Thanks Moose
I was using, perhaps erroneously, the masculine adjective form of the
words. I knew that "to the right" or "left" are feminine (presumably
assuming "side" to be feminine ;-)), but I had forgotten about
"straight ahead". I shall remember that for my next visit to Spain (I
hope, to Andalucia).
But my main point was about the derivation of the modern languages from
Latin; I find it so sad that schools do not have time to teach Latin as
it makes many languages easier to learn. Mind you, in the UK one of
the teaching unions is suggesting that Maths need not be compulsory!
Possible OM content: when I visit Andalucia I shall take my OM4 and
50-250...
Chris
On Friday, May 2, 2003, at 21:52 Europe/London, Moose wrote:
You've got some genders mixed up there. Derecho means right in the
sense of 'correct, straight'. Tell a driver to go "al derecho" and he
will go straight ahead. "a la derecha" will get him to turn right.
Similarly, the noun form 'izquierda' means left and is feminine. "Mira
la vista por la izquierda." means "Look at the view to the left." The
adjective, of course, ends in 'a' or 'o' depending on the gender of
the noun it modifies. So, in Spanish, the symbolic subtext is that
straight ahead, straightforward, etc. are masculine qualities and
deviation, turning aside, etc. are feminine qualities.
In Italian, the noun for the direction left is 'sinestra', and for
right is 'destra', both feminine. The plurals end in 'o'.
Moose
Chris Barker wrote:
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C M I Barker
Cambridgeshire, Great Britain.
+44 (0)7092 251126
mailto:ftog@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.threeshoes.co.uk
http://homepage.mac.com/zuiko
... a nascent photo library.
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