conuly: (Default)
[personal profile] conuly
Question. Why do we say "Happy NEW Year"? Why don't we say "Happy New YEAR"? The first sounds like "happy holiday", the second like "happy year", doesn't it?

Date: 2004-12-31 09:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moggymania.livejournal.com
AFAIK I pronounce the first word with the syllables exaggerated, then extend the vowels equally in both the second and third words:
"Hap-py Neeeew Yeeeeaaaaar!"

(I'm fairly sure my way is also how people do it where I live, too, but I could be wrong.)

Date: 2004-12-31 09:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] eofs.livejournal.com
I can't work out where I stick the emphasis. But logically new makes sense, just as you say happy BIRTHday not happy birthDAY.

Date: 2004-12-31 10:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] eofs.livejournal.com
But I want the new year to be happy. Not the New Year. I'm talking of the entire year, not just the holiday, and have never thought of the greeting as being for the holiday.

Of course, saying happy new year over and over I'm wondering if maybe my emphasis is slightly on the year. So perhaps that's why.

Date: 2005-01-01 04:37 am (UTC)
ext_45018: (Default)
From: [identity profile] oloriel.livejournal.com
Hm... I always said Happy New YEAR. But as I'm no native speaker, that probably doesn't count. After all, I'm influenced by German, where the stress in the equivalent phrase ("Frohes neues Jahr"> lies on the 'Jahr' (meaning year)...
Then again, there's also 'Neujahr', i.e. 'new' and 'year' pulled together to form one word. In that case, the stress is on 'Neu'... but then it's one word, so that's alright.
Hm.

Date: 2005-01-01 05:23 am (UTC)
deceptica: (Default)
From: [personal profile] deceptica
Eh, I wouldn't say never. I read that "alright" has already been in use for a century, and though there are a lot of people who don't consider it correct, there are also a lot who do. Some also argue that "all right" and "alright" have two different meanings.

You can find some interesting comments on the subject here, even though the conversation went off topic quickly.

I like "alright". (So does Livejournal's spell check, by the way. Heh.)

Date: 2005-01-01 05:57 am (UTC)
ext_45018: (Default)
From: [identity profile] oloriel.livejournal.com
My dictionary says that it's either 'all right' or 'alright', so I presumed using 'alright' was all right...
;)

Date: 2005-01-01 05:25 am (UTC)
deceptica: (Default)
From: [personal profile] deceptica
I say 'Happy New YEAR' too. And 'Prosit NEUjahr'. And 'Gelukkig NieuwJAAR'.

Date: 2005-01-01 05:10 am (UTC)
innerbrat: (Default)
From: [personal profile] innerbrat
I say "Happy New YEAR!" so there. I think the other is an Americanism.

Britishism

Date: 2005-01-01 05:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] farraige.livejournal.com
Happy New YEAR, definitely.

(from my viewpoint, GenAm does a few funny things wrt stress patterns -- compare ROBINhood (second syllable reduced to a schwa at best but frequently to a syllabic n altogether) to RP Robin Hood (no lax vowel reduction, the two lexemes remain quite distinct)

Re: Britishism

Date: 2005-01-01 07:14 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] farraige.livejournal.com
I hope for your sake you're saying this in jest.

Re: Britishism

Date: 2005-01-01 07:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] farraige.livejournal.com
:P is for poking your tongue out. It doesn't spell "I'm being frivolous" or whatever -- to me, it means you're taking the mickey out of the person whose opinion you're replying to.

Re: Britishism

Date: 2005-01-01 07:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] farraige.livejournal.com
this just might have something to do with autism, or whatever.

Re: Britishism

Date: 2005-01-01 08:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhari.livejournal.com
It never reads that way to me. That's what I use ;) for, and :P carries more the connotation of "nyah nyah".

Date: 2004-12-31 09:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moggymania.livejournal.com
AFAIK I pronounce the first word with the syllables exaggerated, then extend the vowels equally in both the second and third words:
"Hap-py Neeeew Yeeeeaaaaar!"

(I'm fairly sure my way is also how people do it where I live, too, but I could be wrong.)

Date: 2004-12-31 09:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] eofs.livejournal.com
I can't work out where I stick the emphasis. But logically new makes sense, just as you say happy BIRTHday not happy birthDAY.

Date: 2004-12-31 10:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] eofs.livejournal.com
But I want the new year to be happy. Not the New Year. I'm talking of the entire year, not just the holiday, and have never thought of the greeting as being for the holiday.

Of course, saying happy new year over and over I'm wondering if maybe my emphasis is slightly on the year. So perhaps that's why.

Date: 2005-01-01 04:37 am (UTC)
ext_45018: (Default)
From: [identity profile] oloriel.livejournal.com
Hm... I always said Happy New YEAR. But as I'm no native speaker, that probably doesn't count. After all, I'm influenced by German, where the stress in the equivalent phrase ("Frohes neues Jahr"> lies on the 'Jahr' (meaning year)...
Then again, there's also 'Neujahr', i.e. 'new' and 'year' pulled together to form one word. In that case, the stress is on 'Neu'... but then it's one word, so that's alright.
Hm.

Date: 2005-01-01 05:23 am (UTC)
deceptica: (Default)
From: [personal profile] deceptica
Eh, I wouldn't say never. I read that "alright" has already been in use for a century, and though there are a lot of people who don't consider it correct, there are also a lot who do. Some also argue that "all right" and "alright" have two different meanings.

You can find some interesting comments on the subject here, even though the conversation went off topic quickly.

I like "alright". (So does Livejournal's spell check, by the way. Heh.)

Date: 2005-01-01 05:57 am (UTC)
ext_45018: (Default)
From: [identity profile] oloriel.livejournal.com
My dictionary says that it's either 'all right' or 'alright', so I presumed using 'alright' was all right...
;)

Date: 2005-01-01 05:25 am (UTC)
deceptica: (Default)
From: [personal profile] deceptica
I say 'Happy New YEAR' too. And 'Prosit NEUjahr'. And 'Gelukkig NieuwJAAR'.

Date: 2005-01-01 05:10 am (UTC)
innerbrat: (confused)
From: [personal profile] innerbrat
I say "Happy New YEAR!" so there. I think the other is an Americanism.

Britishism

Date: 2005-01-01 05:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] farraige.livejournal.com
Happy New YEAR, definitely.

(from my viewpoint, GenAm does a few funny things wrt stress patterns -- compare ROBINhood (second syllable reduced to a schwa at best but frequently to a syllabic n altogether) to RP Robin Hood (no lax vowel reduction, the two lexemes remain quite distinct)

Re: Britishism

Date: 2005-01-01 07:14 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] farraige.livejournal.com
I hope for your sake you're saying this in jest.

Re: Britishism

Date: 2005-01-01 07:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] farraige.livejournal.com
:P is for poking your tongue out. It doesn't spell "I'm being frivolous" or whatever -- to me, it means you're taking the mickey out of the person whose opinion you're replying to.

Re: Britishism

Date: 2005-01-01 07:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] farraige.livejournal.com
this just might have something to do with autism, or whatever.

Re: Britishism

Date: 2005-01-01 08:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mhari.livejournal.com
It never reads that way to me. That's what I use ;) for, and :P carries more the connotation of "nyah nyah".

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