verbs of eating

While watching 'Gensomaden Saiyuki' this weekend (once described as "not your
father's 'Journey to the West'") I was reminded that some languages, such as
Japanese and German, have more than one word that equates to the English verb
"to eat".

I've been told that 'taberu' and 'kuu' divide up the semantic space
differently than the German words do ('essen' and 'fressen'?), though I'm not
clear on how either division works.

How do people's conlangs handle the semantic space for eating? (I have a
feeling I should reread Levi-Strauss "The Raw and the Cooked" before I deal
further with that part of the semantic space in my own languages...)

[Note: You know you're an anime fan if the first Japanese verb you learned in
the imperative was "die".
You know you're REALLY an anime fan if the Japanese verbs you recognize in the
most conjugations are die, kill, suffer, fight, conquer, attack, destroy,
understand, believe and protect... not quite the basis for productive
business relationships or a safe tourist environment.]

--
Elyse Grasso

The World of Cherani Station
www.data-raptors.com/cherani/index.html
Cherani Tradespeech
www.data-raptors.com/cherani/tradespeech.html

Replies