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Re: Few vs. a few

From:ROGER MILLS <rfmilly@...>
Date:Monday, October 29, 2007, 21:08
Charlie wrote:
>I notice a difference in connotation in these two expressions. "A few >people attended the meeting," means simply that there was a small >number in attendance. "Few people attended the meeting" connotes a >certain disappointment: "There were not as many people in attendance as >we had expected." > >How do you handle this in your conlangs, especially if your conlang has >no indefinite article. > >Or in any natlang you may know. I wonder of "Poca gente asistieron en >la reunion" conveys both meanings. >
To my non-native Sprachgefühl, poca gente is only 'few people'. Perhaps 'solo unos pocos' (no _gente_) would get across 'a few' ?? or 'solo alguna gente'??? Kash, I see, has _tando_ 'few' (apparently < not+many) and _anika_ 'a few, several'-- I think for 'a few', you'd have to add -po 'just, only' Note to self for Gwr: XXX 'a few, several' reduplicated for 'few'.....maybe :-)