Sebastian Hagedorn wrote:
>
> > 15 km SE of Montr�al, Qu�bec
> > I am more interested in the structure that the actual character or
> > language encoding here.
>
> Actually I think that in Germany you might not even specify the state, so
> that you would have only one level. You only specify the state for
> little-known places. You would *never* say anything like "K�ln, NRW".
Montr�al is a nice small town in France, near Toulouse, in the department
of Gers IIRC. We happen to meet them at rugby when I was a young boy ;-).
And we never say to them that they were living in "Montr�al, Gers". Only
"Montr�al". Because there cannot be any place for doubt...
BTW by Toulouse I mean the French city, not Tolosa in Spain. Etc.
This reminds me of a good story with Spanish friends; when my girlfriend
explained to them that she was living in Paris, they were asking "Par�s
de la Fran�a?" And my girlfriend was to laugh loudly, because she cannot
imagine Paris anywhere outside France. I am sure that every people in the
U.S.A., on the other hand, certainly can imagine other places...
Bottom line: it depens of the situation. I agree with Sebastian that
mentionning the state is rarer in Europe that it appears to be in Northern
America. But I disagree about being systematic; context is more important.
Antoine
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