Sunday, December 16, 2012

Santa Claus

"Sinterklaas [sɪntər'klaːs] (or more formally Sint Nicolaas or Sint Nikolaas; Saint Nicolas in French; Sankt Nikolaus in German) is a traditional winter holiday figure still celebrated today in the Low Countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as some parts of Germany, French Flanders and Artois. He is also well known in territories of the former Dutch Empire, including Aruba, Suriname, Curaçao, Bonaire, and Indonesia. He is one of the sources of the holiday figure of Santa Claus in North America.[1]"

My opinion as a hobbyist in linguistics, is that the name Santa Claus name does not come from a child's mispronunciation of Sinterklaas or Saint Nicholas.

Where it's coming from? I have no idea but if you take the letter n from the middle of the word and put it at the end, guess what's resulting? Too much of a coincidence especially when we try and switch the spelling of the name Claus, which i never heard in US, to the more common word claws.

Don't know about the creation of the name or the character but the use of it and the taking of the main stage at Christmas after so many years raises questions...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus

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