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"In spite of"

From:Jim Henry <jimhenry1973@...>
Date:Sunday, August 3, 2008, 22:08
In gzb, abstract postpositions are derived from a content root word
plus a spacetime postposition such as {i} = "at / in / during".  E.g.,
{tu-i} = agent-at, the agentive case posposition.

In trying to come up with a way to render the meaning of English
"despite" / "in spite of", Esperanto "malgraux", French "malgré", the best
thing I've managed to think of so far is to coin a root word
{mĭl} from which the postposition {mĭl-i}, "in spite of" is derived;
however -- this is the unsatisfactory part -- the only gloss I have
for the root word {mĭl} itself is "in-spite-of-ness".  What else might
it mean or how else might it be used, other than as a basis
for this postposition?

The same underlying meaning can emerge as a conjunction
as well a postposition.  In English, the equivalent conjunction
is probably "although", similar to the phrasal conjunction "in spite of
the fact that".

E.g.,

Despite sleepiness, I drove all the way home without stopping.

or,

I drove all the way home without stopping although I was very sleepy.


How do y'all express this meaning, whether as as conjunction or
adposition or case or whatever, in your conlang or in natlangs
you know?  I'm particularly interested in languages where it's derived
from some more basic root rather than being an unanalyzable
particle.

--
Jim Henry
http://www.pobox.com/~jimhenry/gzb/gzb.htm

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