ Same order of words in
the sentence
Wie àlt isch er ? How old is he ?
Wàs sie seht isch min Hüs. What she sees is my
house .
However negative transfers by the learner show differences
:
Ich hàb de Mànn g'sahn "I have the man
seen".
instead of I have seen the man .
Direct objects are not to be found between the auxiliary
verb and the past participle in English as the case may be
in Alsatian.
Semantics
As regards the meaning of the cognates, let us
remember that out of 85% of the Old English word stock, only
15% has survived the Scandinavian and Anglonorman invasions;
the other Old English words have either disappeared or
undergone shifts of meaning or connotation (obsolete words,
dialect words, place names, poetry, idioms, etc).
Many similar meanings of cognates
appear in semantic fields of interest : the human body,
biological functions, everyday life activities, in short
everything related to the common core of English vocabulary.
Here are some cognates chosen in the family /kinship field
:
Brüeder m. brother
Dochter f. daughter
Kind n. child
Müeter f. mother
NB. Similarities are still more obvious in Mosel Frankish :
Er hett et Seschtere , He has (got) eight sisters. , als.
(low Alemanic) Er hett àcht Schweschtere
.
" False cognates "
There are also numerous cognates not having much
in common semantically. Many mistakes caused by " false
friends " are due to popular etymology, analogical reasoning
or an intended Alsatian satirical bent ; no wonder we come
across hilarious homonymic superficial analogies such as
Suffolk . Suffolk being initially South folk has nothing in
common with its Alsatian homonym " Süffolik ",
stand.Germ. " Saufvolk ", pack of alcoholics.(cf. dict. page
886)
In the case of homonymy, some English words might appear as
equivocal : calf (animal) in the sentence " The farmer's
wife has nice calves ." , may concern - when decoding the
utterance - two referents : either a young cow or the thick
part at the back of the leg. However the Alsatian cognate "
Kàlb "only refers to the young cow . Hence there are
possible misunderstandings !
Those semantic differences are
variously related to the history of English and Alsatian
:
cf. Old English "Nim the metter and sned the
oxflesh".
Alsatian "Nimm 's Masser/Mësser un schnid 's
Rindsfleisch".
modern Engl. Take the knife and cut the steak .
French "Prends le couteau et découpe le morceau de
boeuf".
The Scandinavian words " take ", " knife " , Scandinavian
and Old English " cut " and the Anglonorman " beef " have
replaced " nim "-" metter "- " sned "- " ox-flesh " .
It is true that a comparison between Old English and
Alsatian regional varieties is still more significant and
revealing at this level. For instance the old Alsatian
archaic word " litzel "= little only survives in place names
such as " Lützelhouse " als. Litzelhüse in Alsace
whereas in English it is of everyday use..Likewise the
Alsatian surname " Litzelmann "=literally a " little man "
reminds us of the English cognate " little ".
Polysemy
Polysemy may vary as you pass from Alsatian to
English or the reverse.
" Fleisch " n., (1.part of body 2. meat) - flesh
, ( part of body)
The Alsatian cognate has here two meanings represented in
English by two equivalents : flesh and meat. English
differentiates between flesh and meat.
Note : the word " meat " is still alive in the Alsatian
compound " Mettwurscht
", sausage for spreading (generalization versus
specialization.)
Conversely, we can oppose English polysemy versus Alsatian
monosemy .
" Hànd " , (hand, =part of body) hand ,part of body
but also " farm hand ", " hand of a clock
",etc.
Hyponyms versus hyperonyms
Here is a case for distinction between a hyponym
(subordinate term) and a hyperonym (superordinate term)
:
" Hund " m. dog (superordinate) hound (subordinate) (type of
dog for hunting or
racing)
Anglicisms
These " false friends " may also concern
anglicisms in Alsatian German :
" Brösching " m. brushing
Kànn
ich e Brösching hà(n) , May
I have a blow dry , please?
wann / wënn 's beliebt ? (and not
brushing )
If you ask in Great Britain for a
brushing, they might brush your hair,
but the English equivalent of Alsatian " Brösching "
would be a blow dry.
divergent connotations :
" Knacht " ,(farm hand), versus "knight"
(melioration in English)
or conversely, note the pejoration undergone by the Old
English word " stool "= seat without arms or back, being
replaced by the Anglonorman word " chair "(seat with arms
and back) versus Alsat. " Stüehl "=chair
Similar word collocations and combinations :
Bring m'r e Glàs Wàsser. Bring me a glass of
water,
E Küeh gibt Milich. A cow gives milk.
Es isch kàlt im Winter . It's cold in winter.
dissimilar word combinations :
e dicker Mànn a thick man (=stupid) ; correct : a
stout man
On the other hand either the English or Alsatian cognate can
become part of different word combinations :
Als. " koche " (to boil ) can be combined with Als. "Milich
", milk , whereas cook cannot be associated with milk and
will be replaced by boil .
Milich koche to boil milk
In the series of cooking verbs cognates, the pair "
bàche "-bake has not the same distribution. Engl.
"bake " can also combine with meat, potatoes (in the oven)
unlike the Alsatian " bàche " being replaced in those
contexts by " bruute ".("bàche " mainly combines with
" Küeche ", cake and the Alsatian word "
Fleischpàschtet " , meat pie connected with baking in
the oven. )
Similar idioms :
D'finf Finger vu minere Hànd the five fingers of my
hand
Sie isch wieder uf de Fiess She's
on her feet again.
Uf ejene Fiess stehn to stand on one's own feet
Stilli Wàsser grinde tief
Still waters run deep.
Alsatian and English weekdays refer to Germanic pagan divinities :
" Dsischdi " Tuesday the day of Ziu
(middle high Germ. " ziestac " , standard Germ. " Dienstag " )
Fridi (Germ. "Freitag ") Friday the day of Freia
Uschtere / Oschtere (Germ. "Ostern ") Easter feast of goddess " Eastre "
Here are some other examples illustrating a common historical past :
town , Als. " Zün, Stàdt ", reminds us of the old Germanic and also Anglosaxon colonies surrounded by fences .(metonymy )
spoon (Als. "Spane " , chip) shows that initially spoons were made of wood (chips).
fee =payment (cattle, Als.Vieh , ) reminds us that the cattle being the main property of farmers used to serve as a means of payment .
write Als. " ritze ", to engrave , conjures up the time when people used runes to interpret the future or to guess it .(Als.vb. " rude ", to guess, Germ. raten / read=(Als. "lase ") ) As soon as runic signs were abandoned in favour of a new way of writing, the word to write meant what it means now.
Here are some results of the contrastive research :
The dictionary includes :
1. Hundreds of examples in which the two languages are identical, in whole or in part :
ex: Güete Morje ! Good morning !
Es isch kàlt im Winter It's cold in winter .
Ar drinkt e Glàss Wàsser, Win. He drinks a glass of water, wine .
Mir sinn d'Hand gebunde . My hands are bound .
Bind dinni Kràwàtt un d'Schüebandel ! Fasten your tie and tie your shoelaces !
2. Compounds , derived words, phrasal verbs :
Pfafferminz peppermint
Winkaller/-këller wine cellar
Mir hàlte 's noch làng üs ! We'll still hold out for long !
3. Expressions in current use, idiomatic turns of phrase and picturesque proverbs :
Arm in Arm - arm in arm
mit offene Arm with open arms
rund um d'Ühr round the clock
Wo/Wu e Wille isch, isch e Wag/Wëj ! (1) Where there's a will there's a way !
(1) popular phrases and idioms :
Es isch Gotteswille It's God's will - Es isch min letschter Wille It's my last will - Ich düe 's üs freiem Wille , I do it from free will. Mit dem beschte Wille in d'r Walt - With the best will in the world.
Alles isch nitt Gold wàs glanzt ! All is not gold that glitters !
4. Anglicisms in Alsatian
" Korner " (football) "Füesbàll " corner (kick)
others.... "Bulldozer, Kocktail , Lift " ,etc.
5. Notes on etymology and grammar including similar grammar patterns
6. Comparative notes and items of historical interest
(annexed) such as the history of English and Alsatian German and the origins of the similarities and differences of cognates ; surname similarities : Zimmermann , Timberman , place names : Litzelhüse (Lützelhouse) sharing " Litzel " with " Little " Tew (Oxforshire) etc.
7. Notes on how to pronounce basic English words through Alsatian, some exercises, finally the Alsatian, German, English and French cognates indexes.
The new dictionary being a reference and supplementary passport for English being taught in Alsace, aims at giving Alsatians - young and adult - an optimum chance of becoming multilingual and showing them how to take advantage with discretion of their diverse linguistic and cultural roots for a better opening on Europe, its languages and cultures, in this case the English speaking world.
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