Month: April 2008

“Lagniappe”

Apostrophes, Foreign Languages, Nouns, Outsider's Perspective, Plurals, Possessives

This post is not about a problem, explanation, and solution.

Instead, it’s about an interesting word whose use is designated as Chiefly Southern Louisiana and Southeast Texas.

I first saw this word when I moved to Houston, Texas. It was on the sign of a popular restaurant and was written with an apostrophe and ‘s’ as “Lagniappe’s”.

I don’t know whether this apostrophe-‘s’ form on the sign was meant to be a possessive or was supposed to be a plural noun but was a blunder by a sign maker who is part of the crowd of sign makers who insert apostrophes where they don’t belong.

Leaving aside the possessive-apostrophe/plural issue and focusing on the singular noun, a “lagniappe” is something that is added to a purchase as a gift by a merchant, to say “Thank you!” for doing business with the merchant.

A commercial, mass-marketing version of a “lagniappe” could be a cosmetics bag given with a purchase of Lancôme perfume. However, the noun “lagniappe” is traditionally reserved for what an individual merchant adds, such as a small bag of fertilizer when the customer buys several flower bulbs.

The noun originally was “yapa” — Quechuan for that which is added.

Spanish speakers in Mexico turned this into “la ñapa”.

I don’t know where the French speakers from Louisiana first heard “la ñapa” and converted it into the French spelling — “lagniappe” — for the same pronunciation.

But I imagine that the greater Houston area could have been that location, given its mingling of people from Mexico and people from New Orleans and other French-speaking parts of southern Louisiana.

So there you have it: an American English word tied to Houston at the intersection of Spanish and French speakers.

“Capital” vs. “Capitol”

Common English Blunders, Nouns, Versus

I often see these two words interchanged.

Problem:
The nouns “capital” and “capitol” are not synonyms.

Explanation:
The noun “capital” is from the Latin word “caput” and means head of a column or pillar.

The noun “capitol” is from the highest hill in Rome: Capitoline Hill.

The similarity between these two nouns is completely coincidental, according to some linguists.

Solution:
Use the noun “capital” to refer to a city that is an official seat of government or to refer to the wealth of an individual, group, or business. Use the noun “capitol” to refer to a building, or complex of buildings, occupied by a legislature. (Use “Capitol” to refer to the architectural structure in Washington, DC, where the United States Congress meets.)

“go into hospital” vs. “go into the hospital”

Outsider's Perspective, Versus

This post is not about a problem, explanation, and solution.

Instead, it’s about a difference between British English and American English.

Americans and the British use “going to school” and “going to town” without a definite or indefinite article preceding the noun.

Where Americans and the British part ways is with hospitals: Americans put the definite article (“the”) in front of “hospital” whereas the British do not.

  • British English: “go into hospital” or “when I was in hospital”
  • American English: “go into the hospital” or “when I was in the hospital”

I don’t know the source of this difference, but it continues to fascinate me (as does the difference between “Americans” and “the British”).