Audire, audimus, audit... uh, say what?

[quk@isham-research.demon.co.uk (Phil Payne)]

In message <35D48413.E988E57F@cisco.com> Scott Fisher writes:

> This looks like a job for... Mister Dead Language Guy!

> Audi is in fact a Latin word: the 2nd person imperative form of the verb
> audire, which means "to hear."

Correct.

> from the firm's original founder, whose last name was Hoerch (and there
> should be an umlaut over that o but I don't wanna poke around the keyset
> to figure out how to do that).

NumLock on, alt-148 on the numeric pad.  I've never seen "Horch" spelt
spelt with an Umlaut.

> But I digress.  Hoerch had earlier started a company making a car
> called, with a singular lack of imagination, the Hoerch, then later went
> on for reasons I cannot recall to found a second company.  "Hoerch" is
> the German cognate of the English word "hark," or "listen up, y'all" in
> American Hillbilly Speak, since someone brought it up recently -- in
> either case, it's the 2nd person imperative form of the verb "hoeren,"
> to hear.

Nah.  "Horch" is a verb in its own right, quite distinct from "hoeren".

> (A minor punctilio: both "hoerch" and "audi" are of course 2nd person
> SINGULAR,

The significance here is that the singular is also the familiar, and is
never used to a specific adult stranger.  For those fully cogniscent of
the rules of German grammar, it's an insult.  Around a decade ago, a
German driver was fined around $3000 for using "du" to a police officer.
Don't worry - the Germans won't fine _YOU_ for doing it - they're very
tolerant of strangers who don't know the rules and almost expect it.
Indeed, some younger people will automatically start a conversation with
a German-speaking foreigner in the familiar sense.  It's also used
widely on the Internet.

The imperative is often used to an undefined audience in the singular.
You see it quite frequently in German advertising.  "Horchen" also
has a military meaning - to hearken to commands - and it's therefore
quite normal to see it in the second person as if it were a military
order.  Like "Hark!"

--
 Phil Payne
 Phone: 0385 302803   Fax: 01536 723021
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