Comment on Everytime
Lumidaub@feddit.org 1 week agoWhich still leaves the question why 英国 is treated differently from, say, 独国, 仏国 and 米国 ;D
Comment on Everytime
Lumidaub@feddit.org 1 week agoWhich still leaves the question why 英国 is treated differently from, say, 独国, 仏国 and 米国 ;D
Malgas@beehaw.org 1 week ago
I mean, 独語, and 仏語 are perfectly cromulent, albeit less common than the katakana versions. And 米語 likewise exists, referring specifically to American English.
Lumidaub@feddit.org 1 week ago
Lots of words exist, but if they aren’t used, they may as well not (goes for all languages). I recently had a conversation with someone about the German word for shark. The word they knew wasn’t wrong as such and people would understand what they mean but they’d sound weird and old-timey if they used it in normal conversation. I’m sure there are specific situations where 独語 is used but outside of that you’d sound weird. So why is 英語 used alongside ドイツ語?
I’m not really looking for a definite answer here, I know languages are under no obligation to be consistent, this just whinging :)