Re: Weekly Vocab 6: to know
| From: | Christopher Wright <faceloran@...> |
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| Date: | Wednesday, May 7, 2003, 19:35 |
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Mark Reed palsalge:
[snip "to know" vs "to know" vs "to know"]
>So how come we conlangers all felt the need to make this distinction?
It's unthinkable that we can be more vague than the languages we're
familiar with. There is a tendency to overcorrect this "problem" by making
sometimes absurd distinctions. F'rinstance, I made a word valokei which
means "to advance slowly and menacingly, delivering deep terror while
seeming absolutely confident in your success over the opponent".
About the matter at hand, though, I'd use the verb "to have" for knowing
how to do something. "Im kardem hedei", I have eat-infinitive, would mean
that it is within my power to eat, and therefore I have the required
knowledge. (For the equivalent of English "to have to", I use the copula;
I am to eat, there is no avoiding it, my existence requires the action of
eating.)
~Wright
Hey! Did I exceed my posting limit for the week?
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