User-Agent: Microsoft Outlook Express Macintosh Edition - 5.01 (1630)
Title: Re: Language
on 21/01/01 14:04, Niven Sinclair at niven@niven.co.uk wrote:
At 01:15 19/01/01 +0000, you wrote:
Hi Niven
Dose that mean Cymric is now a lost language?
All the best
Kermit
Yes, except where it exists in place-names.
I have always found the study of place-names to be exciting because they
tell us something about the 'history' of the area. For example, in my 30
years in Africa, the first thing I would do is to find out the meaning of a
place name e.g.
Nairobi = river of black water
Nanyuki = river of red water
The 'na' prefix told me that it was derived from the Masai language whereas:
Lulindi = place of deep water
Kilindini = the village in the place of the seep water
Malindi = the town in the place of the deep water
Quite simply, every name and place-name has a meaning which, when known, can add immeasurably to our
knowledge.
Niven Sinclair
Dear Niven, jambo sana!
It's a small world: I lived in Mombasa, Kenya in 1981-82 with my husband (on a World Bank project, two 735 KV hydro powerlines, one that goes through Tsavo Park, the other from Muhoroni, Lake Victoria to Nairobi).
As for names, they sometimes tell a side of history, for instance, you can guess just how Catholic early Canada was with nearly all the villages, schools, hospitals and streets named after saints...