An apology to Ray and some other points answered

First of all, I want to apologise to Ray. I did not answer some of your
earlier posts with as much courtesy as I should have. I am very interested
in hearing your criticisms, though it may be an idea for you to mail them to
me direct at daniel44@btinternet.com if you don't want the discussion on
conlang.

To the point about metaphor in Uusisuom and 'hanti/hanto' specifically, I
would imagine that some form of metaphor is used by every language on earth.
That said, I try to avoid it in Uusisuom as much as possible.

For those who might not have read the earlier posts, 'hanti' is the Uusisuom
verb for 'to live' and 'to blossom'. The word 'hanto' is derived from the
verb and means 'flower'. Another noun, 'hano' meaning 'way' or 'path' is
also derived from the verb. Finally the abstract noun 'hanojan' (life) is
taken from the same verb.

Though I agree that some use of metaphor here is clear, it's important to
note that almost all cultures and religions in the world make some
connection between life and flowers. At weddings, funerals, memorials etc.
flowers are used. People in the Far East often take flowers to the temples
where they go to pray. As for the connection between 'life' and 'path', this
is also more common than you might think. In Chinese, 'tao' means 'the flow
of life' and those who follow those particular beliefs follow a particular
path, a particular style of living. It may not be that all cultures see life
as an ongoing path etc. but the connection to be made is that each person's
life is a route of some kind, a path constructed from their life experiences
and unique to themselves.

As to the ongoing 'u/y' debate, off the top of my head I can think of only
one word from several hundred in Uusisuom that actually uses the letter 'y',
apart from the pronouns (the word is 'kytti' - to listen). As long as
pronunciation of the pronouns is mastered, I don't see this as a significant
barrier to learners of the language.

Daniel
http://pub56.ezboard.com/buusisuomanewworldlanguage
daniel44@btinternet.com

Reply