C.J. Moore writes in the IHT about “gerunding,” whereby people in countries that don’t default to English are Englishing around, adding -ing to English words that don’t even mean what they use them to mean (in SE, anyway).
Yes, I know the word gerunding doesn’t exist, but since when did such a concern deter those who go gerunding? The whole point is to make up words which sound and look like English. It matters not a bit that they are foreign inventions, often unrecognizable to a native English speaker.
He gives some examples – pressing to mean ‘putting pressure on’ (which he claims doesn’t mean that in Britain, but we use it for that in American English – “Don’t press me!” or “If pressed, I’d say yes.”); standing to mean ‘status’ but used for properties for sale (also a feasible American use, I’d say); footing for ‘jogging.’
And from what I’ve heard, the gerunding doesn’t stop there – a few months ago at GLS 2005, a researcher on CMC told me that some of her Chinese-speaking friends make gerunds out of Chinese characters, as in [character]ing.
But I can’t figure out whether he’s claiming that the motivation for gerunding is a status thing, like that of “decorative English,” or a functional one. Towards the end of the article he gives an example of adopting the English word (bullying) because the language in question doesn’t have a word for the concept already. But this can’t explain innovative gerunding, because English doesn’t have words for those concepts either!
(via LinguistList)
Japanese examples can be found here.
Comment by language hat — April 13, 2005 @ 1:39 pm
Excellent, excellent! Thanks.
Comment by squires — April 13, 2005 @ 3:13 pm
Although his observations are generally accurate, he reveals an ignorance of the origins of the word bunkering. He just fails to clear that final hurdle. Poor form for a linguist of his, er, stature. And his almost childlike acceptance of the notion that Spain simply never knew bullying and therefore has to import the word from English is not only laughable, but naieve. Luckily he fails to name his source, saving himself the trouble of backing up the ludicrous assertion. As if a land that – after a period of internecine warfare – had spent many decades in the grip of a brutal and reasonably popular dictatorship wouldn’t experience a degree of school bullying. He’ll have to be satisfied in the knowledge that he has once again done a disservice to his own culture, but that is a regular feature of his columns.
Comment by Liam — April 14, 2005 @ 7:52 pm
There’s nothing like a generalization to impress the impressionable. Sheds a different light on the fact that the British had to import the German word schadefreude. I suppose it is now acceptable to assume that we simply had to import the word because it was a previously unknown phenomenon in British society. One has to be consistent in these things after all.
Comment by Hendrik I. Vermaat — April 18, 2005 @ 6:57 am
Yes. Moore is oft-criticized for his sloppiness. See this post on Language Hat, in fact, and revel in the Schadenfreude that comes from such an excoriation.
Comment by squires — April 18, 2005 @ 9:11 am
I can think of one Korean example. 소개팅 Sogaeting which is a combination of sogae (introduction/introduce) and ing – strangely enough it actually means blind date. A blind date here, involves two or more couples or sometimes the couple and the matchmaker – typically a mutual friend.
Comment by Blinger — April 21, 2005 @ 6:45 pm
Here in Spain we combine the ending -ing with a lot of Spanish words, having, for example, ‘puenting’ (bungee jumping), with ‘puente’ (bridge) + -ing.
Comment by bosco — August 2, 2005 @ 11:27 am
It is with open arms that I send you this email in the name of our holy lord jesus and for his glory.
My name is not important. I am the son of the late Isak Babaginda, ousted minister of finance for Nigeria.
Before my beloved father died, he left a free esl teachers ebook at http://www.eslsociety.com as well as free esl teacher training online at http://www.eslteachertraining.com . . .
It is my hope that through Gods grace and your own righteous convictions you may help me retrieve these valuable assets left to me by my late father.
In return, I will offer you a finders fee of 1 baht for your help in this matter.
There are many within the Nigerian government and even within your own CIA who would like to stop me from receiving my rightful inheritance of FREE ESL TEACHER TRAINING materials. Please reply only to me, and do not mention this to anyone else.
In him,
Ibrahim Babaginda, Esq. D.D.S. M.D
Comment by Jon — December 5, 2005 @ 2:32 pm