Re: verbs of eating

essen = to eat (for a human being)
fressen = to eat (for an animal)

If you use "fressen" for a human being, it is very
desobliging.

In French, there isn't that distinction. The verb is
"manger"; "bouffer" is vulgar, but it does not apply
especially to animals. There are special verbs like
"brouter", "pai^tre" for ruminants; also "devorer" for
flesh-eater animals, "ronger" for rodents,...

Upper-register verbs would be "se sustenter",
"consommer", "absorber", "s'alimenter", "ingerer"
(rather technical).

--- "Elyse M. Grasso" <emgrasso@...>
wrote:
>
> 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.
>

=====
Philippe Caquant

"Le langage est source de malentendus."
(Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

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