Re: Pleasantries

On Apr 2, 2005 10:00 PM, scott <sjcaldwell@...> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have recently begun thinking about pleasantries for my conlang
> wikilret. There is a formal gender and a deference infix for verbs when
> the object of the sentence is of higher social standing. But I'm still
> thinking about how to handle pleasantries such as please, thank you,
> your welcome, etc.
>
> So how do natlangs or your conlang handle such words or circumstances?
>
>
> scott
> http://homepage.mac.com/sjcaldwell/Wikilret/
>
My favorites come from some natlangs of Guinea, and probably a number
of their relatives in surrounding countries.

Pular (Fula):
Greeting: "Tanna alaa?"  ("Is there evil?")
Response: "Jam tun." ("Peace only.")

"Jam tun" can be used as a response to scores of greeting questions,
like "How's the wife 'n kids?" or "How did you sleep?"  "Praise God!"
is also a common response.

Here's the cognate expression in Maninka:

Greeting: "Ta na te?" ("Is there no evil?")
Response: "Tana si te." ("There is no evil.")

There's probably an endless number of variations on these themes.

"Tana ma si?" ("Did you sleep without evil?")
"Ta na te i bada?" ("Is there no evil at your place?")
"Tana ma tele?" ("Is there evil in your day?")
"Here tele na?" ("Did you pass the day in peace?")

And my favorite:

"I sen nani sira?" ("Did you sleep with four legs?")

No, I don't know, and I ain't gonna ask.

Peace Only!
Pat

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Patrick Littell
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