Re: Anan?

Posted by Elaine on March 20, 1998 at 06:38:27:

In Reply to: Re: Anan? posted by Ilse on March 19, 1998 at 17:08:25:

: : The speculation on Hawkeye's dialect was neat, too. I am convinced that, although Natty never had anything good to say about the Dutch, Cooper envisioned Natty Bumppo as being of Dutch heritage. I was following that train of thought rather loosely until I started digging for a review of The Deerslayer by Honore de Balzac. That quest led me to one of de Balzac's books in which one of the words used consistently by the native Dutch was "Anan?". It means "I don't understand the word you used", and Natty would always query with it when he ran up against vocabulary that was over his head.

: Hi Gayle,

: This is very interesting to me. Being Dutch, I just spent a couple of hours in my library to find some reference to the word "anan". I didn't find any. I am not surprised because it does not sound like a Dutch word at all. My guess is that it is a variety on a French or Latin word, and De Balzac just used his "literary freedom" here. Another explanation could be that in that period it was very fashionable in nobility and upper classes to speak French, and they were just not as good at it as they thought (the Frenche use: comment? when they don't understand).

: Ilse

Gayle and Ilse,

Interesting perspectives there. I never thought of Hawkeye/Natty as having had a Dutch background. That's something to think about. I think Ilse's take on the word "anan" is probable. In Latin "an" is used to introduce the second part of a double question (whether ... or); "an non" is used in a direct double question ( whether ... or not). In French "anon" is used like "fool" (lit. ass's foal). Annoner is to mumble. Dutch spellings of words (Ilse, correct me if I'm wrong) that had 'o' in English form, often substituted 'a'. An example; Mohican was written "Mahican" by the Dutch in America. If you did the same with 'anon', you'd have 'anan'. So, Natty may have been saying; " I don't understand you, fool!".............. plausible?????

Elaine

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• Re: Anan? Ilse 07:35:33 3/20/98 (0)

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: : : The speculation on Hawkeye's dialect was neat, too. I am convinced that, although Natty never had anything good to say about the Dutch, Cooper envisioned Natty Bumppo as being of Dutch heritage.  I was following that train of thought rather loosely until I started digging for  a review of The Deerslayer by Honore de Balzac.  That quest led me to one of de Balzac's books in which one of the words used consistently by the native Dutch was "Anan?".  It means "I don't understand the word you used", and Natty would always query with it when he ran up against vocabulary that was over his head.

: : Hi Gayle,

: : This is very interesting to me. Being Dutch,  I just spent a couple of hours in my library to find some reference to the word "anan". I didn't find any. I am not surprised because it does not sound like a Dutch word at all. My guess is that it is a variety on a French or Latin word, and De Balzac just used his "literary freedom" here. Another explanation could be that in that period it was very fashionable in nobility and upper classes to speak French, and they were just not as good at it as they thought (the Frenche use: comment? when they don't understand).

: : Ilse

: Gayle and Ilse,

: Interesting perspectives there. I never thought of Hawkeye/Natty as having had a Dutch background. That's something to think about. I think Ilse's take on the word "anan" is probable. In Latin "an" is used to introduce the second part of a double question (whether ... or); "an non" is used in a direct double question ( whether ... or not). In French "anon" is used like "fool" (lit. ass's foal). Annoner is to mumble. Dutch spellings of words (Ilse, correct me if I'm wrong) that had 'o' in English form, often substituted 'a'. An example; Mohican was written "Mahican" by the Dutch in America. If you did the same with 'anon', you'd have 'anan'. So, Natty may have been saying; " I don't understand you, fool!".............. plausible?????

: Elaine


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