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Date: | Fri Mar 31 17:18:36 2006 |
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----------------- HES POSTING -----------------
Robert Leonard's remarks remind me that
although I am not all that knowledgeable in too
many languages, those that I have read some
economics in strike me partly in that some words
appear to be very similar across many languages
while others vary considerably. I suspect that a
study of this might prove to be very interesting,
the origins of words that vary much across the
languages, although I am not about to undertake
such a study.
Regarding Julien Vincent's remarks, this is
a useful reminder that perhaps the most persistent
rival has been French. In 1994 France passed a
law, still on the books officially I believe, that all
"scientific conferences" must be in French. At
the time I was about to give a lecture in Paris and
asked if I should give it in French rather than the
planned English. I was told that "it is the duty of
all good French citizens to break the law." It was
also explained that a clear convention had already
evolved. If the title is in French the lecture is in
French, while if the title is in English the lecture is
in English (or American, or... ). Generally that
seems to hold there (and perhaps its equivalent
holds in many other countries also).
Shortly thereafter Jean Tirole, a Frenchman
spending half his time at MIT and half his time at
Toulouse in France, was scheduled to give a lecture
at the Fourgeaud theory seminar (in Paris). The
title of the lecture was in French. A large crowd
attended, and he delivered it in English. Not long
after he began, Edmond Malinvaud vociferously
objected, demanding that he speak in French.
Tirole made rather dismissive remarks in return about
being kind to Anglophones in the audience and
continued in English. However the question and
answer session was in French. OTOH, the lecture
ultimately appeared in English in Econometrica.
About a year later I saw Malinvaud deliver a
plenary lecture at the International Economics
Association meetings in Tunis. This is a supposedly
bilingual group whose headquarters is in Paris.
He delivered his lecture in French (simultaneous
translation available). However, as near as I can
tell that is the last time anyone has delivered a lecture
in French at that particular association's meetings.
Peut-etre tant pis.
Barkley Rosser
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