Re: Classification and 'to be'

/Joe Mondello wrote:
> le can gen le bet
> the dog  is [a member of the category] animal
>
> but
>
> le bet spes can
> the animal is [has as a subcategory] dog
Do you mean "that specific animal is a dog"?

If so, W. makes a similar distinction.  There are four ways of
indicating "to be".

1. Copula: verbal form of an adjective, using the prefix sa-, thus:
NaTya'n satika'tas (tika' = old)
John is old.

2. Location: The verb _launi'_, originally meaning "to stay", and
probably related to the stative prefix li-
NaTya'n launi'tas sani'madh
John is at his home.

3. Equative: The verbal particle kla- (ta-), indicates that A and B
refer to the same thing.
TiWani^ta klananani'ma
Juanita is his mother.  (i.e., Juanita = his mother)

4. Token: The verbal particle yan- or na-, indicates that A is a member
of the group B.
NaTya'n yannakyu^man
John is a human.  (i.e., John is a member of the group "human")

--
If God had meant for us to use the metric system, there would've been 10
disciples - anonymous
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