tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16595270.post115040007633381136..comments2023-10-20T03:43:57.075-05:00Comments on Especially Messily: you crazy white girlsCecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16684746697027411470noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16595270.post-1150530295892745952006-06-17T02:44:00.000-05:002006-06-17T02:44:00.000-05:00My dad says I spelled it wrong. It's supposed to ...My dad says I spelled it wrong. It's supposed to be "muzungu". Since the phonetic spelling is all borrowed from the English/French alphabet anyway, I am pretty sure it's not a huge error.<BR/><BR/>He also says the Kinyarwanda plural is "abazungu" not "muzungu". But the same discussion still applies.<BR/><BR/>Emily read all those comments and said "Linguistics people are so weird."Cecilyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16684746697027411470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16595270.post-1150529993287823762006-06-17T02:39:00.000-05:002006-06-17T02:39:00.000-05:00Hey Julie! I think the Kinyarwanda may be borrowed...Hey Julie! I think the Kinyarwanda may be borrowed from the Kiswahili. I'm not sure. I'll have to do some research on that.<BR/><BR/>I was thinking about the plural formations too. My theory is that the whole utterance is English, with "mzungu" borrowed into English from the Kinyarwanda. To test this hypothesis, I'd have to find someone calling me and someone else crazy white people but with "crazy" in Kinyarwanda, and since Emily wouldn't recognize whatever that word is, chances of me proving it are slim.<BR/><BR/>Maybe I'll try to gather up some informants and do grammaticality tests on them. Not today though.<BR/><BR/>GUY: It means "crazy white people", like I said.Cecilyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16684746697027411470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16595270.post-1150513437608270422006-06-16T22:03:00.000-05:002006-06-16T22:03:00.000-05:00"Crazy Mzungus?" Maybe it means "Charlie Mingus"?..."Crazy Mzungus?" Maybe it means "Charlie Mingus"? - GUYAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16595270.post-1150473946660449272006-06-16T11:05:00.000-05:002006-06-16T11:05:00.000-05:00Funny!!! I didn't know Rwanda had a language that ...Funny!!! I didn't know Rwanda had a language that shared words with Kiswahili. <BR/><BR/>'Mzungus' is an interesting example of code-switching. The plural should be 'wazungu' but because it's also used in English context, the English plural is applied deriving 'mzungus.' Isn't that cool??? <BR/><BR/>Love your stories and pictures.Julie Hochgesanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06009443041181066201noreply@blogger.com