Re: Trigger language question concerning the use of "to be"

(It's the second time I write this, but because of a little problem I don't
thik it has been sent, I just hope it will not arrive after that one will
have been sent)

Keith Gaughan wrote:

>Chris Bates wrote:
>
>>It seems to me that there are different meanings involved here. One, the
>>one involving stative verbs, is about the properties things possess, eg
>>the man is good. The other is about equivalence and identity, eg to
>>defend is to attack. I believe that some languages treat these two
>>differently.... You could require a verb for identity type clauses "That
>>man is the teacher" etc, and still have your stative verbs for
>>expressive properties.
>
>Spanish and Irish are examples here. In Spanish you have "ser" and
>"ester"; Irish "is" and "bí".
When I had to learn the difference between "ser" and "estar", I thought of
this system to set the uses of "to be" in my mind

1- Auxiliary "I am eating" (with a verb)
2- Location "I am in the house" (with a place)
3- State "I am happy" (with an adjective)
4- Description "I am tall" (with an adjective)
5- Origin "I am Canadian" (with a national, ethnic, or cultural identity)
6- Identity "I am a human" (with a noun)

So in Spanish the division is 1-3: Estar and 4-6: Ser

1- Auxiliary "Estoy comiendo"
2- Location "Estoy en la casa"
3- State "Estoy contento"
4- Description "Soy grande"
5- Origin "Soy canadiense"
6- Identity "Soy un humano"

In my Conlang Vbazi, the ways for using these divisions are different:

(Sentences are the same)
1- Auxiliary ---
     (To be can't be an auxiliary in Vbazi)
2- Location "qiili ly vgew"
     (-qiil- is the root for the locative verb, "ly" means at/in)
3- State "hiwbi"
4- Description "gani"
     (adjectives are full verbs)
5- Origin (if Canada's root is Kanad (roots begin and end with consonants))
"Kanadiizi"
6- Identity "phydiizi"
     (the "-iiz-" verbalizer suffix that implies identity, conjugated at
first person)


Are there uses I should add or could some of the divisions I use be divided
more?

I know there is the example Alex J. M gave, "To defend is to attack" but I
feel it to much idiomatic, am I wrong? And I think it would enter in the
division for "identity"

And there is the existence meaning like in "To be or not to be" but I again
feel it's not the same thing.. if it was it would not be really poetic...


But are there some of your (nat or con)languages that can't fit my system?
That would need to change something to make it more accurate? Or that need a
completely other division I forgot?

-Max

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