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Translations
I opted for scientific studies at the university,
but I could never deny my fascination with
languages, idioms, etymology, the spoken and written
word. Whenever I visit a region where another
language is spoken, I try to pick up some words, for
basic survival, to say hello and thank you in the
local lingo. The experience is always similar: you
gain immediate credit with the people when you do
some effort to communicate with them in their
language. I abhor those arrogant and stupid tourists
who presume that anybody has to understand what they
are demanding in English, German or French. I picked
up words in Greek, Swedish, Arabic, Thai... that
remain somewhere in my memory, even many years after
visiting the countries where they are spoken.
Because I was a little bit 'contrary' when I was
younger, I preferred English over French (because my
father taught French at the teachers' school). I
guess that my mastery of both languages is now
equal, and besides I developed notions of German,
Spanish, and recently got quite proficient in
(Brazilian) Portuguese. I always liked to compare
the West-European languages, their similarities and
differences, the 'false friends' that make that you
are misunderstood when you thought you made sense...
I am interested in these 'operators' that make the
sound of a language and differentiate it from its
(Roman or German) neighbours. Just an example: the
suffix -tion in French or English becomes -ción in
Spanish, -ção in Portuguese, -tie in Dutch. Speaking
of my native Dutch: when my spouse started to learn
the language of her new home region, it became
apparent to us that Dutch is a rather difficult
language, with more exceptions than rules, with
difficult pronunciations and syntax. I always
believed that Dutch was quite simple, a cross
between German and English with some French mixed
in. Well no, it has all its tortuous specialities
and particularities. Differentiation in dialects and
idioms is also astonishing, certainly for someone
who comes from a country of 160 million people,
where a person from one part can quite easily
understand the language as it is spoken 1000 and
more kilometers away. In Belgium, in the 1950's, you
could determine the exact geographic origin of a
person from the way he spoke, just like a oenologist
can tell you the year and chateau of a burgundy wine
after taking a few sips.
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