Re: ,Language' in language name?

From: "Padraic Brown" <agricola@...>
> Am 27.11.01, Nik Taylor yscrifef:
>
> > Mine has the prefix ta- that means "langauge of", but it's not a free
> > word, it's more like -ese in English.
>
> Is it related to the word for "language"? -ese is not, of course, as
> it's simply an adjective forming suffix meaning "of".
I wouldn't say it means "of". "From", maybe, or "after the style produced in",
e.g. "Japanese table".

But as a productive *noun*forming suffix I think -ese pretty clearly does mean
"language" or "manner of speech".   Say "X-ese is a ____"...

    *Muke!

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