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speaking and saying (was: Re: Forget it)

From:Matt Pearson <mpearson@...>
Date:Tuesday, May 25, 1999, 18:28
Steg Belsky wrote:

>Well, this isn't exactly the same thing, but AAFMC, the word for "speak" >in Rokbeigalmki, which i've always considered a bit 'too long', is >_(wa')guvdhab_ [guvDab]. It's actually a worn down form of the phrase >_(wa')gub thab_, "(to) sound trust", with "sound" in the sense of "to >make a sound". Originally, the phrase meant "to say something certain", >as opposed to asking a question (_guvai_ [guve@] , the [e@] is part >onomatopeic and part descended from the yes/no question particle _ha'_), >etc. There's also the word _gubalg_, "slander", from _gub_ (sound/speak) >+ _balg_ (evil).
This reminds me of Tokana, which has a number of idioms involving the word "itsa" = "to speak" and compounds formed with "sot" = "words": itsa sot soun "say heart words" = "speak in earnest" itsa sot suhu "say wind words" = "be facetious" itsa kaisot "say evil/violent words" = "curse, insult, speak abusively to someone" itsa kususot "say words that go between/among" = "gossip" itsa kaikususot "say evil/violent words that go between/among" = "spread malicious gossip" Just another 'as for my conlang' post... Matt. ------------------------------------ Matt Pearson mpearson@ucla.edu UCLA Linguistics Department 405 Hilgard Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90095-1543 ------------------------------------