#4075: DeGraff comments on the Haitian-German connection re "konnen": Valdman adds

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: valdman <valdman@taloa.unice.fr>

konnen


Indeed, the form of konnen comes from the French connaitre.  But where does
the meaning come from? That is, how did connaitre come to take over the
semantic domains split by St. French /connaitre/savoir. Possibilies: (1)
French regional or 17th/18th century vernacular varieties; (2) influence
from West African languages; (3) the developmental process inherent to the
formation of creole languages.  Only careful and tedious comparative work
can provide the answer.

The moral of the story: always be sceptical about simple apparent
similarities of form in doing etymology.


Albert Valdman